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03/04/2005
Here's to the ladies who pump
Nothing funny here, folks — just some straight-up information that might be useful to those who are facing some heavy-duty pumping. I learned a lot of this late in the game, so I'm posting it in the hope that someone who's just starting out might benefit early on. It's mostly Medela-specific, but some of it might apply universally.
- Lube it. Grease up your areolae with lanolin before you start. It will help create a good seal within the cones and will reduce irritation from the friction. Do this every time; the difference when you don't is noticeable.
- Soup up your collection kit.
- If your cones are uncomfortable you may need a different size. Older collection kits come with only a single-piece unit, so if that's what you have you might consider switching to a newer set; Medela has now moved to a two-part system that allows you to swap out the cone as necessary.
- Speaking of swapping out cones, the Medela SoftFit breast shields, which are made of some kind of flexible space-age polymer — okay, silicone — are infinitely more comfortable for me than the standard hard plastic set.
- If your cones are uncomfortable you may need a different size. Older collection kits come with only a single-piece unit, so if that's what you have you might consider switching to a newer set; Medela has now moved to a two-part system that allows you to swap out the cone as necessary.
- Go hands-free. I do this by the simple method of pulling up the cups of my nursing bra enough to hold the cones in place. There are more esoteric ways of doing it, ranging from special bras to the rubber band trick. If you want to move around while you pump, these methods are a better bet than mine, but I spend my time pumping in front of the computer, so I don't need the cones to be all that secure. Note that the SoftFit breast shields are not compatible with Medela's hands-free pumping rig; you'll have to engineer your own.
- Acquire multiple collection kits. Stock up especially on the membranes, which do wear out eventually, acquiring little tears that will compromise effectiveness. I don't mean just one extra set, either — I have four and still spend more time cleaning parts than I'd like. Which brings us to...
- Throw your rig into the dishwasher. Every part of the Medela system is dishwasher safe except the SoftFit shields and the tubing that connects the collection kit to the pump itself. Even the tiny white membranes are dishwasher safe, but I haven't come up with a good way to contain them within the dishwasher so that they don't get lost and mangled. However...
- You can use a collection kit more than once before washing it. Some women use the refrigerator trick, where they put their pump parts into a Ziploc full of water then refrigerate; it keeps any remaining droplets of milk from spoiling. I, however, live dangerously: since breast milk keeps at room temperature for up to 10 hours, I don't bother. I usually use a setup twice before washing. Since I'm pumping every three hours, I stay well within that time limit. Plus...
- Reduce the number of parts in play by pumping directly into the bottles you feed with. I'm using Avent bottles, which are incompatible with Medela pumps, but I bought a set of couplers that allow me to pump into Avent bottles, eliminating Medela's collection bottles entirely. I cap those and refrigerate; when it's time for a feeding I just clap a nipple on the bottle and go.
- A manual pump is probably insufficient for more than just occasional use. While I get my highest yield per pump with the Avent Isis — man, is that thing comfy — it takes much longer than a double electric and makes my hand and shoulder sore to use it more than once a day.
- Conventional wisdom says that if you're going to be pumping exclusively, you'll need a hospital-grade pump. I don't know if this is because they're more efficient and extract more milk, or because they're heavier duty and won't wear out like a pump made for occasional use might. I have both, a rented Lactina and a Pump In Style, but have no opinion about which is better for my milk supply. I prefer the Lactina only because it is much, much quieter — you'd be surprised how grating that wheezing noise can be at 4 A.M.
- If you have a choice in hospital-grade pumps, the Medela Symphony rocks the motherfucking house. It has two independent pump actions so that if you lose suction on one breast — say your jury-rigged hand-free arrangement slips — the other side keeps pumping unabated. It also has a gentle letdown cycle; on other pumps you can mimic that by manually adjusting the speed and suction, but in the dark of night it's nice not to have to.
- Don't make yourself suffer with low supply. There are plenty of ways you can increase supply if you notice it's dwindling — increasing the number of pumps, decreasing the time between pumps, so-called power pumping, herbal supplements, et cetera. For me the biggest increase has come through profligate use of domperidone. It's not approved for use as a galactagogue in the U.S., but it's easily available on the Internet without a prescription if you're feeling bold. With domperidone my supply has doubled, allowing me to keep pumping happily — well, not happily, since this is me you're talking to — instead of being discouraged by the fact that Charlie's demand was far outpacing my supply.
