Mrs. Vay has been using a single electric breast pump, but her amount has been steadily decreasing and she finds all the pumping incredibly tedious. We were thinking of renting a double breast pump, but she’s concerned the double breast pump won’t work because she says she needs a hand free to squeeze as she pumps.
The company that rents them won’t let her do a trial and we have to pay for a whole month, so she’s afraid to plop down the money. Anyone have relevant knowledge here?
Are you using a local TW brand or a Western one? Perhaps a quality issue?
Can’t imagine using a single. Doesn’t it just double the amount of time it takes to do the same thing? Though I guess if concentrating on only one really allows you to improve the flow, then maybe it’s more effective that way. We never tried it.
I think we are using the Medela Freestyle (a double) right now. It straps right on to you so your hands are somewhat free to go back and forth and squeeze whichever breast needs squeezing or adjusting. I think she isn’t as active about massaging though, I think she’s just happy not to drip 
If she uses a double, you need to assist by massaging.
She can encourage milk flow with warm towel compreses and by massaging the breasts. Also, a great way to do this is by nursing her baby. Nurse right. pump left, then swich for next time.
The body is remarkable, and the nursing process particularly so. You wife’s body knows the difference between the baby and the pump. Her body will adjust to not only how much and how often the baby nurses, but what times of day, and what the milk contains. As you baby grows, the milk changes. Nutrients change, vitamines change, and antibodies change. For as long as your baby is actually nursing, the milk will always be exactly what the baby needs. It’s a pretty marvelous process.
So I’m happy to hear that she’s nursing and pumping her milk. It is very healthy for both mother and baby. Please try to keep encouraging her. There is another thread here about a nursing support group. Here’s the link:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 6&t=109891
Maybe someone there can be of assistance and support. Good on you guys for wanting what’s best for your baby.
just my 
my wife has ‘a double’ (Medela, Swiss product, bought in Taiwan) which works well and sometimes she just uses one side to be able to increase the output. She drinks Karamalz malt beer from Costco to stimulate milk production. She says it really makes a difference.
my wife is using a double and can use them both at the same time.
[quote=“housecat”]She can encourage milk flow with warm towel compreses and by massaging the breasts. Also, a great way to do this is by nursing her baby. Nurse right. pump left, then swich for next time.
The body is remarkable, and the nursing process particularly so. You wife’s body knows the difference between the baby and the pump. Her body will adjust to not only how much and how often the baby nurses, but what times of day, and what the milk contains. As you baby grows, the milk changes. Nutrients change, vitamines change, and antibodies change. For as long as your baby is actually nursing, the milk will always be exactly what the baby needs. It’s a pretty marvelous process.
So I’m happy to hear that she’s nursing and pumping her milk. It is very healthy for both mother and baby. Please try to keep encouraging her. There is another thread here about a nursing support group. Here’s the link:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 6&t=109891
Maybe someone there can be of assistance and support. Good on you guys for wanting what’s best for your baby.[/quote]
I was also going to recommend that group. There are currently parents from different kinds of situations in the group, and the lady who runs the group as well as Doula Angie have lots of personal experience and years of assisting others with breastfeeding, between them. You might even find someone with a pump they are not using and willing to lend to you. Just post your questions on the facebook group page.
Also, if your wife is away from the baby quite a lot so needs to pump, she could try the 24-nurse-in, where she spends a weekend just nursing the baby at home in bed. This usually really helps with production.
Hi, here are some ideas:
Are the breast shields the right size? If her nipples rub against the " tunnel" the shields may be too small
Liquids beget liquids - drink tons of liquids
Mother’s Milk Tea can be found at some baby supply stores near hospitals, they enourage milk prduction fr many ppl
Fenugreek supplements 胡芦巴
Does she have clogged ducts? Does she get engorged?
Put a cup of uncooked rice in a long sock, tie a knot and microwave for 10 seconds and use that as compress as shes pumping
The body makes as much milk as the baby needs, so is she feeding or pumping as per bbys schedule? If she misses feeds, the body will not produce as much
La leche league taiwan info here. Ive never contacted them but lets hope the info is current. llli.org/taiwanchinese.html
Its a good idea by the pp about borrowing a double pump from someone in the bf support group to try out. Im using my medela pump in styleor id lend it to you. But the hospital grade ones i hear have better suction and ppl get more results with those, so renting it for a month could be worth the try.
Just some ideas ive picked up along the way. Good luck to your wife. I know how frustrating it can be.
Gosh people thanks so much for all your feedback. You have been immensely helpful.
I have another thing to ask, and if you think I should direct this directly to the support group, please let me know, but here’s the thing: Mrs. Vay is really not liking the breast-feeding. She doesn’t have the energy or patience for doing it the regular old-fashioned way, and she finds the pumping tedious and painful as well. She understands there seem to be statistically-demonstrated health benefits to giving the baby breast milk, but I made the mistake of mentioning her that “What to Expect the First Year” said something like ‘most of the important benefits can be attained by breast feeding for the first six weeks’ and so that’s what she’s got her heart set on now as liberation day.
However, she did ask whether I can be more specific on what “most of the important benefits” means, so I see a ray of hope for convincing her to stick it out a little longer without being pushy. Can anyone reference me to some pertinent info on that one? Something succinct perhaps? Based on past info, I really do believe that there are important benefits at stake, both for the baby and for her.
womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/
That site has useful information. I thought you could use it as a start. It seems to be pretty easy to navigate with everything very compartmentalized. I just googled “benefits of breastfeeding for mother and baby.”
