[MidnightCommando]

Hey October mamas! Who here has pumped in the past? I'd like to hear the good and the bad about it since this is all new to me. For those who plan on it, why are you pumping and what will you be using? As far as bottle recommendations, are there some you would definately stay away from or lean towards? I've been looking at the Ventaire (the bent ones).
After my maternity leave I will be able to telecommute ~80 %of the time from home of the time for the 4 months following that and then it is back to the 40 hour week

I just found out that my insurance will cover the Medela Pump-in-style - anyone familiar with this one?

 

[runner29]

Hi Malia,

I'm due at the end of October, and I'll be pumping too, once I go back to more or less full time graduate school (January?) (working in a lab.) I haven't pumped before so I can't speak much to that. But my good friend in lab did with both her children, each for more than a year! She had the Medela pump-in-style and was very happy with it. Actually, she's given it to me, so that's what I'll be using. I know, I know, you're not supposed to use second-hand pumps. But I'll be sterilizing everything, replacing the one part I can't, and then the only other super-rare problem of contamination I'm not worried about since she's my good friend and I know she doesn't have any diseases or anything.

The one thing that she told me about bottles and pumping, that I thought was extremely useful advice, and I hadn't thought about, was to try to get your baby to like nipples/bottles that can attach directly to your pump. That way, you pump into a bottle, then the next day, you can just put a nipple on that bottle and the sitter/dad can give it to baby!! Medela sells a bottle and nipple set (4 of each, I think, for around $20). I'm going to try this first. (if the baby doesn't go for the medela nippel, then I'll try other brands of nipples that fit those bottles.)

This would save you from having to pump into one container, then transferring the milk to another bottle and then having more things to wash!! If that fails me, though, I've heard the Avent bottles are pretty good for avoiding nipple confusion.

Maybe we'll both be transferring to a pumping thread after October.

Kate

 

[wanderlost]

Not in your DDC, but I lurk!
I pumped, as my son became sick soon after birth and needed to be bottle fed for a bit and then we weren't able to get back on the breast (honestly I didn't try too hard, I felt he had struggled so much at such a young age that making him struggle to eat wasn't worht it, so we tried to go back on a few times, but he resisted and I didn't force the issue). I don't know the name of the pump I had, as I was on WIC at the time and they supplied it to me, but it was a double electric pump - I loved it! I will say that pumping is hard work as your baby begins to eat more. Once my supply had gone down a bit and his appetite increased, I had to try to time pumping for before he was ready to eat, which meant often getting up twenty minutes before I thought he might wake at night to pump - but knowing your baby is getting that yummy breastmilk is worth it! Also, I used the pump on the highest setting to try to be able to pump faster, which left me with very saggy and stretch marked boobs - so that might be a caution too. I wish I could be more help - good luck!

 

[littleteapot]

I tandem pumped for months upon months due to serious breastfeeding problems. I breastfed my daughter only off one side.
At first i used the Medela Handspring express - AWFUL!!!
Then I rented a hospital grade pump: Medela lactina select. Good pump, but didn't work very well for me for some reason. For this I felt guilty, because the pump was worth 11'000!

Finally I bought a used Avent Isis and a bunch of storage bottles - HEAVEN! I could pump really well on that, so I exclusively used the Isis, every 2-3 hours, 24 hours a day, for many months.

 

[chaibaby]

If you're factoring price into your decision, I spoke with a woman at BRU this morning and she said that if you go with the Avent line of pumps, you have to use their product line for the remainder of pumping products (brushes, bottles, etc.). Apparently that can get expensive (I don't know much about it yet as I'm new to teh whole pumping thing). But if you go Medela, then you can interchange brushes, bottles, etc. from whatever other company you want.

Also, Medela (I guess its top of the line?) will last the duration of a few children versus the quality of Avent isn't meant for long-term use. Apparently the box for Avent says "for occasional use only". So, even though you're going to pay more off the bat, in the long run its definitely worth the investment!

This is all just by word of mouth from the lady at BRU - she didn't represent either company - she just thought she'd lend her two cents after breast feeding 3 children for 18 months on average for each. Just food for thought, I guess!

 

[Tori Gollihugh]

Hi MidnightCommando.