Pumping mothers, what other tips do you wish you'd had when you were first starting? Let us give the Internet the rich, nutritious hindmilk of our collective experience.
Uh.
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I have no info. I was never able to pump with Chip. So I am reading your advice religiously to hope to be able to pump with this baby so I can atleast be able to use bottles occasionally so that if I have to leave her with dad that I can be gone longer than 2 hours without having to rush home.
I was doing my pumping at work in my office. It's important to have a lock on the door and a note that I'll be right back. If they think I'm in there, they'll start talking through the door. I had to be completely relaxed to get a good amount.
Also, I had to remind my mother that every drop is sacred, so if Janie didn't finish the bottle, not to throw it away. She'll be hungry again soon enough and this stuff is liquid gold.
To warm or defrost, put the baggie of milk into a coffee cup of warm water. Do not put it in the microwave.
Finally, don't decide to have your first bottle feeding after you've pumped because then if the baby screams and refuses the bottle, you won't have anything left in your breasts to calm her with. Believe me, it was a very stressful and long night, not the fuzzy and warm "Daddy's first feeding" I imagined.
Advice I wish I had gotten:
If your nipples do not point down, but instead kind of point up, you will not be able to go hands-free. Just know this. Nothing will cause that pump to defy gravity othar than holding it on.
If you had a breast reduction: Often you can breastfeed. You may do it with ease, or you may have diminished supply, or you may not be able to do it at all. Do the best you can, let the rest go.
Fenugreek increased my supply, but also made me stink horribly and made the baby terribly gassy, so I gave it up. But it does work effectively to increase supply.
Julie- I grew to hate that wheeze with every fiber of my being.
Oh, and RE: Breastfeeding after reduction - there is no way to know whether you will be able to or won't before the baby arrives and your milk comes in. So mindfucking it for nine months of your pregnancy will have zero effect on the results. Best to let it go.
Not that I speak from personal experience or anything.
I wish I had seen this 2.5 years ago! I pumped while working for over a year with my daughter. Often in a borrowed office without a lock on the door. No fun. I never could figure out the hands free thing, either! Man, this would have made my life easier back then. I grew to despise pumping so much that I have only attemted it a handful of times this time around with my son. It gets old, and it gets old fast. And I wasn't pumping nearly as much as you do. You deserve a big pat on the back! I admire your dedication.
I have just set the pump aside to get in on this conversation... I don't know if I'm in a position yet to give advice. I'm still working it out. I have made some discoveries though.
1. I can't get enough suck on the Isis or the mechanical attachment to Medela's hand pump. So I pump by hand. I can only hope I will have muscular arms soon.
2. Breastfeeding and pumping are two-handed events for me and my unwieldy chest. Last I knew I was at a DD. I refuse to know what's after that so I couldn't give you an exact read. But there is not hands-free anything with this boob-age. Not that I know of.
And a question I still have. When you have pumped and you bring milk with you for some out-of-house event, how do you heat that milk up?
Thanks for opening up this topic. I will lube up and get back to work.
Once Claire was six months old and on solids we realized we could water down my milk. Claire would drink it with up to half water. That made it a lot easier for me to not weep piteously when old bags of milk had to go down the sink.
Here's to pumping while reading blogs! My desk and keyboard had a thin milky film.
Yeah, the wheeze. Eh.
I did some pumping with my son, mainly because I was working one day a week and needed him to take bottles (I am not an expert pumper!). I found the Avent Isis gave me some sort of tendonitis but the PIS worked great for me. Medela makes some microwave bags that you can sterilize stuff in - put in some water and put them in the microwave. They are supposed to have a hole in the side! I haven't used it (I tended more to oversupply, OAL, and engorgement), but oatmeal also is supposed to increase supply.
When out and you need to warm some, you can get a cup of hot water almost anywhere (for tea), which you can cool down with some cold water enough to make a good soaking bath to put the baggie in. Or, you can bring a small thermos of hot water for dunking.
