Expressed Milk Questions

[kellyanne]

Hello all,

About three weeks ago I gave up breast feeding and decided to exclusively pump my milk and give it to LO in a bottle.  This works amazingly and the first night we dropped a night feed (from 2 to 1).  He hit the 12 week growth spurt and went back up to 2, but the last few days he has gone back down to 1. (He's 13.5 weeks now).

I have a few questions about this though:

1) In one of the BW books, I think I read that your baby will reject spoiled milk so it's basically impossible to give LO bad breat milk.  Is this true?  This afternoon, LO was fighting with me to finish his bottle, he only ate 2 oz.  I basically made him eat the rest (I knew he was hungry) and couldn't figure out why he wasn't wanting to eat.  Then I smelled inside the bottle and I completely gagged.  Fresh milk doesn't really smell.  This stuff was disgusting. 
My process is that I pump after he feeds and put it in the fridge.  Then I take the oldest bottle already in the fridge (I never have more than 2 pumped bottles in there at a time), maybe only 6 hours old, and sit it on the counter to start to cool so it doesn't take so long to warm up at the next feed time.
Is this wrong?  Should I be leaving it in the fridge until use?  It should be good for 4-6 hours right?
LO seems OK still, other than being gassy but I was worried!!

Also, I warm the bottles using a bottle warmer in which you put a little water in and turn it on and it basically steams the bottle.  Is this OK or should I be heating it in hot water? (This takes longer, especially if it's coming straight out of the fridge).  I think the warmer is intended for formula bottles.

One last thing, is EBM just as good as breastfeeding directly?  My reasoning for switching is, 1) LO kept falling asleep at feeds during the night, 2) he was eating every 2 hours (and gaining lots of weight) so I felt I needed to see how much he was eating (much better - we are now moving from 3 to 3.5 hours) and 3) DH takes over a few of the feeds but LO is still getting yummy milk!

Thanks for the any input!

[kellyanne]

Hi and thanks so much for the quick response!

I was worried about my milk supply early on.  I tried single sided feeding, as recommended, but it turned out that one breast produced a third as much as the other, so single side wasn't possible and LO was starving.  My current plan is to pump about every two hours during the day (can't quite always do this), pump right before bed (at 10) and then again after the night feed.  I currently yield about 4.5 oz every two hours and between 6 and 7 at the night feed and the first morning pump.  It's definitely enough for my LO!!  I made it through the growth spurt only having to use 2oz of formula!!
Thanks so much for the info about the calories - I was a little worried about him not eating enough.  It's good to know he won't eat as much as FF baby.  Currently he's eating about 4.5 oz every three hours.

I have a couple frozen bags in the freezer just in case!!

OK, DH is almost done feeding LO so I'd better sign off and go say hi. 

Thanks again!

[Samuel's mum]

If the room is warmer than 22c, 6 hours on the might be pushing it. I would say it's better to keep it on the fridge and warm nearer the time.

Stacy is right that maintaining supply can be the most difficult thing. Exclusively pumping mums sometimes end up taking herbs and prescription medication. It can be harder to maintain supply as a pump can't do the special wiggles under the nipple which babies do with their tongue (and this stimulates prolactin which maintains supply). Another obvious point for exclusively pumping mums - what would you do if your pump broke right now? It might be worth having a back-up pump or practise hand expression.

And just incase you don't already know - you don't need to wash and sterilize you pump every 2 hours. You can use it, wipe the exposed parts and put it in a big ziploc bag and then put it in the fridge. Only need to wash at the end of the day.

Pumping may seem easier in some ways but don't be horrified if you find it gets a bit harder over time. If pumping output does start to decrease do think about herbs etc BUT also bear in mind some pumps aren't designed for such heavy use so you may need replacement parts or a tune-up.

Good luck and good for you.

[kellyanne]

Oh wow, I hadn't thought about the pump breaking... I do have another one, an electric one I bought as well.  The one I currently use is the avent hand pump, even though it has been recalled (in Canada - stuipd BPA).  I love it and have really mastered it. I figure I'm not using avent bottles, or warming the milk in the bottles, so it should be OK.  (I did switch to BPA free bottles!!)  The pump does come with replacement parts.  But if it did break, or I forgot it while I was out or something, I'd probably attempt to breast feed him instead of, say, going and buying formula.  I have tried it a couple times and he still knows what to do - he just doesn't like to anymore as it is such hard work!! (Rather than just sucking from a bottle!)

I figure I'll do that if my supply starts to decrease as well - we'll see how it goes!

I wash the pump out with hot, soapy water after every use and leave it to dry - would it be better to put in ziploc bag while wet and then in fridge?  I steriliz probably every couple days or so.

Again, thanks for the advice!  It is hard work but pumping and feeding is STILL less time than my LO was taking on the breast = he was soooooo slow, and it wasn't getting any better!!  Just a slow eater, my little guy is!

[Samuel's mum]

If you are happy to wash then you should do that - obviously soap residue is the only disadvantage and that moist parts might pick up bacteria in the air.  I don't think putting it in the fridge is necessarily 'better' - just potentially easier.

On the handpump - I'm being a bit of a downer here - watch out for RSI. There are strong links between frequent hand pumping and RSI particularly when babies are young and are ligaments are still quite loose.

[kellyanne]

What is RSI?

[lisi's mum]

repetitive strain injury aka tendonitis (in your hands or wrist from the pumping)