How long to pump for?

[jacksmomtobe]

Help! I am so frustrated with pumping & stressed ds won't take a bottle due to the bumps in the road I've been encountering. I started pumping a bit late @2mo and had minimal amts of milk then my breasts felt irritated. Since this started when I first started pumping I stopped and felt a bit better but not completely. The Dr & lc say it is not an infection and have me rinsing my breasts then applying all purpose nipple ointment (APNO). Some days I feel better others I'm not so sure. But anyways I started back on pumping today and nothing is happenening. I have the Medela Advanced Pump in Style. The lc doesn't like this model as well as the original due to only one level of manual control. She suggested calling them to swap it out for the old model. I feel like I've spent more time cleaning the damn thing than getting anything out of it. How long should I attempt to pump for if nothing is happening? Any tips with this model? The white seal did not seem to be moving on one side even though it was firmly applied to the yellow piece for some reason I think that it is supposed to move yet. I already fried one set of tubing in their microwave bags even though I followed the directions. Part of me wonders if other parts are warped hense the lack of movement with the white piece. I would appreciate an answer to my how long question and any tips. I want to perseverve but am worried that I have not gotten ds to take a bottle. My frozen reserve is small since when I first started I put it in the fridge (&wasted some) so I've contemplated trying formula in the bottle. I enjoy breastfeeding but do need to get away on occaison for longer than 3 hours also I am fairly modest and it always seems like a repair person needs to come over around feeding time and it stresses me out. Help! I tried searching but nothing seemed to answer my question.

Thanks for listening!
Kim

[stillplayswithbarbies]

It sounds like the pump is not working correctly. Did you ask the LC about the moving part? (I have an Ameda so I can't help with this, but someone else will reply who knows the PIS)

As for how long to pump, you shouldn't pump more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time, especially when you are just starting out.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[Jacksonvol]

Kim,

I am sorry you are having trouble with this. I know it can be frustrating. I would suggest considering the following:

1. take pump with you to see LC. My LC is able to check the suction on my Medela (although I have the rented hospital pump instead of the APIS)

2. try to have someone else at home with you when repair person comes over. that way you can go nurse/pump without feeling tense. when I am tense I get much less milk at a session.

3. try putting a tiny bit of olive oil on your nipple before pumping. this makes a better seal and it soothes the nipple at the same time. you don't have to wash it off afterwards.

I know what you mean about spending more time cleaning it than using it! I put the horns & bottles in the fridge after I pump and only wash them at the end of the day.

Hope it gets better for you. Lisa

[ALLEYCAT]

I don't know anything about the MAPIS however it does sound as if there might be a pump problem call where ever you got it from and see if you can work out an exchange for the one your lc recommends. If not call the Medela company and tell them every thing you told us about the white flap and the tubing melting ect. and see what they have to say. In fact I would call Medela first and go from there. I had problems with Ameda initially and they had a lc on staff to talk to and customer service sent out a new pump body that I recieved the next am after I called!
In the mean time here are some other tips. First of all, two months is not too late to start pumping. Baby is not drinking alot at one time anyway, maybe just a few ounces. Start by drinking a glass of water an hour or so before you pump. Get the pump and sleeping baby, or picture of baby, and go to a nice warm private room where you can close the door and not have to answer the phone. Take a couple deep breaths and prepare yourself to make the most nutritious yummy baby food you can for your baby. If you can, take a hot shower, if not,warm towels in microwave and place them over your breasts for about five minutes. Next, (this sound weird but someone else recommended it on this board and it does work) lean over and do the shimmy dance while slowly standing back up. Now sit back in a comfy chair and start pumping.
I always have a fast side that empties before the "broken" side and it also produces about twice as much. When the fast side stops I pump about another five minutes and then do the shimmy dance again and turn up the suction. I can now get another let down on both side after I restart pumping for about 2 minutes. Then I continue to pump about another 2-3 mins after the milk has stopped. I pump about 15-18 min total now, but at eight weeks you may not be able to that long.
It took several weeks to actually get good at pumping and I started at 12 weeks when I went back to work pumping three times during my eight hour day. DS is now eight months.
It seems like it is always feeding time for an eight week old. Is there someone else who can meet the repairmen for you? Have other people tried giving the bottle? Have you tried different bottles and nipples?
Are you certain neither of you have yeast(thrush) causing the irritation? Or a blocked duct? You may be using too high a suction on the pump or have nipples that are either larger or smaller than average and need an adapter for the pump horn.
There is no problem giving formula if you need to but don't do it in place of pumping or nursing or you could get a plugged duct, especially this early in the bf relationship. I hope this helps, again I would call Medela asap for their help with the pump.

[jpang]

Kim,
Sorry to hear of your troubles. Have you thought about renting a different pump, like a Lactina or Medela Classic, to see if it's the pump that's giving you trouble? I think these other ones are easier to use, especially if you are starting off or trying to build supply. If the white membrane is not moving on one valve, then the pump is not working on that side. You should feel a definite tug on your nipples when the pump is working (and see them move in the shield as well).

I would say if nothing is happening after 10 minutes of pumping, you should stop and try to figure out what is going on. Probably the pump is not working (especially if your breasts feel somewhat heavy or full). I agree with the suggestion to bring it to your LC.