Meredith, I'm a G-cup (I know, I know, believe me, I know) and I can do the hands-free thing I didn't realize I was lucky in that respect!
I don't bother warming milk beyond what it takes to liquefy the fatty stuff that solidifies at the top during refrigeration. This is true even at home I'd rather not create the expectation that every meal will be delivered warm, so I bring it up only to about room temperature.
When I'm going out, I put a bottle from the fridge into the diaper bag and count on it to a) stay cool enough not to spoil; and b) warm up enough for it to homogenize when I shake it gently before feeding. Our trips are short and Charlie only goes a few hours between feedings at this point so I don't worry too much about keeping it unrefrigerated.
Lissie, I'm laughing about the hole in the side I threw away the first of my microwave bags because I thought that was a tear!
Also, you can use those bags for far more than the 25 uses they say. I discarded my bags only when they'd started to crinkle from use, which was after about 35 trips through the nuke, I'd estimate. (Those bags were a lifesaver when we were in the hotel in Connecticut without a dishwasher.)
Pazel, we use milk left over from the previous feeding, too to clarify, two feedings from a single bottle, but no more. I'm damned if I'm going to pour hard-won milk down the drain before using every drop possible.
This statement does not constitute medical advice and has not been evaulated by the FDA.
Looking at a picture of my baby gave me BIG TIME letdown every time!
Julie,
I am so loving your blog! The membranes and other various teeny bits from your pump should fit into a nipple cage (scary thought that evokes!) available from a discounter like Walmart or Babies R Us. Just make the plastic mesh isn't too widely spaced.They fit in the top rack of the dishwasher. Wish I'd known about the Domperidone....Fenugreek was a big fizzle for me and the only thing worse than the sound of a Pump in Style at 4am is one operating for MINIMAL return! All The Best, Tori Howard
If fenugreek doesn't increase your supply (all it did for me was make me smell like Mrs. Butterworth), try oatmeal and/or blessed thistle supplements. Those helped.
Like Julie, I didn't rinse between uses, just relied on the antibacterial properties of breastmilk.
I learned to pump with my back to my office door, because my coworkers are under the impression that a closed door means "Knock and then breeze right in."
i pumped twice a day at work for 8 months.. i had a 'made by moms pumping band' (google it) and it was a LIFESAVER. meant i could read and play gameboy whilst pumping. :) totally worth every penny.
Couplers! I need some! where? help!
I have Avent at home but when I go back to work I'll be using a Medela hospital-grade pump, at the hospital, since that's where I work. yeah.
Thinking about pumping and pouring and storing and thawing and re-pouring and twice the bottles to wash has been boggling my mind. I think couplers are the answer but I haven't seen them anywhere.
Of course this is all theoretical since it seems that my 39.5w baby has no interest in actually coming out...
Things I didn't find out 'til the second time around:
1) Caffeine increases your milk production. Days that I sucked down 34 oz. + of caffeinated tea and had a Starbucks mocha frap. were my highest production days - milk quantity and at work. There was no sign in baby boy that he was affected in any way by the caffeine (apparently very little caffeine actually reaches baby via your milk) - he slept just the same whether I had caffeine or not.
2) Maybe this is along the lines of "a watched pot never boils"..but when I read while pumping I produced a lot more milk. I think it just took my mind off work junk so I didn't brood over what meeting or task I was about to tackle next.
I liked the entire Lemony Snickett series - the books were just the right size to fit laid out on top of my Medela Pimp n Style, oops, PUMP n' Style - so I didn't have to be hands-free to read. And, most book stores have these little book-holder plastic gadgets that will help you hold the book pages in place even if you can't do hands-free so well.
3) There are these new Avent "disposable" (to be used 3 times or so) collection cups that fit w/ an Avent nipple that are intended for milk storage/freezing. (Maybe these are the one's Julie was talking about already?)
These are super nifty, and fit perfectly into my day-care's bottle warmer. She (day care mom) much prefers these to frozen bags, which had a nasty tendecy to rip/tear when being defrosted/heated up. This baby is picky about his nipples (BOTTLE nipples) so, she actually would just dump the warmed up milk into his favorite "Comfi" bottles.
