I'm having to pump for Charlotte at the minute although we are still perservering on getting her to stay latched on & I'm hopeful we will be able to get her back on the breast at some point.
I'm struggling though with the amount of visitors we are getting. I understand that everyone is excited & wants to meet her & I actually love seeing them but its really interfering with my routine for pumping & feeding. I'm comfortable pumping or trying to BF in front of my close friends but not in front of family (mine or OHs, with the exception of my mum) or OH's friends. People often come round & say they'll only stay for a short time but are still there an hour or 2 later by which point my boobs are as hard as rocks & Charlotte wants feeding so I end up just going straight to the bottle rather than trying to get her latched on first which is what I normally do. I could go in another room but my pump is wired up in the living room, right next to my recliner chair & a table with all the stuff on that I might need while pumping & its a pain in the backside to move it all. We also have my step daughter who's 16 coming round every single night after school & staying for hours at a time. I have ended up pumping in front of her but I'm really not comfortable doing it. I dont want to start asking people to leave but cant really see any way around it unless the novelty is going to wear off soon & the visitors dry up. I cant be the only person that is having this problem so just wondered what eveyone else did to get round it.

Im not exclusively pumping but I am pumping very regularly as need to get enough milk to feed another baby....as such I am having to pump infront of everyone, even OHs brother and finance which was a bit awkward but I did warn them when they came round I HAD to do it!
I leave my pump plugged in where I can reach the computer (guess what I am doing right now....haha) and only move it at night.
Im sure the visitors will ease off soon but in the meantime maybe just make it clear you have to pump every couple of hours and you need to work on her latch (some people will squirm at the talk but tough....your baby comes first!) so could they keep visits short as you need to be able to concentrate 100% on her when it comes to trying to feed. Noone decent would be offended by you needing your own space to feed your baby when you have had some problems.

I hope you find a way around it. This is one of the reasons I stopped

Squish's suggestions sound good, otherwise just excuse yourself to leave the room? I know it's hard though. xx

I used to just excuse myself and go in the bedroom If it was my family or close friends i'd attach myself and then cover up with a muslin square

The visitors will soon ease and it will be much easier

Aw Katy

Cath, tell them in no uncertain terms that LO will still be here when everything has gotten a bit easier for you.

We've had to be a bit firmer, it was driving us insane.

Truth is LO doesn't give a damn if s/he sees granny granda and uncle fred, and it's in LOs best interests that you get done what needs doing. The feelings of visitors has to come 2nd. And it won't be forever.

I don't exclusively pump, but am trying to get enough to continue BFing whilst at work.. but I hate pumping infront of people - even though I will BF aywhere!

But I tend to do what Vici does and excuse myself and sit in my bedroom - although I don't tend to have many visitors anymore!

The number of visitors will drop - but in the mean time is there any time when for a couple of hours you don't pump, and suggest visitors come then?

I just had to be firm, and say that LO needed feeding and they could come back later or another day. I made it clear when they arrived that they'd have to leave before X time.

Well done on Exclusively Pumping. I did it for several weeks, and despite his tongue tie my Ezio learnt to breastfeed!

this was the reason that i gave up breastfeeding - and it makes me so angry

i was desperate for a natural birth and to breastfeed and i failed at both. we had so many visitors it was ridiculous, i spent many hours crying attached to a pump after everyone finally left whilst simultaneously sticking a bottle in audrey's mouth (she couldn't latch on to me) and trying not to fall asleep. at this stage it took an hour to bottlefeed her, 1 hour to express 1oz and then an hour later it all started again + visitors...

i really hope you get it sorted and can get your visitors to understand your situation. breastfeeding is truly an amazing thing and i hope you can persevere

xx

Aww Cath, I know what you mean. I've ended up traipsing upstairs with all of my 'equipment' a couple of times but I didn't feel this was a good resolution either; I felt rushed and not relaxed so didn't express to the full extent.

I'd be inclined to tell people upon their arrival "Lovely to see you but I'm really sorry I'm going to have to ask you to leave in x mins because we're trying to get Charlotte into a routine and we need to get it sorted ASAP." I know that you can't ask everyone to go (like step daughter for instance) but can you ask OH to have a quiet word with her?

Also, like others have said, the visitors do dry up pretty quickly; we've not had anyone for a week now, other than my Mum who was invited for a couple of days. It's actually nice to have our home to ourselves and 'exclusive' time with April.

Alternatively, banish the visitors to the kitchen while you're 'busy' and ask them to whip up a meal which if they prepare, they can stay and share with you! x x x

I remember being like this to, hated trying to feed and everyone coming in and wanting to see son and I was only a new to it all so was embarrassed if I was feeding. I have left the room sometimes to go upstairs and feed at the start as baby was naturally hungry being new born. Bit of a pain in the bum. Pumps shouldn't be used for a while as your body is still deciding how much milk to make and you dont want to make to much. Leaking everywhere. Most understand if you say your feeding as believe it or not they dont want to see it,. it will die down soon and you will be wondering why no one calls then