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I forgot to add that I have used the xxxx system and the xxxxxx system.  My daughter seems to really do well with the xxxxxx  system.  The nipple is a lot softer then the xxxxxx.   I think a little more like the breast.  Also, as far as jaw strength or teeth health, I am a dental hygienist and I don't seem to find any problems with either.  Just remember to wipe the babies teeth with a wash cloth when they do start to come in.  Hope this helps!

My son is two months old and about a month ago I started pretty much pumping exclusivly (with the pump in style) every three hours. I was nursing about once a week. To be honest I really did this more so for my own conveinance - for me it was just quicker to pump and give him a bottle. About a week and a half ago I noticed I was getting very red around my left nipple. I really didn't pay it much attention but two days ago it started hurting a lot and after taking a closer look at it I realized that it is a crack/cut around half of my nipple (the actual nipple). I called the doctor and she said to try and nurse more and pump only when I have to. I have to pump three times a day at work (which I cut down to two) five days a week. I am really concerned it is never going to heal because I am constantly either nursing or pumping - that or its going to get worse or get infected. I am on the verge of tears from the pain and very nervous. I'm torn because I almost feel like it would just be eaiser to let myself dry up but I love breast feeding and knowing my son is getting the best start. Has anyone else had this issue? If so how did you power through it?? Please help!

Have you tried the xxxxx creme that you can put on your nipples? I have used that when I have soreness and it has made it much better.

Hi!  I was exactly in your position with my son.  My aunt who was a nurse in labor and delivery for many years told me to let your nipples air out as much as possible...even at night, wear the hard nipple shells...Medela makes a really good one with a soft back and a hard front which keeps clothing away from your nipples while they are healing, and use a mixture of vitamin E oil and Lanolin.  I would puncture a vit E capsule and mix xxxxx Lanolin and spread it on my nipples.  It took about 1 to 1 1/2 weeks before everything felt good.  You have to either nurse or pump to keep up your supply, but it will work.  Also, make sure the pump's pressure setting is not too high.  Hope it works for you!

I had that exact same problem. I started to get a crack around the base of my nipple.I called Medela and they said my breast shield was not fitting properly. They were very nice and helped me find the right one to fit. I needed a smaller one and now I am pumping twice as fast without the discomfort. My nipples have also healed (YAY!!!!!), so the baby can occasionally breastfeed. She has gotten spoiled to the bottle, so I can only do it when she's really hungry. I hope this helps.

My son was premature and I wanted to breastfed since our oldest son has a lot of food allergies.  While in the NICU he was started on a bottle and never learned how to breastfed properly.  That was seven months ago and I'm still pumping and giving him only breastmilk.  I've been able to supply enough and have a huge supply in the freezer.  My advice is to pump frequently, drink lots of water and think positively.  I pump 7-8 times per day until about a month ago when I dropped one pumping session.  I pump 6 times a day now for 15-20 minutes per session.  I have a hands-free pumping bra that is wonderful (couldn't have done without it) and I also have the support of my husband.  I'm so glad that I decided to stick with it and our son is happy and healthly (7 months old and 25 pounds) and I feel great about the whole experience.