And, after you're done b-feeding these make lovely mini-tupperwares for storing everything from baby foods (for eating out) to paints/beads/crafty junk for a toddler.
Kathy, the couplers are available at drugstore.com and you want them, yes, you do.
I have not tried this, but I have heard you can put the membranes in a largish tea strainer (like those tea ball thingies) and then put it in the dishwasher (just slip it in the utensil caddy)
frankly, I just stuck the horns with the membranes still on them in the top of the dishwasher, and that worked OK
Thank you for this post, Julie (and to all of those who commented, too). I'm planning (hoping?) to breastfeed in a few months and am open to any and all advice. As I must return to work, pumping will be a necessity.
Wow, all this talk of hosital grade pumps and parts and couplers and other doo-dads I have no idea wht you are talking about.
I have only ever used the manual avent hand pump, the isis. It rocks my world, I have never had a problem with it, easy top clean, easy to use, I don;t have sore arms or fingers or anything like that. I pump while at work and steadily get 9oz.'s total during my 2-15 minute pumping sessions (I have to use the ladies room and choose the handicap stall...gross huh?) When i am at home and feel the need to pumpo when my daughter doesn;t fully drain one breast I use Avents disposable system and freez the cubs. They don't stack very well but oterwise are fantastic!
I never needed to lube my nipple, but it might be different with the huge electric pump. Oh and I have found rinking at least 64oz. of water a day has deifintly helped my supply, that and nursing more than pumping.
I would just say when using the manual pump, don't get sucked into the counting trick like I have. it makes me think I have OCD. I am always counting how many pumps I do. It drives me crazy!
I pumped at work, where we actually had a lactation room with a fridge, and I just made a little terrycloth bag to hold my pump parts in (with adapters) between pumpings. We used Playtex disposable liners, and I bought two pump kits (come with these screw on rings and flap caps that double as nipple rings - boy does that sound kinky). Anyway, I pumped straight into two bottle liners- one for the right, and one for the left- twice a day.
I also used to screw in one of the bottle bottoms (the clear base) as if I were getting ready to use the bottle to feed him, and use my knee to hold it up so I had one hand free. Couldn't let go until the suction was going pretty good.
I also pumped while driving a couple times (I drive through the country to get to work - only the cows and chickens saw me), which worked if I had on the right nursing bra (a regular one, not a hands-free one), that I snapped over the horns and held them in place. It was a Target brand bra with snaps that came into the center front, rather than the traditional hooks that connect at the top of the cup to the shoulder strap.
I feel like I've written this entire post in a foreign language.
Thanks Julie! I just bought two Avent Breast Pump Conversion Kits at drugstore.com. I never knew such a thing exsisted before today. A very important public service you've done today, yes indeed. :)
I pump twice a day at work with my Medela PIS, and I second the "reading while pumping" thing (I have a hands-free pumping kit - wish I would have seen that page at KellyMom.com before I bought it!). I get usually get six-eight oz. per pumping session if I read; I get less if I'm not reading.
I rinse the equipment with hot water between uses and sterilize it in the dishwasher on weekends, and that's worked fine so far.
Also, I hate the Medela breastmilk storage bags. I much prefer the Lanisloh and Gerber ones.
I was one of the lucky moms that didn't have trouble with nursing, but even still I pumped at least once a day in the beginning, hoping to stockpile milk so daddy could feed her and we could go out somtimes. But my baby unfortunately NEVER took a bottle and still nurses at 2 yrs old, so I ended up having a lot of it go to waste. (Though pumping regularly probably did increase my supply.)
That said, here's a few strategies I found about pumping and storing:
1) Frozen milk takes up a lot of space. One of my friends bought a freezer for her garage, but that wasn't an option for me, so I bought Gerber storage bags with a ziplock (at target), squeezed most of the air out of them, and froze them flat so that they could stack more easily in the freezer. The medela bags had a wierd twist tie that I didn't like.
2) With little babies, be sure to freeze in small increments of an ounce or two... then gradually increase the increments. They thaw quickly and you don't have a problem with waste if they don't take a large feeding. Even though we gave up on bottle feeding altogether, I always kept a small amount of 1 and 2 ounce bags in the freezer to mix in with her rice cereal after 6 months, because I didn't want to introduce cows milk that early.
