Pumping Problems

most hospitals have a program that each month you rent it is cheaper. I had the hospital one and it was great. That medela one gave me nothing but the hospital one pumped two bottles in 15 minutes. I also pumped after feeding my daughter. It seemed to work better that way.

I used to have to feed my daughter on one side and pump on the other. My husband used to laugh because I had the boppy out with the pump attachment resting on it :) I had major milk issues with my first child and saw a Lactation Consultant. LaLeche can be a good support.

one quick note...it might not be you...make sure the pump is working if no one has mentioned that already...i had the same pump and the same thing happened and i thought it was me...gave the pump to a friend who took to a lactating specialist and she said the pump was defective...it was not me...because the baby was still getting milk so she knew it was not me...

best of luck...

You may need to rent a pump, just so you can relax. But also try looking at your daughter or putting a picture of her insight when you are pumping. That would cause me to have 'let down' when I was pumping. Also I don't know how your pump works by mine could be adjusted to restimulate as need be you may need one like that.

The key is stay relaxed. And it cannot hurt to rent a hospital grade pump! Hang in there it gets easier (eventually)!
R.

Hi, what if u turn the pump off and then turn it on to get that 2 minute stimulation again? Just an uneducated guess, i never thought of this myself when i was pumping and not getting much!

I see some good advice, especially the advice that you shouldn't pump for more than 10 minutes... I'd revise that to you shouldn't pump for longer than you'd typically breastfeed.
I just returned to work and have been breastfeeding at about 5 am, then pumping at about 11:30 am (I can usually get about 6 oz by then because it's been longer than normal between feedings by then) and am home by 3 or 3:30 pm to breastfeed my son! (I'm a teacher and pumping more than that is hard to work in to my day.) I did stockpile about 20 bags of milk (4-6 oz each) before returning to work.
I found the following helps: for stimulating "let down" have a picture of your baby with your pump and THINK ABOUT the calm feeling breastfeeding gives you. (Once the let down occurs and you've already started pumping, massage your breasts with the pumps attached trying to keep the suction going... hard to manipulate, but possible.) I don't do any other pushing, warm compresses or anything.
To get a stockpile, you may need to stay up late and work another session in two or three hours after your little one goes to sleep.
Make an appointment with a lactation consultant to make sure everything is working properly, etc... (Palms West has one on staff and I'm sure there are plenty of others...)
I really didn't notice much difference between the hospital grade one I rented for a few weeks and the Medela Pump in Style I'm currently using.
Make sure you set the suction as high as you can stand.
Good luck! My son at 4 months old gets 1 bottle of formula per day, if needed. Nights and weekends he gets me... I'm hoping that I can keep my pumping and milk supply up at least until the summer when I can full-time feed him again.
In the end, it's so worth it... knowing that you are providing "nature's best food!"

T.
Mom to Katelyn, 29 months (BF to 9 months)
and Matthew 4 months, still BFing!

When you pump, are you feeling relaxed? I've heard that if you are anxious or stressed, it can prevent your milk from coming out. I remembered when I pumped with my oldest son, I did it 3x a day at work. I would get the least amount when I knew I had very little time to pump and had to go to a meeting. I read somewhere that you should keep a photo of your baby with you and look at it while you pump -- that it helps. Maybe give that a try? Good luck to you!!!!

If you have a Whole Foods near you they sell Mother's Milk Tea and Mother's Milk drops. These help produce A LOT of extra milk. Also what may help is if you take a hot shower; sit and relax; and then imagine the milk coming down to feed your baby. The hot water helps the milk come down. The thought of feeding your baby helps the milk come down and any stress will not allow the flow. Sometime the milk takes time to get out of the breast. You may also try feeding on one breast while pumping the other. There is a store in Manhattan, NY called "The Upper Breast Side" that sells an amazing breast feeding bra that holds the pump cups on very well and worth it. Our babies are little pros when it come to getting it out, but a pump is still just a pump and if you sit and give it time...you may need to sit for 20 mins- 1/2 hour...you'll be surprised. Good Luck!:)

I have a 17 month old who is breastfeeding and I still pump at work.