Jennifer I dont think that after two weeks it is a lost hope to keep trying. If you can get her to breastfeed directly, live will be easier on the weekends and vacations. You will be able to go out for the day or on a trip and not worry about finding a place to pump or clean/ store bottles. Someone told me that no breast pump is as efficient as a baby. Lots of people manage to pump exclusively for a long time, but I think it is probably easier to keep up your milk supply for those who do both. It know it is hard to do, but trust your child and your body. If you can nurse pain free, then let your baby determine how much she wants to eat. Dont worry about how many ounces it is. If she isnt getting enough, she will let you know because she wont be satisfied. I am sure by now she has a way of letting you know she is hungry. I am now breastfeeding my third child. This time around, it has been smooth, although I am considering buying a new pump because I seam to be having trouble with let down i I am not really full. I go back to work next week. Anyway, with my first child, I had a cracked nipple. I was in pain for about 6 or 7 weeks and I really wasnt sure I was going to continue. I pumped on that side for a week or two but in never seamed to heal. I did use a breast shield wich helped make it a little more tolerable. Finally, I ended up with mastitis on that side. Believe it or not, it turned out to be a blessing because after a few days on the antibiotics, the nipple healed along with the mastitis. I used the breast shield for a few weeks more and then was able to stop using it. As far as what nipples to use....I dont think it matters. With my first child we bought fancy expensive bottles because they were supposed to be like the breast. They leaked and it was a pain to transfer from the small bottles for pumping into the fancy ones - more stuff to clean. As he got older, we tried the more traditional (cheaper) bottles and they worked just fine. He didnt have any trouble switching. And with the cheap ones, I wasnt upset if we found one under the couch for a week, we just tossed it. My second baby never took more than 4 or 5 ounces at a time when I was at work althought I was pumping more than that. He just wasnt interested. I felt bad and thought it was the bottle so we tried the fancy ones again. Actually we tried 3 or 4 different ones but it didnt matter. He just ate really well int the moring and when I came home. My freezer was filled to the brim too.....I found that using the zip type milk bags worked the best for me. I lay them flat to freeze then stand them up in and ice keeper with the oldest date in the back. When I come home from work, I freeze half my milk. This way your baby gets some freshmilk everyday and your freezer supply never gets really old. I know that was a long answer. Good luck. Margaret

How long have you been able to pump like that? My daughter is 6 weeks old, and I was pumping like that the whole time and now my supply is running out because I wasn't pumping frequently enough. I would get 10-16 ozs in the morning, and another 10-12 ozs during the day. I wouldn't pump overnight though.

I am not sure if this was a reply to me - but I started off pumping a lot, and built up very quickly. I continued to pump 6 or 7 times a day for the first at least couple months. When he woke up overnight, I would usually pump after I put him back to sleep. I gradually cut back to 4 times a day. My supply has definitely fallen since I did that, but I still get about 12-16 ounces in the morning, and 6-10 ounces each of the other 3 times, for a total of probably 36-42 oz or so a day. He eats around that same amount so it is sometimes enough and sometimes I fall a little short and give him a bottle of formula. He will be 5 months old in a week. I have noticed that I can still increase my supply if I focus on drinking a ton of water and pump more often for a few days. So if you're not making enough I would try adding one more pumping per day and making sure you're drinking plenty of water and it may go back up.

My daughter is also 6 weeks old and I am still getting full bottles (6 ozs each) every pumping! I have been pumping exclusively for some time now. I had a mastitis and I dumped the milk I pumped because of the antibiotics. Luckily, I had so much milk in the freezer, it didn't even make a dent in the supply! I kept up with the pumping during the 10 days of antibiotics, too keep my supply. I pump 6 times a day, 3-4 hours apart. When I want to sleep, I pump at 10:30, then I pump when I get up at 6 am. Sometimes, if I am really full, I pump when I wake up for the 2 am feeding. If I don't pump in the morning, I actually pump until empty, getting about 10 oz on each breast, switching bottles mid pump. I don't think this is recommended because I will continue to produce lots of milk, not consistent with the supply and demand of my baby. My thought is, I will continue to get as much milk as possible, now, before I have to go to work next week. My fear is that at work, my supply will decrease, even though I will still continue to pump as much as possible, but there I will be pumping in the handicap stall, in a stressful environment, rather than the comfort of my own home. I am very lucky to have so much milk. Especially because I did get mastitis (due to a pre-baby, older, restrictive bra I wore for about 2 hours!). I think the trick is to pump as much as you can, without feeling tied down to the pump. You don't want to resent the pump because you have to stay tied down to it. If you miss a pumping every now and then, oh well. But try to stay consistent. The LC at my hospital told me that your body will continue to produce milk, as long as your breast are empty. The more you empty them, the more the milk will replenish. Your milk won't change overnight, so try to keep your pattern...whatever it may be. Good luck!