3) If you're going to freeze it, freeze it immediately, rathe than storing it in the fridge first. It'll be fresher.
4) Drink LOTS of water. Lots and lots of water.
5) Hang in there... you're doing the best you can... any little bit helps. Pumping is hard work. Don't make yourself too crazy if that's all you can do. My SIL had a preemie who never latched, AND had reflux, and was diagnosed with failure to thrive (in spite of the BM), and my SIL surprisingly made it to the 6 month mark of pumping uing the rented hospital pumps, pulling 20-30 ounces a day. I don't know how she did it. But it turns out it took a lot out of her, though... she resented every minute of it, and really started to dislike her baby for all of it. Then again, she really didn't "get" why breastmilk was so important, and doesn't really have a strong mothering feeling... it was her husband who demanded she pumped and pushed her to the 6 month point. It was really had for her.
6) One correction possibly about the original post... I think you CANNOT put the medela hoses in the dishwasher. Once you get wanter in them it's almost impossible to dry them out. But I'm not positive about it. Maybe they CAN go in those little microwave sterilizer bags.
Julie, I used to stick the little white membrane together with the yellow piece in the dishwasher, using one of those little plastic cages you can get at Target or wherever. Maybe one is "supposed" to remove the membrane from the yellow piece, but I never did.
Oh, and throwing a sweatshirt or a pillow over the damn thing works wonders on the wheeze.
-S
Those "three-use" freezable storage bottles from Avent... I used those for the first six months, and I used them waaaaaaaaay more than three times each. Come on! Why only three times? Must be to get you to buy more of them.
I found that the Avent Isis with the lidded storage bottles and nipple couplers worked like a dream. I only pumped a bottle a day, so this worked well.
Avent says "three-uses" for these freezable storage bottles... I used those for the first six months, and I used them waaaaaaaaay more than three times each. Come on! Why only three times? Must be to get you to buy more of them.
Anyway, I never did the bags. If I were starting from scratch again, I would definitely have gotten the microwave sterilization kit. I was always pacing around the dishwasher late at night, waiting for the damned cycle to finish so I could pump.
I blame my editor for the problems with my last comment.
Top two are the most difficult and most beneficial-
-sleep enough
-drink enough water (not too much!)
-use breastmilk instead of lanolin to make the cones stick to your boobs and cut down on friction - antibacterial, convenient, free.
-eat oatmeal
-eat oatmeal while you're pumping
-make sure you're not anemic
-fenugreek 2-3 3x/day
-cue your body to let down by ALWAYS drinking a glass of water as you begin, or ALWAYS looking at a picture of your baby, etc. Operant conditioning will work in your favor once your body catches on. Best to choose a cue that you can do away from home and partially clothed. (My first LC had me hose down the boobs with warm water with the sprayer from our kitchen faucet. I don't recommend this as a cue. The next cue was one that I discovered accidentally - eating celery and carrot sticks during my work-lunch-pump-break. For a LONG time after that, I couldn't crunch celery without having a letdown.
- microwave sterilizers are convenient
- you might want to verify every so often that your pumped milk isn't aquiring a nasty metallic taste in the freezer - mine did, because of a chemical present in the milk, and it took us a while to catch on, meaning, lots of wasted bottles because DD rejected them.
-Have an extra empty bottle within arm's reach JUST IN CASE, because one day, you will be in the middle of your 15-minute pump session and one of your bottles will fill to the top. Believe it. If it happened to me, it could happen to you.
I also liked the lansinoh bags the best -- the medela ones sucked with the twisties.
I was a lousy pumper but could sometimes get an extra letdown by doing the shakee-shakee/jiggle-jiggle-jump move. After pumping, do a little breast massage, a little nipple tweaking, then bend over and kinda shimmy your boobies around. Stick 'em back in the cones and you may get an extra burst of lactational goodness.
Long-term pumpers like you Julie -- you guys are my heroes. Pumping is so damn hard and I think every woman who takes it on deserves a big shiny medal, daily massages and chocolate on demand!!!!
Julie - Thank you for all this information!