Here is my advice:

-relax
-put the pump on the lowest setting, you won't get more milk by raising it.
-put a warm cloth or diaper on your breasts before pumping.
-massage your breast before and during pumping.
-pump while the baby nurses on one side. That will stimulate the other side and you will get more milk.

Misc. advice.

-save the milk in small amounts. 2-4 oz
-if you squeeze all the air out of the bm storage bags and lay them flat to freeze, you will be able to fit more in the fridge.

I experienced the same problem with my Medela Pump in Style Orignal. I had to call Medela and they sent me a new pump because it was under a year old. I also rented a hospital grade pump from a near by hospital to help build up my supply and it has been working great i recomend these steps. try not to stress out over it. good luck if you have any questions contact me i have been only nursing my little girl for almost 7 mos now and we have been through alot. you can also try More Milk Plus its an herbal supplement found at Whole foods Market. good luck.

I had the same problem, the suction wasn't strong enough. Check your suction- the little white round piece you snap in to make sure it is FULLY DRY before you start. It will effect the suction. Also, do breast compressions while you pump. I know it's hard and will require you to do each breast with two hands, it's worth it. Push the breast in all angles and together to help get some of the milk out. So frustrating! If that doesn't work, call the medela 1-800 number or a lactation consultant at a hospital for advice.

Definitely consult a lactation consultant or LLL leader for help. I needed a few tips to help my situation when I went back to work too. Everyone is different and these ladies usually know a lot more than I ever will.

You might also talk to Dr Punger- check out twofloridadocs.com for info. She's an MD and IBCLC.

In my case, I needed real quiet time to relax (I sometimes played solitare on the computer to help kind of zone out during pumping.) I tried to focus on the milk until the let-down, and then tried to focus on anything else. I also found that it worked better with certain bras that had more support.

Good luck and keep trying. I know you're doing a great job. Positive thoughts count for a lot too.
K.

The same thing happened to me but that was 14 years ago! You had some good ideas.....a lactation consultant can help you immensely, as can the hospital grade pump...the lactation consultant sold me a "briefcase pump" which is like the hospital pump but portable and saves time by doing both breasts at once. Also it helped me to have the baby, or a picture of the baby, in the room while i pumped. The body responds to the presence of the baby!! Even something that smells like her can help. My son was a preemie and he was in the hospital while I pumped at home and brought the milk to the hospital for tube-feeding, as he was too small to have a suck reflex. The breastmilk contains antibodies which saved his life from an intestinal infection! As he grew, they did need to add some formula because I just couldn't make enough milk. You are doing a very good thing....don't be discouraged until you've tried all the possibilities. Even if it doesn't work out as planned, it's not the end of the world. Eventually I had to stop breastfeeding because my son never did accept milk from the breast; there were frustrations and tears on both sides and that wasn't meant to be! We just had to bond in other ways. But my breastmilk during the first few months made all the difference for him.

try pumping first thing when you wake up-
also try pumping one side while you nurse baby on the other side
also pump every day at 10am, so that body thinks this is a 'feeding' and soon you'll produce milk then
also only pump for 10 minutes, if you pump more than that, you're 'wasting' your time :(

www.kellymom.com
really helped me

and you could join these yahoo groups:
groups to join:
PumpMoms http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/PumpMoms/

breastfeeding and working mothers: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bfworkingmoms/

I would talk to a lactation consultant also but the little advise I can share is to make sure the 2 plugs up front (that do the single or double pump) are well in place. Sometimes that keeps the suction from happening inside the flange. I hope this helps.

Note: Hospital ones are going to be much more expensive than replacing what you have. What has the manufacturer said??

Best of luck to you!

