Having shared my breastfeeding experience with you earlier this week, I wanted to share some things that helped make exclusively pumping a successful one for me, while it's still fresh on the brain. I do want to start off by saying, I won't be diving into breastmilk food safety, for the sake of this post, because I could probably write a whole blog post on that subject. Breastmilk is a perishable food item and food safety is so important. I'm assuming your doctor has provided you with some literature on how to store breastmilk properly, and if they haven't you can easily find that information on the internet. If you plan on pumping in any capacity, do your research girlfriend! Okay? Okay cool, moving on!
During my early stages of EPing, I joined different breastfeeding support groups for advice. As my journey continued, I found myself in a good place with pumping and was able to help quite a few different women out. I noticed a lot of the questions were the same, but there wasn't a specific place where you could find the answers. I hope to provide some of those answers for you, at least in the way I was able to navigate this EPing lifestyle.
No need to wash your pumping equipment after every pump. I would wash my pumping supplies twice a day, not after every pump. After every pump, I would put my supplies in a ziplock bag, and put them in the fridge. This one took me a while to realize, but it's a total time saver. This is defiantly great for when you're at work. After my last pump of the day, I would wash my ziplock bag, along with my pumping supplies, and let them air dry overnight. Finding a great bottle brush is key. I love this one because it has a small nipple brush at the bottom, that is perfect for cleaning the pumping valve and membrane when milk starts to accumulate in that area.
DIY hands-free pumping bra. Take an old cami style sports bra, remove the pads, and cut two holes to fit your sized shields (also known as flanges) in. If you're unsure where to place your holes, start by wearing your designated pumping bra, place the end of your shield (the end that connects to the valve.) where your nipples sit and trace it. You don't need to be super precise, this fabric is super stretchy and forgiving. The cami style is easy to take on and off, and you can find them at a way cheaper price than premade pumping bras.
Storing Breastmilk can be really intimidating for an exclusive pumper. I only have a refrigerator with a door freezer, so making sure to store milk properly, while utilizing the small space I had, took some time. I wanted to organize it in a way, that made sense to whoever was babysitting while I was at work. Buying larger milk storage bottles helped utilize optimal space in my fridge. You can combine freshly pumped milk over the last 24 hours into the same container. I used the same corner in my refrigerator for my pumped milk and would make sure to rotate the oldest bottle to the front, so you knew which one to grab first. For freezing milk, I loved the Lansinoh, over the Medela brand storage bags. This bag has an extra ounce for storing, easy to pour milk in and out of, they can stand up on a counter with milk inside, and I didn't notice any leaks while unthawing like I did with the Medela. I would store the individual frozen milk bags in a gallon size zip lock bag and put the start and end dates of the frozen milk inside. Each ziplock bag held 10 breastmilk storage bags. Every time I filled a ziplock bag, I would rotate it to the back of my freezer, to make sure the oldest ziplock bags were in the front. By front, I mean still in the back of my freezer, to keep them fresh longer, but to be honest, it didn't take long before frozen milk took over the whole freezer. Once you're ready to unthaw the breastmilk, place the frozen milk bags in a bowl (in case of leakage) and put it in the refrigerator. In my experience, it takes 8-12 hours to unthaw. The milk will stay good for 24 hours.
Pump based on ounces of milk produced, not by the number of feedings a day. My milk supply was great, so in my case, I was producing too much milk. At my peak, I was producing 50oz of milk over 7 pumps. At the time, my daughter was taking 7 bottles a day, so I thought this was what I was supposed to do, but she was only drinking 28oz a day. I decided to drop a pump to see what that would do. After a week, it didn't drop by much, so I drop another. I found my sweet spot at 5 pumps a day, producing 35-40oz. I knew my daughters' milk intake may still go up, so this was fine with me. If you're having the opposite problem, you may need to add extra pumps to up your milk supply. It's important to know, that doesn't mean you need to get up at all hours of the night.
The number of pumps in a day is more important than the space between them. Maybe you add another pump in the morning, when your body naturally produces more milk, even if it's an hour after your last pump. Your body will respond to this extra feeding and produce more milk.
Pumping sessions should last no more than 20 minutes. I ran into this issue a lot on my breastfeeding boards. I would constantly read, "I pump for an hour at a time, but it isn't making a difference." an hour is way too long. For one, feeling like you're always attached to the pump, is already an issue while exclusively pumping, let along actually being attached to the pump an hour at a time. About five minutes after your initial letdown a second wave will hit, triggering a second letdown. A few minutes after this letdown you should stop even if you notice some dripping. By pumping a few minutes after your second letdown, you're telling your body to produce more milk.
Feeding your baby on the go is easier than you think. Freshly pumped milk is good for 6 hours. I would pump before I left the house, and bring that freshly pumped milk with. If you need more milk than that, invest in a traveling bottle cooler. This one by Skip Hop comes with a freezer pack, can attach to a stroller or diaper bag easily, and can fit up to three bottles. If your baby is anything like mine and refuses to drink cold or room temperature milk, an easy way to warm up milk on the go is to use a thermos. I would use a travel size, typically used for coffee on the go, and fill it halfway with boiling water. When it came time to warm up milk, I carefully placed my bottle inside the thermos and within a few minutes, we were good to go!Caloric consumption and the amount of water you intake is important for your milk supply. Okay, this one you already know, but it may be the most important thing to remember as an exclusive pumper. You don't have a baby latching to help remind your body to produce milk, so making sure you're doing your part by taking care of your body is vital. One way I'd make sure to drink enough water is by drinking a big glass every time I pumped. Making this a part of my pumping routine became second nature. I found out the hard way that making sure to eat enough food will really affect your supply. Back in June, when I wanted to really kick start losing the baby weight, I reverted to my go-to diet for losing weight - low carb, about 1500 calories a day. Within a few weeks, my milk supply dropped in half. When you are breastfeeding or pumping, you should consume an extra 500 calories a day on top of your normal caloric needs. Getting these calories from proteins and healthy fats will benefit your milk supply the best. I found adding avocado, nuts, cheese, and beans to be the easiest way to add extra calories to my meals and snacks. I would constantly snack on hard boiled eggs, turkey bacon and greek yogurt mixed with different fruits to keep things interesting.
I hope you were able to find these nine EPing life hacks useful to your breastfeeding journey. If you have any questions or any advice for other EPing moms out there, please let me know in the comments below.
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