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Pumping 101 & the Best Pumping Accessories

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pumping featured imageeditedI’ve packed away the pump! After one year of pumping at work plus a few months during my maternity leave, the day has finally come!

Pumping has been such a crazy journey but I am so happy I was able to do this for my daughter despite all of the challenges.  When you first get your pump it may be a little overwhelming. I remember thinking I had no clue what all these parts were and how they went together. I had so many questions! When do you start pumping? How often? How do you build a freezer supply? What is “let-down“?

I thought I’d pass along some tips and info about products that really helped keep me going.

double electric pump and pump bra

Medela Pump in Style tote with PumpEase pump bra

The Pump: #1 Tip- get a good one!  I highly recommend buying a double-electric pump like the best-selling  Medela Pump in Style Advanced Tote Pump or renting an even more efficient hospital grade pump if you will be pumping on a regular basis at work.  Please do not waste your time with a manual pump or a single sided pump if you will be pumping daily!  Inefficient (cheaper) pumps can decrease your milk supply by not being able to remove as much milk from your breast, which signals your body to produce less milk over time.  Under The Affordable Care Act that went into effect January 1, 2013, your health insurance should cover the purchase of a breast pump, but women are reporting that sometimes this requires jumping through hoops.  Make sure to contact your health insurance provider directly before you make your purchase to know what is covered.

The Pump Bra:  A must have!  You do not need to resort to holding the milk bottles with your arm (or knees!) to be able to do other things while pumping.  There is a great solution for this problem!  A great fitting pump bra will hold the flanges and bottles securely in place so you can read, talk on the phone, or even work on a computer if you must.  I really like the Pump-Ease bras with a swim suit material and triple sets of bra hooks that adjust to your  level of engorgement and/or weight which can rapidly change during the first few months post-partum.   They even come in some cute prints like cherries or retro polka dots  which can help you feel like less of a cow when you are attached by the tatas to your pump!  The bandeau style is great for slipping over nursing bras and camisoles so you can minimize the need to remove your entire top before pumping.  This makes a big difference in the long run, especially if you are pumping several times a day at work!

breastpump parts

Pumping parts including angled shields

Flanges:  Break free from the standard flanges that come from your pump!  Breasts are not one-size, so I’m not sure why expensive breast pumps only provide one size of flanges.  The standard size flanges may not be the best fit for you.  Some studies show that the majority of women need larger flanges, but some need smaller as well.  Here’s a good article on flange fit by Ameda.  Most likely you will just have to start pumping and then see if you might need to make any changes.

The main reason I looked for alternative flanges right away is that  I could not pump without leaning forward!  How could you ever relax and watch a tv show while pumping when you can’t even sit up straight let along lean back a little?  I knew I wasn’t the only one who had this problem so thankfully when I looked into this, I found the Pumpin’ Pal Angled Super Shields.  I also bought an air-dry mesh bag from the same company to keep my parts for storage.   I can’t recommend these angled flanges enough for being able to relax while pumping.  (Note: their instructions say to insert their shield into the standard pump flange but I just used it in place of the flange that came with my pump and it worked great!)

Pumping Guidelines and Breast Milk Storage:

WorkandPump.com is a great resource for everything related to pumping.  It can help you decide how often you should pump and for how long.  This really varies from person to person depending on how much you are able to pump at each session and how much milk you need for your baby at various times.  This will change over time as you introduce solids and as you wean the baby off breastmilk entirely. Personally, I pumped three times a day for almost a year at 9am, 12pm and 3pm before going to twice a day at 10am and 2pm for a couple of months, then to once a day at 12pm for about a month before shortening my pumping time until I could stop entirely. Kellymom.com is a great site for anything and everything related to breastfeeding, including breast milk storage guidelines that let you know how long milk is good for at room temperature, in the fridge and in the freezer.

Milk storage containers:  Once I went back to work, I mostly used the Medela bottles for milk storage in the fridge and also for feeding.  While I was building up my supply during maternity leave and in the rare cases where I had an over-supply built up in the fridge, I froze my milk.  The most popular freezing container for breastmilk are the plastic ziploc like breastmilk storage bags but some people also use plastic storage containers or very clean ice cube trays and ziploc freezer bags. There are several brands of plastic (BPA-free) breast milk storage freezer bags, but from reviews online and from word of mouth of friends and coworkers, I was told the Lanisoh Milk Storage bags are the ones to get and they never let me down.  A lot of reviews of the milk storage bags online state that many brands leak during defrosting.  I never experienced this, but I usually did not fill the bag with more than three or four ounces at a time.  When transferring milk to the bags, I would roll the milk bag along the side of the counter to make sure as much air is removed from the bag as possible.  I would then freeze them flat to create “shingles” that I could then place in a shoe box.  Some other women like to use a gift bag with a hole cut out at the bottom for easy dispensing of the oldest milk.