I pumped to provide my DD with BM while I was at work for about a year. I returned to work (out of necessity) when she was 6.5 weeks old and it was really rough in a lot of ways, but relative to BFing we did not have enough time to establish a REALLY good nursing relationship. I attribute the MANY nursing strikes we went through to this beginning. BUT we made it work and she nursed until I went dry with this pregnancy (a few weeks after her second birthday!!!).

So, you can TOTALLY do it!!!

I started pumping within the first week after she was born because I was VERY concerned about having a good backup supply of milk. I'm so happy I was anxious about that because after 8 months of pumping during the day and BFing at night, my boobs just weren't keeping up with my growing girl's needs! I had around 100oz. in the freezer and, because of growth spurts and stuff we slowly went through that during the last three months or so of the time I was working.

I have the Medela Pump-In-Style (backpack) and it worked wonderfully for me/us. There was a point that it seemed my boobies didn't want to let down no matter how much I used the let down mode... after a suggestion from someone I worked with, I started carrying a little booklet of pictures of my DD AND a blanket I put around her over the weekend. I would put the blanket under my nose as the pump started going and it made a HUGE difference in how readily my boobs let down!! The pictures helped me keep focused on the prize... exclusively feeding my DD BM!!!

I invested in a hands free nursing bra after a while and wish I had known about them sooner! It was really MENTALLY hard for me to pump - especially the extra pumpings that I did at home during the first 5 weeks - because it was just sooo much work! I definitely would have rather been able to just give DD booby and not fuss with the pump at all. However, having said that, I do plan to pump in the early weeks after this baby is born to ensure an abundance of BM and to freeze some for just-in-cases.

Oh, the hands-free-bra helped so much (after I finally had it) because it enabled me to focus on other things than how to hold the darn milker suction things on! I do think that it's likely that having to focus on that aspect of pumping made it more difficult for the boobs to let down after a while... it was an anxiety thing (?) maybe. I'm not sure... I could think about it more if you'd like me to and try to figure out what was going on in my head. Anyway... I could read, surf the internet, and even write (with a pen or typing) while pumping with the hands-free-bra! It was wonderful. I didn't have the bra when I started using the blanket and pictures... so they helped significantly all on their own. When I didn't have to hold the suctions and bottles (at least until the bottles were almost all the way full (5 ounces!)) I still used the blanket, so I don't know if the bra helped with let down all that much, but the bra DID help with my mental issues regarding pumping... I just felt like such a COW when I was pumping... it was really almost humiliating (even though I was in complete privacy!). I'm not saying that my feelings were right or reasonable, because I TOTALLY know they weren't, but I STILL felt that way and whatever little I could do to relieve that and still provide my darling girl with THE BEST food ever, well, it was worth the almost $50 for the bra to do it!

Hope all that info helps. I would love to share more if you have specific questions!

 

[mamajody]

This isn't true Andrea. I think the BRU lady was just trying to make a sale. I pumped every day when I went back to work. DD was 6 weeks. I used a combination of the Avent Isis (manual pump) and the Medela Pump In Style. I liked them both for different reasons. I used the Medela AT work so I could express from both sides at the same time. I stored the milk in the provided storage bottles, but did not use them for feeding. They fit in my freezer really well. At home I used the Avent so I could feed on one side and pump from the other simultaneously. This helped me avoid the 3am pumping sessions to have enough for daycare. I did not freeze this milk. I stored it in the fridge right in the Avent bottles. I never needed more than a few of the Avent bottles in the 4 oz. and 8 oz. sizes. just enough for 2 or 3 days was fine.

What I really liked about the Avent bottles was the interchangeable tops. If you don't want to nipple feed from the bottle you can get soft sippy spouts for them. You can also get handles for them. This saves money when you transition away from the bottle.

As far as the accessories go, a bottle brush is a bottle brush. I also didn't bother with the sterilizer. Run them through the dishwasher and they will be fine. HTH

 

[Kathryn]

I donated milk up until about 10 weeks ago. I used the Medela double pump in style and the Avent Isis. Liked them both, but the Medela was more useful since I didn't have to use my hand to pump with. It was much more of a mindless activity with the electric pump.

You can buy the conversion top for the Avent bottles so that they can be used with any pump, btw.

 

[pumpkinsmama]

http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/index.html#bra

This link has directions for DIY hands free pumping bra.

(I adore sleepingbaby.net, great info! there is even a grammar section)