Now a question - do you think I should buy a pump NOW? My hospital doesn't rent pumps so that isn't one of my options. I really plan to make a go of the breastfeeding thing, but one never knows and I'm starting to feel like it would be better to have it than to make a trip to the store right away after the baby is born.
When I was in the hospital, they told me that I didn't need to sterilize after ever session- rinsing with hot hot tap water was sufficient. So I only needed to boil or put them in the dishwasher every other day or so.
Also, if you're pumping in the hospital's pumping room (our NICU had one), make sure to label your kit pieces, just in case you leave something behind. (I bought a spare set for home pumping when I left everything at the hospital one day.)
"Galactogogue"...sounds like the despotic ruler of the planet Lactron.
Thanks for my new favorite word. :-)
Wow, hands-free pumping for the big-chested. Tonight, I may lay down the hand pump for something with a small-engine. I remain hopeful. Thanks for all the insight!
Since your sharing all your wisdom, Julie, does that mean your packing up all your pumps and marching on?
I love this site. But wanted to just alert (read: not alarm) you to the fact that I have read in more than one reputable pregnancy magazine that domperidone can have bad effects on baby's development. Not sure what to make of it, but thought I would pass along. Happy pumping!
The Gerber storage bags were expensive, but I thought, much easier to use and worth it if you can afford.
If you are lucky enough to have a lot of milk to freeze, saw the top off of a cardboard case of beer and use the little corrugated cardboard grid inside as a storage system: we put the oldest milk toward the front left, and moved to the right and rear for the newer stuff. A little cumbersome, perhaps, but it made the engineer-daddy who devised it very proud.
I sure wish you were around when I was going through pumping hell. I hated every second of it for the 6 months I was able to force myself to do it. Any tips or tricks would've made my life easier. I am glad you're shraring this with other pumpers. Thanks!
Have an extra empty bottle within arm's reach JUST IN CASE, because one day, you will be in the middle of your 15-minute pump session and one of your bottles will fill to the top. Believe it. If it happened to me, it could happen to you.
Jean, I'll bet you a freshly-baked batch of cookies that it will never happen to me.
Signed,
Low-volume Pumper
...Wanted to just alert (read: not alarm) you to the fact that I have read in more than one reputable pregnancy magazine that domperidone can have bad effects on baby's development. Not sure what to make of it, but thought I would pass along.
Hmmm, I'm not sure what to make of it, either, but I tend to discount it since I've read plenty of statements like the following:
"Domperidone has been used successfully in Canada and other areas of the world, and has significantly fewer side effects than Reglan. It has been approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics for use in breastfeeding mothers, and has been given Lactation Risk Category L1 ("safest") in the 2004 edition of Medications and Mothers' Milk."
(From http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/prescript_galactagogue.html)
Obviously everyone has to evaluate the risk/benefit ratio for herself I felt pretty good about it, personally.
Kat is absolutely right that the tubes don't go in the dishwasher! Since I, ah, never clean mine, I neglected to comment on that fact. They can, however, be sterilized in the microwave bags, as long as you do them by themselves with no other parts in the bag. Editing the post to reflect that, lest I steer some eager pumper far astray. Thanks.
Mandy, an electric pump is a big investment, around $300, if I recall correctly I would probably hold off for the moment if I were you, though having a hand pump around wouldn't be a bad idea and not too expensive...
Best of luck to you!
Maybe it's because I had two babies to feed, or maybe it's becasue at 2 am it seemed the best thing to do...
For night-time pumping I would get out of bed with one baby, nurse on one side and pump on the other. Of course, since Charlie is having a lot of trouble nursing, which is why you need to pump, this ain't exactly the advice *you* need, but for a member of the studio audience, perhaps...
My work has been great about pumping - they even got me a fridge for my office! Then again, they do make me work a lot of 12 hour days, so you can see I do suffer slightly from Stockholm Syndrome. I put a sign on my door that says "Do Not Enter If Door Is Closed" but people wanted to barge in anyway, so now I lock it. I couldn't work without the handy hands-free bra I got with the 2 nipple holes in it. It's the most convenient item of parenthood thus far.
