Just trying to get my head around things and wanting to be super organized.

I am 32 weeks pg with twins and am hoping to breastfeed. I've been searching through old threads about feeding and expressing. It seems that a lot of ladies who have twins have super dooper electric breast pumps.

This probably is such a stupid question, but why would you need one?
Is it something I should try to find at a good price now, and if you were to buy secondhand would you have to buy new breast parts or would sterilizing be just as good?
Hope someone can answer all my questions.

Thanks for reading.
Kerrie

hi my babies were born at 35+1 but couldnt suck feed for two weeks so i had to express for tube feeding,i was xpressing 2.5 hourly to have enough to feed tube feeds 4 hourly for 1 week until my supply increased , when they did start feeding they were not very good at it for another few weeks(tired easily) so i would express and bottle feed ebm i personally decided it was too much for me with having 4 children 3.3yrs and under as i found all the expressing plus breast and then bottle feeding all too much. i bel ieve alot of women need to express after feeding to help increase their supply but i never got that far

My twins were born at 32.2weeks & I expressed for approx 4weeks.

I used the Avent Isis manual pump & loved it. I'm planning on getting one for this bub if needed too.

I had no problems with expressing or my supply but other ladies do so maybe that has alot to do with the electric pump.

HTH & good luck.

My twins were born at 33 weeks so I also had to express, with the boys I hired an electric pump from breastfeeding assoc and it was really easy - I continued to do so after they came home so I could bottle one and breast the other as i felt like a dairy cow the one and only time I tried to feed both at one time! I have had two 'single' girls since then and brought a manual pump and still found that to be really easy My baby is nearly 9 weeks and I have over seven litres frozen in milk bags to use. the only thing i can say is no matter what you might read or be told if you find it to hard to express all the time dont let anyone make you feel bad if you dont breastfeed or find expressing too hard I know a few sets of twins that were bottlefeed with no problems! goodluck

Hi, firstly congratulations!!!



Do you mean why do you need to express, or why do you need an electric pump rather than a manual pump?

Some twin mums need to express because their bubs are prem and can't suck; others need to in order to build supply, others because 1 or both twins have trouble attaching, and others because its a choice to bottle feed ebm over breastfeeding.

If you end up falling into any of the above categories, a good electric pump is invaluable - firstly it saves your hands from getting exhausted, and secondly, it saves heaps of time - doing 2 boobs at once.




Not necessarily as you may not need to express.



Personally, I'd get new parts but probably sterilising is just as good.

My story:

My twins were born at 30 weeks so I had to express 7x daily to build my supply. They gradually started breast feeding at 33 weeks but still for various reasons one still hasn't got the knack of it.

At first I hired a pump for 1 month to save on costs until I knew for sure I wanted to buy one. In Adelaide the WCH hospital hires them; check your hospital. Otherwise ABA or National Pharmacies hire them. We DID have to supply our own kit regardless - so since purchasing a pump we now have 2 kits... (very worthwhile though for washing up)

I'm still expressing 6x daily, complementing their breast feeds with ebm.

All the best with it all!

Nerissa x

Thanks Gotlucky, Fuzjuz, Kylierae and Nerissa.
It makes a lot more sense now.
The hospital I am booked into hire Medela and Ameda so I will just wait till then. My hospital won't birth babies under 34 weeks gestation, so I think that is why I feel the need to be super organised, just in case we are flown away.

One more question- if I was to use a pump whilst in hospital, would the collection part just be sterilised?

Kerrie

Usually in hospital they'll allocate you a set of collection parts, and you sterilise those (and keep track of them) yourself.
The commercial grade sterilisers are "closed systems" - no milk ever comes into contact with any of the motor parts, so no need to sterilise the actual 'pump'/machine part.

FWIW this is something to consider with second hand machines. There is a very, very small risk of cross contamination with most second hand machines as they're typically 'open systems' (it freaked me out when I read about it)...
http://www.llli.org//llleaderweb/LV/LVJunJul04p54.html

imho I would initially use the Hospital pumps - you'll get some idea of whether or not you'll need a home pump. Then if you decide you need one, purchase a new one, and resell it when you've finished - rental costs can add up very quickly!
If you find you need occasional expressing only, I'd recommend an Avent Isis manual pump - also handy for travelling too.

Good luck!

Levity, thanks so much for that link!
That has definitely made up my mind.
I'll definitely be buying new.

A big congratulations on your new twins too! How very exciting.
Kerrie