Babble
Who has time to pump?
Dear Pumped Out,
Pumping and breastfeeding while caring for a baby can really hammer home the dairy-cow theme of early mothering. We’ve heard (and uttered!) this question a million times. Over the years we’ve come up with a few ideas that can help you streamline a day’s worth of sucking/suction:
Pump when there’s someone else around to hold the baby if possible. If you have a partner who goes to work, pump before or after the workday.
Make pumping a hands-free experience. This is accomplished by finding some means of securing the suction cups (flanges) to your breasts, leaving your hands free to pursue some other activities. Various contraptions are available for this purpose. Or, you can just take an old bra and cut holes in the nipples (very sexy). If you use a nursing bra for this, you can feed your baby and pump at the same time. This solves the problem of finding time to pump, though some babies do not appreciate being fed alongside all that chug-chug-chugging and plastic tubing.
Cut down on prep and set-up time. Try to clean up after you pump so that you never have to futz around with a scrubber before the actual session. Or keep a bowl of sudsy, hot water next to the sink so you can dump all parts immediately after use and clean at night. If you can, delegate the clean-up to someone else. You could invest in an extra pack of plastic pump parts so there’s more to go around. Put the pump in a convenient place and leave it there, plugged in. Make sure whatever you need is also nearby.
Make pumping a moment of escape. Get a good book, keep it nearby, and read it only when you pump. That way there’s less of a chance that you’ll blow it off.
A word about milk supply: after your supply is established, missing occasional feedings shouldn’t have a big effect. But if you’re skipping a feeding on a regular basis, your supply may go down. Pumping around that time of day (for example, in the morning after you wake up) will help keep your supply up.
We know you said you were exclusively breastfeeding, but if the pumping just isn’t working for you, giving the odd bottle of formula is a reasonable idea. If your supply is well established, a bottle now and again won’t have a radical effect. Short term formula feeding can also help you build a stash of milk for future feedings (you pump while someone else feeds the baby a bottle of formula). Sometimes just having a decent supply in the freezer is enough to take the edge off.
Have a question? Email parentaladvisory@babble.com
About the Author
Ceridwen Morris
Ceridwen Morris, CCE, is a writer, childbirth educator and the co-author of From The Hips: A Comprehensive, Open-Minded, Uncensored, Totally Honest Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Becoming a Parent.
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Oh my it is so time consuming – this is upon reflection. I was a crazy pumper with my first and much more relaxed about it with my second. The pumping while nursing is great – if the kiddo allows – I love any way to multi-task. This also builds up a great supply. Switch each side though. Pumpings bras are well worth the investment. Also, pick a time each day to start a pumping schedule. Maybe once just before you go to bed, or right after dinner – no matter how long it had been the babe nursed. If stay at home, don’t be so eager to get the pumping going, it will come as feedings space out more.
My 7-week-old has been sleeping for 4 hour stretches at night. When he wakes up, I let
him nurse on one side and then pump the other. Generally, the one side is full enough by thetime he wakes up to satisfy him, and I get a decent output on the other. I’ve found–bizarrely enough–that one side empties more efficiently than the other via pumping, so we nurse accordingly. For me, doing it once a day rather than off-and-on throughout the day has helped me feel less like a cow. I’m also getting a decent stash together in the freezer, which does help me psychologically somehow–pumping seems less urgent now, so if I’m really too tired to do it, I can forgo it with less guilt.
I didn’t really pump at all. The first few months, especially, if she was hungry, she ate. It seemed odd to me to pump when I might as well just feed the baby. Sure, I never went anywhere, but I was really to exhausted to go anywhere anyway.
After she started sleeping through the night, I would get up and pump in the morning just to relieve the pressure, but I never pumped as a matter of course, mostly because Jillian absolutely refused to take a bottle filled with breastmilk. She accepted the formula bottle much more readily, so we started winding down breastfeeding and replacing with formula around 6 months.
I know what you’re talking about– I have a six-month-old exclusively breastfed. I’m at home with him, so I would think why pump? Well, it really helps to have some in the freezer so I can leave the house once in a while. And now there’s the new thing of his eating rice cereal mixed with breast milk, so I keep needing it for that. I try to keep the pump all set up and handy, and then if I can find ten minutes, even FIVE, I sit down and pump. Sure maybe I just get an ounce or two but it adds up and it pays to freeze in small amounts anyway. My best pumping time is when the baby sleeps. I start to get full, then pump really quickly before he wakes up. Even if I’ve just pumped five minutes ago he can still get what he wants from the breast. I tried pumping one breast while nursing on the other– maybe there’s a learning curve but I felt like I needed at least two additional hands. cleveland mom of two boys: catherine.blog-city.com
I went back to work when my daughter was 13 weeks old and I breastfed my daughter until last week when she turned one. Finding time for pumping (when not at work) can be difficult, but it was nice to have the freedom of knowing there was a bottle if she wanted one. I was lucky enough that she did not want to take both breasts at a feeding, so I pumped every morning and before bed as well… I was able to freeze about 30 oz a week and still supply her with 15 oz a day while I was away from her…
I would say find time to pump and it will be worth the peace of mind and a bit of free time!