I also bought a deep freezer from Costco as the breast milk lasts significantly longer (6-12 months) in the deep freeze than a regular fridge/freezer combo unit (3-6 months).  This isn’t necessary for most people as you would be using up the frozen milk quicker than 6 months.  You may also need a mini-fridge at work, but my work pump room had a fridge that I used when I pumped multiple times a day.  When I was down to just one session at noon, I only used the cooler bag with ice pack that came with my Medela pump and that kept the milk chilled enough.

medela pumping

Medela labeling bottle lids and storage tray organizer

Accessories: As you pump more, you may need more bottles that will attach to your pump if you are also using them for storage in the fridge.  I ended up buying a couple extra sets of the 6oz bottles off Amazon over time as well as the medium flow nipples as my baby got older.  The entire Medela pump system really worked well for me.  I had no issues with using the bottles for feeding, which meant I didn’t have to clean separate bottles for feeding and storage.  I also bought labeling lids that have little click wheels built  into the lids that  indicate what day/time you pumped the milk.  I also bought the fridge storage tray that had an arrow that showed what was the oldest milk.  This was a good system to keep the bottles all in one place in the fridge so no matter who was watching the baby, it was clear to them which bottle had the oldest milk and should be used first.

Cleaning: One of the hardest parts about pumping day in and day out is cleaning everything at the end of the day so it’s ready the next morning.  It’s always a good idea to wash your pump parts and bottles in with free and clear/baby-friendly soap and hot water as soon as you are finished pumping, but that is not always possible.  If you are at work or traveling, there are several options.  If you have a sink and fridge available, you could rinse your parts and store in the fridge in between uses.  There are also special wipes that are made for cleaning pump parts in between uses when you don’t have access to a sink.  Once your parts are clean, they will need to be sterilized at least once a day.  In the beginning when I had a newborn I would hand wash all the parts and bottles and sterilize them after each pumping  (which is probably more than was necessary) using the Medela microwave sterilization bags.  They can be used 20 times each so they last quite a while.  After a few months when I returned back to work, I would sterilize all of the parts and bottles only once a day in the evening.  Finally when the baby was older and I was less paranoid about sterilization, I bought a dishwasher basket and I felt like I got a big chunk of my life back!  I did use organic dishwasher detergent to make sure there weren’t any chemical residues getting to my baby.  I will probably go this route sooner with the next baby. Some women buy several sets of pump parts which may also really help out in the long run.  When I prepped the bag, bottles and parts for storage, I soaked them in a vinegar solution and finally some of the fatty milk residue came off the bottles!  I really wish I would have incorporated that into my routine earlier.

my lactation room

my lactation room

Lactation Rooms:  In a perfect world, we would all have our own private office with a lock that we could utilize for pumping when ever we needed it.  For many women, this is not an option!  The new health care legislation requires “employers to provide reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom place for nursing mothers to express breast milk during the workday, for one year after the child’s birth.”  It is your right to have access to a lactation room, but many employers will treat this more like a favor.  It’s a good idea to talk this out with your supervisor before you go on maternity leave so everyone is on the same page about the breaks you will need as well as a room set aside your use.

Low Supply: If you are experiencing low supply with a Medela pump, the first thing you should do is replace your pump membranes (the little white rubbery parts on the yellow valves).  You should have extras that came with your pump, but it is a good idea to keep an extra pack on hand just in case.  These little guys destroyed my pump production for a couple of weeks!  I had thought my supply was drastically dwindling and resorted to all kinds of other measures before finally reading about replacing the membranes.  If the suction seems low, this is most likely the culprit (if it’s not part of your shirt in the flange or some other similar scenario).

If you still are dealing with a low supply, there are some other things you can try recommended on KellyMom that would help.  You could also consider a galactagogue (something that increases milk supply) such as eating oatmeal, taking fenugreek, drinking Mother’s Milk Tea, taking More Milk Plus, etc.  I took More Milk Plus and at the recommended dosage I found it increased my supply even with a pump membrane that needed replacement.  After a couple of days I started getting really hot so I do think it was doing something!

breastfeeding room, express roomThough it seems like a lot to think about, pumping will soon be second nature.  I have heard some people refer to their pump as their “lifeline to home” and this did ring true for me.  Even though I couldn’t physically be with my baby, I could give her my milk and comfort and provide for her in that way, which made all of the difference in the world for me, as well as the overall health of my baby.



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