D.,
Hi, I can completely relate to your problem. I am currently breastfeeding my third child and trying to pump as well. I have the same situation. I can get about two ounces out but after that nothing - even if I continue to pump for another ten minutes or so. I am not sure what causes this. It was the same way for me with my second child. I too can immediately feed my son after pumping despite not being able to pump anything out. I would love to hear back from other moms about this same problem. Maybe we aren't able to relax the way we are when we are feeding our babies???
T.

Thinking about your baby or looking at a picture of your baby while pumping could help get your milk flowing. Also the pump may not be effective for you. I found a simple hand pump (can't remember brand) was way more effective then the fancy motorized one.

I don't produce much milk from the pump either. My friend, who is a lactation consultant, suggest to nurse on one side and pump on the other and then switch. I hope this helps.

D.,
I had my share of breastfeeding issues with my third child and I've used a manual pump, an electric pump, and finally a rented hospital grade double pump. First of all, let me reassure you, as you have found by feeding your daughter after you've tried to pump without much output, that you do indeed have milk in your breasts. It is a myth that you ever totally empty your breasts.

Secondly, a baby is a much better "pump" than any mechanical device we attach to our breasts. IT does take practice. I would strongly encourage you to contact a lactation specialist. I contacted a specialist who was able to identify that my son had a weak suck which was why I had to resort to pumping.

Now, I want to share with you (and anyone else who may read this and be a first time pumper) my experience. Because my son had a weak suck, my milk supply had decreased and pumping was the only way to increase it. When I first began pumping, I was only able to pump 1/2 - 1 oz of milk in a 24 hour period. I was pumping for 20 minutes around the clock, every 2 hours~per my consultant's recommendation. I pumped for 2 months like that when I discovered that the milk I had been pumping and freezing had soured. Every woman has an enzyme in their breastmilk called Lipase. Some women have too much. If you have too much Lipase in your breastmilk, your breastmilk will "sour" when chilled or frozen. The milk will smell funny...and it will taste like vomit. I'm not kidding. I had contacted my lactation specialist immediately and although she reassured me that my milk was OK to feed to my baby, I couldn't get past how awful it tasted. The longer the milk is frozen, the more prominent the taste is. It was upon making this discovery that caused me to stop pumping altogether. The only way to find out if your milk has too much Lipase is to freeze some, un-thaw it, smell it yourself and do the taste test. If it's fine, then do keeping doing what you are doing. IF it is sour, then you have to flash boil your milk before chilling or freezing it.

Contact Le Leche League in your area and a leader should be able to give you contact info for lactation consultants in your area. A hospital grade pump is by far the best way to go. I found a company out of New Jersey and their web site is: www.ecobabycare.com. I found them by doing a basic search and they rent for $49 a month; they rent hospital grade pumps by Ameda. It was an awesome pump (a real workhorse!) and an excellent company to deal with! Good luck with pumping. IT does take time... and practice more than anything. Some women have a natural "knack" for pumping out large quantities no matter what pump they use. Others need help so please seek the advice of someone who can sit with you and watch your pumping technique.

Hi D.,
I would absolutely call Faith at Mercy Hospital for lactation support or I have a lactation specialist that works with my clients that can come to your home. I know everything will be fine so hang in there.
D. Geymayr, R.Y.T., HBCE, CD(DONA & CAPPA), CPD
Prenatal Plus - Yoga
____@____.com
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D., are you taking enough liquid? You have to drink a lot of liquids and water, of course in order to help you produce more milk. The same thing happened to me when I was breathfeeding. I only could produce milk for my baby, which is 14 yrs old right now, but I breastfeeded him for 4 1/2 yrs. I never could storage milk. Sometimes I could take milk out using my hands, no pumps at all.There is a type of seed from which you can make a beverage that here in Puerto Rico we call "ajonjoli", but I don't know the English term for it. This is made with cold water and sugar, and you prepare it with the Osterizer. The old women, grandmas say that this is great for producing milk. Maybe you can try this. Any way you should contact a lactation consultant as you said. They could help.