https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:35:02 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944689 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 11:05:37 +0000 ChitownRo 1944689@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Espion: at the beginning I would pump about 20 minutes every 2-3 hours. But once my milk came in, I realized that my body is SO slow at producing milk. I had read that you stop pumping when you don't produce milk for one or two minutes. Well, I would produce slow and steady milk for like 45 mins. Argh. So I eventually moved to 45 mins every 3-4 hours and then every 4-5 hours. It took so much freakin time. Blah. So I don't think I did it right either </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944673 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 10:59:46 +0000 Corduroy 1944673@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I didn't EP but I did pump in the hospital from day 1 in addition to BFing. I pumped for 15 minutes after ever feeding at the LC's (questionable) advice - it caused some serious over production. I had no problem pumping colostrum and feeding it to LO. Plus, DH loved helping with the feeds. Good luck. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944605 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 10:35:54 +0000 ElbieKay 1944605@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I personally would hate EPing, but if that was my goal I would probably start out with hand expressing colostrum in the hospital. I think colostrum is too thick to work well with a pump, and you need to feed it to your baby anyway unless you decide to use formula until your milk comes in. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944520 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 09:55:24 +0000 Espion 1944520@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ChitownRo: How long did you pump each time? I would pump for-ev-er, but I think everything about how I approached supply for #1 was off. (i.e. I let him destroy my nips 24 hours a day because he couldn't latch properly and ruined my supply because he couldn't demand. Honestly, I think the worst piece of advice I received was from the LC and that was "babies are more efficient than the pump". But some babies aren't!! Then I felt guilty pumping, when I could let him *not* get anything from me. I think I would have been better served by pumping every two hours and supplementing with formula. Ironically, I probably would have had a better supply!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944482 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 09:37:19 +0000 HappyBaker 1944482@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks so much for all the advice / your experiences! I guess because my first ended up with jaundice after a few days I assumed I wasn't producing enough colostrum, but good to know that may not be the case this time around. </p> <p>With her we were "attempting" to nurse for 30-45 minutes, then formula feeding, then pumping, every 2 hours for the first 4 weeks, and it was seriously hell and definitely contributed to my PPD. Even after we successfully transitioned back to breastfeeding exclusively around week 8 it was always a struggle, and I actually did much better once I went back to work and started pumping.</p> <p>This time around I'm thinking maybe I'll just EP from the start, I know it will suck for the first 8-12 weeks, but I go back to work after only 8-10 weeks and my job is super flexible / it would be really easy to pump 3 times a day here. </p> <p>I really appreciate all your comments and help! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944457 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 09:26:20 +0000 snowjewelz 1944457@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A few friends that didn't BF said they did feel super pressured to BF and made to feel bad that they chose not to :sad: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944447 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 09:23:27 +0000 thismustbetheplace 1944447@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was essentially EP'ing in the hospital because of poor/no latch. Like the others, I pumped religiously every 2 hours to establish my supply and syringe fed him the colostrum. He ended up needing a little bit of formula b/c his sugar was low and he had a bit of jaundice... but don't skip the early pumping! That colostrum is liquid gold for babies, even if it seems like you're pumping for an absurd amount of time for the tiny bit you produce. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944391 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 08:55:30 +0000 blackbird 1944391@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I ended up EP ing but E had to have formula for her jaundice, i wasn't getting much off the pump, and she was in the NICU so she got a decent amount of formula. I was pumping but still got engorged and then had to do a lot of ice cycles to get the swelling down (i swelled so much, it trapped the milk in). It was a bad way to start off, so just heads up that can happen! I had no idea until a LC was like "holy crap, this isn't right" </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944385 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 08:52:02 +0000 psw27 1944385@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO was in the nicu so I was basically ep until he got out. Same advice as others, pump every 2 hours even if nothing really comes out. I got a lot more with hand expression at first, which the LC can show you how to do. It was a little weird at first but it was worth it for the little guy to get colostrum in those early nicu days! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944308 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 08:08:43 +0000 swurlygurl 1944308@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I started right away for baby #2, and like others, would pump every 2-3 hours, and syringe feed baby whatever colostrum I got.<br /> The nurses didn't give me any flack. I think they see so much bad stuff, they're probably glad to see a mom that wants to feed her baby. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944299 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 08:04:19 +0000 Mamaof2 1944299@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not an EPer but I had to pump for DD the 1st few days and I got a ton of colostrum! I would imagine you would pump and feed her that until your milk comes in </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944292 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 07:57:30 +0000 Anagram 1944292@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ChitownRo: yeah, I'm also hoping BFing works out this time. I hated, hated pumping. My LO also wouldn't latch correctly and just wasn't getting anything out, so the LC actually advised me to pump right away, or it would damage my supply (my LO not stimulating my body's milk production). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944289 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 07:56:07 +0000 Anagram 1944289@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@HappyBaker: the LC brought me a hospital grade pump and I pumped in this hospital when a baby would eat--every 2-3 hours. My LO had high jaundice numbers, so they'd taken her to be under the lights and were "pushing fluids" (which meant formula after however much I could pump/BF). I was really surprised at how much colostrum I got by pumping on that schedule and I'm fully convinced that's how my supply came in "early" and was a really strong supply.</p> <p>Just like with BFing, if you want to EP, you have to pump early and often. I didn't sleep through the night at the hospital--I set my alarm for every 2.5 hours and got up and pumped and took my colostrum down to the nursery by hour 3 because they were feeding LO every 3 hours. I was pumping what looked to me like a small amount of colostrum, but since a baby's tummy is the size of a marble it totally filled her up and she usually wouldn't take any formula after =) =)</p> <p>Good luck! EPing is so hard for the first few months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944288 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 07:55:36 +0000 ChitownRo 1944288@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I basically EPed from the beginning because LO just wouldn't latch. You will still have to pump every 2 hours or so to establish supply. You will get a few mLs of colostrum and can syringe feed that to your baby. They won't make you do formula unless your baby has low blood sugar. As someone who EPed for LO1, it is doable but I am going to try so hard to breastfeed future LOs. Pumping gets to be a pain </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/exclusively-pumping-from-day-1-what-to-do-at-the-hospital#post-1944268 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 07:40:23 +0000 HappyBaker 1944268@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Anyone exclusively pump from day 1? What did you do at the hospital? My milk didn't come in until like day 4 last time around, so I'm wondering what you do between giving birth and your milk coming in…if you were EBF then you'd just keep trying / they would get the tiny amount of colustrum you are making, but I'm wondering if you are EP-ing if you give them formula to hold them over? </p> <p>Also, did you get any flack from nurses / doctors for choosing to EP?</p> <p>Thanks! </p>