If you can get her to attend a meeting with the other women there in TPE, that may help a LOT! I already knew about all the benefits to both mother and baby, and I was still ready to quite at the three month mark. I hadn’t gotten that far when I got mastitis. It was very, VERY painful. I insisted my ex go out at 11 pm one night and buy our fist can of formula so that I wouldn’t be faced with another excruciating feeding, but he talked me into trying just one more time–promising on pain of death that he’d go straight out after the next time I nursed if I told him to, no more questions. But the next time went wonderfully!
When your baby is still small, nursing–which should seem the most natural thing in the world–can be very difficult. You have to sit there with either not enough milk (my son sucked blood from me for the first three days), or drenched in excess milk which seems to pour from one breast faster than you can absorb it, as you baby nurses from the other. And that’s if the baby is latched on correctly. Usually, you’re breasts are heavy, warm, and covered with tiny hickies! Depending on delivery methods, it’s also sometimes just plain painful/uncomfortable to sit and hold your baby while it nurses. C shaped nursing pillows are available. Buy one of these for your wife if she doesn’t have one. They really, really help.
And nursing will wear you out! I put up with a lot of nonsense because I’d be tired after nursing, but a woman’s body is making milk, using its own resources to make it, and using its own resources to manufacture it. It takes a lot out of you! So bring your wife a glass of water–you get very thirsty when you nurse–and be extra sweet to her. She deserves it! You may think that the hard part is over because the baby’s birth is over, but that’s just the most painful part. You wife is still very constantly attached to this little one who needs her, demands physical strength from her, emotional stamina, and further sacrifice of her body itself. It can be very overwhelming and very exhausting.
Take her to a meeting. Talking to other moms about these things will help. Really.
P.S. I ended up nursing not for three months, but for three years! Most women will not do that, and that’s okay. The point is that I got through the rough patch. You can help your wife through it, too!
6 months is recommended to attain the basic benefits of bf, as I recall, but obviously you can go as many years as you are willing. And any amount is better than none.
Although it’s her first time, she will feel relieved to know that millions have encountered the same problems before her…and resolved them successfully. It just takes a little digging to find the right nugget of information you may need to resolve your particular problem as it appears to you. LLL email mailing lists are really useful for getting quality little nuggets of info like that to help you. Taipei should have one.
Make sure you’re taking as much off of her shoulders as you can so she can sneak in more naps. Rest is an important component of milk production.
Vay,
One really big issue with breastfeeding is, it’s made out to be all romantic and lovely, bonding with baby and clean and gorgeous. It’s not. I was OUTRAGED when I discovered it was tiring, messy, painful, lonely, and a constant struggle to get right. I wanted to write to every single baby magazine I had read and tell them, please post pictures of women with black circles under their eyes, spit-up all over themselves, tears of frustation running down their cheeks. The romantic notions we were given set me up with such high expectations. I was determined to stick it out, but I can see how many women give up in those first weeks. I was lucky that I went to the playgroup and there were lots of women with experience and currently nursing, so they could offer assistance and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Your wife may feel this way, too. It’s really hard at first, especially with the first child.
The first few weeks are really, really hard. If your wife can make it to about 8 weeks, she will probably last the long-haul. If she feels pumping is easier than nursing, she may well not have the technique right and could well benefit from a visit from someone, popping along to the meeting, or even just coming along to Parents’ Place in Neihu for the open play tomorrow. (Angie will be there and she is very helpful and understanding of all the challenges, so she won’t make anyone feel like they are asking silly questions or unecessarily uncooperative. She also is willing to help with transition if things are working against the mom and baby - some can be too gung-ho and not see when it’s time to find other options.) We’ll be there from 10am till 12 noon. At least one other nursing mom will be there.
Another thing you could do is contact Angie and ask her to do a post-partum visit for a small fee. She could then help you all in the privacy of your own home. This sounds a bit like an ad, but she is not only a good friend but I truly respect what she does and many families have great things to say. Not only that, she really has a “thing” for helping new moms nurse successfully. She’d be happy to help. This is her website: http://www.beautifulbeginnings.com.tw/page/page/5969587.htm
The American Academy of Pediatrics, WHO, and numerous other medical groups recommend 6 months of EXCLUSIVE breastfeeding, that means no water or formula. After 6 months, other foods and liquids can be introduced, although the benefits of breastmilk last well beyond six months. The WHO recommends nursing for a minimum of 2 years, and then as long as mom and baby desire. Breastfeeding can be difficult the first month or so as it is a new skill that two take part in (and one of those parties is also learning how to breathe and poop on their own simultaneously - and in a completely foreign environment to them - so quite a lot to process!). If you can get past the learning curve (and I had my own several weeks of tears and frustration), I personally have found nursing to be a very easy and relaxing way to parent my child. I have never enjoyed pumping and found nursing to be much more efficient.
I think support is crucial. If your wife is Chinese-speaking, the local Taiwan Breastfeeding Association at www.breastfeeding.org.tw have some really lovely members. La Leche League has Chinese-speaking groups that are active in central and southern Taiwan. And finally, in Taipei, we have an English-speaking breastfeeding support group hosted by Parents’ Place (I am the leader). In any of these groups, you will find moms who have been there and just want to help out other moms.
Finally, if you’d like professional help, there is a list of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (an international certification through the auspices of the WHO) in Taiwan can be downloaded at: bhp.doh.gov.tw/breastfeeding/pdf/IBCLC.xls. This Excel file is in Chinese but is pretty straightforward to figure out. This list was posted on the Department of Health breastfeeding promotion website on 2011-6-10, the file is called: 國際認證泌乳顧問名單. The first IBCLC in Taipei is Dr. Jean Yang at No. 424, Section 2, Zhonghua Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City 108 (near the botanic gardens). She speaks excellent English and her clinic accepts NHI.
Phone: 2303-2450
Email: Youth.clinic@msa.hinet.net