Tips on Pumping

Giving breastmilk to Lilah was a huge priority to me. But we never got the latching thing down. It just didn't work. So I began to pump and give her breastmilk in a bottle. It isn't the ideal, but we made it work for us. I decided to type up some tips that made it do-able for us.

1. Supportive Husband, who could do feedings, and entertain baby if need be

2. Extra Pump if you can. We had been given a hand me down pump, a Medela PIS. But I realized another one was a must. I combined all the coupons I could and ended up getting almost 50% off a Medela Freestyle pump at Babies R Us. I felt like I won the lottery that day! This is a handsfree pump that was great at home. I could walk around the kitchen and take care of some things at the same time. I would not use the handsfree kit that came with this pump, it was too complicated.

3. Handsfree bras are a MUST. I couldn't believe how sore my arms were from holding the shields for the first few weeks. My product rave is the Easy Expression Hands Free Bra.

4. Multiple Parts for the pumps! I had enough spare parts for a whole day of pumping. I would put them in the dishwasher at night. You can also place the pump parts in a ziplock in the fridge between pumps and not have to rinse/wash. This is a great tip too!
5. Lanisoh freezer bags are the cheapest and best to use. Freezing flat helps save room in the freezer too.
6. Keep a schedule that you can follow. More than 5 pumps a day makes things VERY complication. But 3-5 is actually managable. 15 mins at a time. I would try to pump right after Lilah went to bed, try to get up before her in the morning and pump. And I would pump at work and in the car to avoid having to juggle baby time.

Doing all of the above for 8 months gave me a supply for over a year for Lilah. I was blessed with a good supply. But pumping early got it all going.