I have the Symphony hospital grade pump at work and the PIS at home and I am SO glad I started with the symphony. It is such a gentle machine, but what kind of racket is Medela running that you are NOT ALLOWED to purchase one? I call the PIS the iron lung, as the wheezing could wake the neighbors if I didn't cover it with a pillow.
I got very paranoid about running low on milk and went on Fenugreek for about a month, and my supply spiked and has remained very high (6+ oz. per pump). The refrigerator is spilling over with milk, but I have been so conditioned to save it that I can't bear to throw any out. Because I need to be careful about space in the freezer, I use Mother's Own Milk Storage Bags that are perfect for stacking. Those Gerber bags are big on the bottom and narrow at the top so they don't stack well at all.
I live in Los Angeles and there is a great store here called The Pump Station...it's a brilliant business model, actually. They sell everything related to babies and breastfeeding, rent pumps, have nursing bras and nursing tops, plus books, boppys, you name it. And they also have classes on CPR, infant care, and weekly groups for breastfeeding moms. I spent every wednesday of my maternity leave in one of the groups (classes are separated into babies under 4 months and over 4 months) which is led by an incredibly optimistic and endearing lactation consultant. You sit in a circle with your baby and you can ask questions and both the consultant and the other moms offer advice and suggestions. It's not limited to breastfeeding (a lot of it was about sleep issues) but breastfeeding drove the discussion. I'm not a group-hug person, but this group is the reason I've had modest success with breast feeding. I moved here 7 months pregnant with no friends or family, and I would never have been able to stick out the hard times if I hadn't found it. So I guess my advice is don't isolate yourself; seek solace in numbers.
Julie, a THOUSAND thank-yous for this post. I'm due in September, will be going back to work in December, and have hopes of being able to go the breast milk route until the McNugget is at least 6 months. Ergo, I shall be pumping at work... in an office full of male engineers... (let's not even discuss that), so all this information is SO helpful. THANK YOU!!!!!!
Mandy, I was just going to say what Julie said, which is that if you're going to be pumping from home once or twice a day, you'll want the Avent Isis. If you have a healthy, full-term baby you'll spend the first few weeks getting him/her latched on, not pumping. If you end up needing more pumping power, you can always buy an electric pump then.
This isn't specifically nursing-related, but for anyone suffering from tendonitis (Isis-induced or not), there's a homeopathic remedy that cures the tendonitis within a week or two and has no side effects (safe for nursing). It's called Rhus Toxicodendron, and my son's pediatrician prescribed it for me at 30c. 3 pellets a day (they dissolve under your tongue). You can buy it at a health food store.
Wonderful advice Julie - all of it.
Do you mind if I post a link to this entry at my BFing forum? A lot of the moms pump and are always looking for helpful suggestions.
A few of my own: If you're having problems letting down, bring one of your baby's sleepers that s/he has recently worn and sniff it while you pump. Sounds weird, but that baby smell can help trigger let down.
Leave a message of your baby cooing and giggling on your voicemail so you can play it while you pump.
Personally, I drink Mother's Milk tea when I pump. It may not help with my production at all (I don't think it does for me), but it helps relax me.
Keep pumping for about 5 minutes AFTER you think you've squeezed out those last few drops. You can often get a second let-down.
Mandy - don't buy a pump until after the baby is born. The warranty starts running as of the date of purchase, and you really want that full year.
Oh, and if you break or lose a piece of your Isis, call the Avent people ASAP. They'll send you another one overnight. Great customer service.
The microwave sterilizer bags were a lifesaver, especially since we don't have a dishwasher. Also, the medela parts do fit in the Avent microwave sterilizer.That said, I've become much less diligent about sterilizing every day, and my son is just fine (have to build that immune system sometime!).
I am an extremely low volume pumper and producer; since I had a breast reduction, I am desperately trying to "let it go" and be grateful what I can make but, boy, is it hard. I will NEVER fill a bottle to the halfway mark, much less the top! Fenugreek has seemed to help a little, and I am seriously thinking about Domperidone. Where do you order it and what's the dosage?
I completely agree about the Medela Symphony. I rented it for a few months, then purchased the advanced pump in style since I was going back to work. Big, expensive mistake. The rental is quieter and much more effective. I rented again and am lugging the thing to work, but it is so worth it.