Two months is by no means to late to start pumping. A lot of moms I know did not pump at all until they returned to work at 3-4 months. The stress isn't helping you, though. Make sure you have eaten and drunk enough water so that your body has enough fluid and calories to produce milk.

Good luck. Hope this resolves soon.

[chlobo]

I have the Ameda Purely Yours and I thought it was going ok. I am having some supply issues so I rented the Medela Lactina. Let me tell you that I get *more* out of the lactina in much less time. If you can, try renting a hospital grade to establish your pumping supply.

[Chelsey333]

For the repairman coming over and modesty, just feed the baby right before the repairman is coming over. Or if anyone else is visiting, nurse before they come over, you don't have to always stick to your schedule - be flexible, which will make you more comfortable. About the pump, the white piece only moves when milk is passing thru it - so if you don't have a lot of milk being pumped, it won't move. When are you pumping? It is best to pump after you feed the baby, and the morning is a good time bec there is more milk. You don't need a huge stash to be able to leave the house. Just enough for a couple of bottles. I always leave formula in the house in case of an emergency, but tell my dh he can only use it if there is an emergency (like him spilling one of the bottles, etc.). I don't have a big stash of frozen milk either, my ds is 6 wks old. I do want a bigger stash, but pumping is such a pain! I only pump for 10 minutes, but I have a really good milk supply. Ten minutes will give me about 3 or 4 ounces.

[jacksmomtobe]

Thanks all for the good advice and words of support. Baby Jack is actually 3 months but I have spent about a month wasting time figuring out what was going on with my discomfort. The Dr & LC ruled out thrush which based on the common symptoms I did not think the baby or I had. Nor is it a blocked duct. The LC suggested the APNO which would reduce the irritation and she said if there was a slight infection that would also take care of it. I'm feeling better now for the most part. I think part of the issue may have been an allergy to Dreft. I normally can only use Arm & Hammer no perfumes but had put some of my clothes (including nursing bras) in with the babies figuring dreft was gentle. It wasn't until someone mentioned in my Mom's group that there daughter had a reaction to it that I thought about this being an irritant. I now wash all our clothes in Arm & Hammer. I was feeling better until yesterday when ds wore an outfit he hadn't worn in a while (&thus was last washed in Dreft). I noticed after holding him against my skin that I had a rash (which went away with hydrocortison).

The pump I think this whole experience dealing with the unknown has gotten me stressed out. I brought the pump to the lc when I saw her and it seemed to work ok then (in the afternoon. The white discs were moving then. She suggested trying large flanges which I've just now started to experiment with. I spoke to Medela about the destroyed tubing (I got replacement tubing from my local supplier but it didn't seem the same as the orig & appeared to have bubbles after being boiled)which they are sending out free of charge. My lc said instead of boiling too flush them with alcohol since the littlest bit of water can remain in the tubing and turn nasty so I will do that. I have been seeing some suction but we will see if the new tubing improves the overall operation of the pump. If not I will consider renting a different type.

Repair men...we are hopefully moving (difficult seller) and selling our condo after the move but it seems for everything that needs to be fixed around here including our brand new high velocity a/c (similar to central air) system requires not one visit but 4 or 5 to fix any problems. My husband works 45 min away & no one else is really close enough to be of assistance. Unfortunately the repair people are giving me windows of time that are about 4 hours in length so it's been very hard to deal with. That is why I would like to get ds using bottles so if the situation arises I can easily feed him without the anxiety of being interrupted.

Bottles...we haven't really given it much of a try since I was hoping to only feed him breastmilk and I've run into this whole detour. Originally when I had some ebm supply I kept forgetting to try the bottle. My memory has started to come back now that ds is sleeping through the night so I guess we will give it more of a try. I did experiment with giving him formula the other day and he didn't push the bottle away though he seemed to just swish the formula in his mouth and though it looked like he was drinking some the markers on the bottle didn't really reflect that.

I know I need to relax about all of this because getting stressed definitely isn't helping. It is almost a vicious cycle..can't pump because I'm stressed then I'm getting stressed because I can't pump. Hopefully the new tubing will improve the performance of the pump. I had been making a little bit of progress with the orig tubing before it got fried so cross your fingers.

Thanks Again!
Kim

[jacksmomtobe]

Hi All,

Just wanted to provide you with a bit of an update. I felt 100% so I started pumping again. I followed Alley Cat's tips and they definitely helped. This time I was seeing milk right off the bat rather than 10+ minutes into the process. We've had success with ds taking a bottle from both my husband and I. Unfortunately I was experiencing pain again after just 2 days of pumping (on the lowest setting for only 10 min)so I contacted Medela about swapping out my Advanced PIS for the original ps based on advice of a lc. They were awesome. The woman listened to my story and was completely sypathetic. They were more than willing to make this exchange. I was so uptight that they might give me a hard time and I was pleasantly surprised. The fedex guy will be bringing it this morning. They even provided me with the products of my choice to make up for the pricing differential between the advanced and the original. I then have 30-45 days to return the advanced. I don't have the box for the advanced so they just told me to return it in the box the orig comes in. They were incredibly easy to deal with. They truly seem to want to make the customer happy. Hopefully this will make the difference. I have also printed out Lori's tips to refer to.

Thanks for everyone's support & advice!
Kim

[sntm]

Kim, wow that was awesome customer service on their part! I'm really impressed. Hope this one works better. good luck!

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shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03