My son is 4 weeks old today and after back and forth with feeding and pumping, I decided to pump exclusively because he was getting very very little from me due to latching on problems and things were only getting worse.  I am pumping 8 - 10 times a day for 30 minutes each time using a Medela Symphony and am only getting 20 oz. total for the day (On average, if I wait 2 hours, I get a little less than 2 oz.).  This is just enough to get him through a day.  I also just finished one round of Reglan and am going to try Fenugreek.  I feel like if I miss even one pumping, I won't have enough.  :(

I cannot believe some of you are getting 10 oz. from each breast - that is incredible!!!  My question is did you always have this amount of milk from the beginning? 

Did you have to do anything to increase your milk supply?  For example, they are supposed to go through a growth spurt at 6 weeks.  Did you need to pump more to get more milk? 

I don't really see a difference from day to day so it seems that what I am doing is just enough to keep this supply and I don't know what to do to increase my supply. 

I am very lucky in that I always had this much milk once my milk came in. Since I am so consistant, my freezer is filled to the brim. I noticed that if I don't drink lots of water, or if I am really stressed out, I will get a few ounces less. Try to keep it up with the pumping. I know it's a pain to be tied to a machine, rather than your baby, but in the end, as you know...it's worth it. Keep draining your breasts. The more you drain, the more they will produce. Good luck and I hope your milk supply increases. Remember, a little breast milk is better than no breast milk.

I pumped for a full year with all 3 of my kids.  My reasons for doing this was that I have pretty flat nipples, so I could never get my babies to latch on correctly and ended up with infection after infection every time I attempted to nurse.  Anyways, it was kind of hard at first while I was building my milk supply up, but what I did was pumped every few hours to get a good supply going and then I started spacing it out and just pumped more at each pumping session.  In the end, I only pumped 3-4 times a day and got 2 full bottles at each session so that I had one to feed him now and then one I kept in the fridge for the next feeding.  I know not everybody has the same milk supply, but if you can get a good one established, this might work for you and make life a lot easier.

 I salute you all for being so dedicated and for giving me hope. My son T is now 7 weeks old and I have been pumping since Day 2 because of T was super hungry at birth and suction was super strong.  My supply went well at the beginning but I have had a lot of setbacks, like thrush, ill-fitting bras, incomplete instructions from a Lactation Consultant, etc.  So supply went down and I could manage to increase a little and then down again and up a little again.  Very frustrating.  2 weeks ago I went to see an LC because I almost couldn't find time to pump anymore as T was having a lot of cramps probably colic and needed attention and so I was exhausted everyday. Latch-on is still no go.

I was really considering giving up.  My husband was doing most of the feedings during the first month, so I could pump.  Now looking back, and especially T is now 11lbs already (too heavy for me to hold while trying to breastfeed him), I missed totally holding a tiny infant in my arms feeding him.  Now seeing so many moms are able to pump for such a long time.  I feel more hopeful. But I want to know how you cope with it all?  I felt like that I was spending all my time pumping, and of course also washing pumping equipment, bottle, sterlising, etc...  so I couldn't even spend time with T.

Does anyone have a super hungry baby?  He drinks more and more (around 4.5oz) and still wants 8 feeds/day! Feeding him and pumping just get very difficult. I was told by the nurses that I'm overfeeding!  But what to do when your baby is crying for hunger?!  Anyone has similar experience?

I read somewhere that milk production peaks between 1 and 5am.  So I tried to pump longer after the "early morning" feed and I got double the amount I normally get!  I normally get 3-4 oz per session and first morning around 5oz.  That's because the LC told me to pump 15mins only.  Now I am trying to pump till empty and have fewer pumps. 

For those of you who only pump 3-5 times a day, can you tell me your schedules?  Do they have to be pretty evenly spread out?  I find that I have more time in the night as T sleeps well at night but not during the day.  Perhaps I can do 3-4 pumps during the night and then 1 during the day.  I wonder if that might work, it's like reversing a normal schedule.  

 

 

When my son bit down (now 4 mos old) I abruptly said "OW!" He let go in shock & started back to feeding. After a couple days of my abrupt vocal dismay, he stopped biting. I hope this helps! :-)