To anyone that doesn't breastfeed i'm pretty sure that this contraption probably looks like some sort of modern megaphone - at least it did to me when I first saw it. For breastfeeding mama's this little godsend is the key to freedom, a couple of hours away from baby or even just to give you a break from feeding, my breast pump was one of my best friends whilst I was feeding Mila. However when I first looked into pumping I was shocked how little information there was out there. I had zero clue when to pump, how much to pump and how long I could go without pumping again so I thought I'd compile a little list of the things that I found out when I started pumping. I am by no means an expert but these are things that worked for me personally and didn't affect my milk supply as that was always my biggest worry.
What pump should I use?
I went for the Avent pump and I found that it worked really well for me and was one of the cheaper options on the market. I would always use the pump on the medium settings, I started off using the pump on the highest setting and it made my breasts ache after using it. Once I started using the medium setting that all stopped.
What time of the day should I pump?
I would normally pump in the morning or before I went to bed as that is when I found that I had the most milk and could easily pump 3-4oz.
How long should I wait to start pumping?
I started pumping once or twice a week when Mila was 4 weeks old. The recommended time to start pumping is 6 weeks but I found that starting at 4 weeks actually helped to regulate my supply as I was making too much milk. Mila happily took to having a bottle at 4 weeks old and easily went back onto the breast after having a bottle.
How much should I pump?
When I first started pumping I had no idea how much to try and aim for to pump. I actually had the issue of having too much milk so I could easily pump 3oz from one breast and do a top up of one more oz from the other breast. In the end I would try and do 2oz from each breast to keep it equal and also in the hope that it wouldn't stimulate me too much to make even more milk. Somehow that seemed to work for me.
How much milk will my baby have?
At 4 weeks old Mila would have about 3oz and slowly worked her way up to having 4-5oz by 12 weeks old. If I was leaving Mila for the evening then I would try and pump two bottles in advance just ensure that there was enough milk for in case she wanted more.
How should I store my breast milk?
I treated breast milk the same way that I would treat cows milk - so I would refrigerate or freeze if I wasn't using the milk straight away. Otherwise I would feed it straight to Mila within an hour or two of pumping. Mila happily had the milk at room temperature but if it was frozen I would put it in a bowl of hot water to defrost. Any milk in the fridge I would use within a couple of days and milk in the freezer I would use within a month.
How long should I wait till I pump again?
This was what I struggled with the most - if I had pumped earlier in the day and Joe was going to feed Mila the pumped milk, should I pump whilst Joe was bottle feeding? In the end I decided not to on the advice of HV as she said that as long as i'm doing the same number of stimulations each day it shouldn't affect my supply. I could generally go around 4 hours without feeding without needing to pump/feed again, but I just went with how I felt. If I felt like I needed to pump then I would otherwise I would just wait until Mila's next feed.
Pumping when you're away from your baby
When I went to Notting Hill Carnival and went on my first night out I had to be away from Mila. By that point Mila would happily have formula if I couldn't feed her for whatever reason but I still wanted to continue breastfeeding when I got back. I was away from Mila for the day when I went to Notting Hill Carnival, so I breastfed before I left - (two feeds in the morning) then I missed the afternoon feed and expressed in the evening. I then expressed again before I went to bed and again in the morning, ready to start feeding Mila at her 12pm feed. It was much easier when I went on a night out, I just breastfed her before I left, pumped before I went out and then pumped when I got in and pumped again in the morning. After both of these occasions I didn't use bottles with Mila for the following week after and just concentrated on breastfeeding to keep my supply up, that seemed to work well for me. The only time that my supply started dipping was when I stopped expressing and Mila started feeding less in the day as she was getting so distracted, so in hindsight I wish I had kept up with it as it probably would have helped to keep my supply up.
So those are my top tips for pumping. If you have any questions or any tips yourself then please do let me know even though i'm no longer breastfeeding it's always great to know for future babies or to spread advice amongst other mums.
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