breast pumps - tell me what else i need!

I've just bought a secondhand Medela Pump in Style Advanced on trademe. I plan to return to work almost full time 6 months after the baby is born... so I will be ideally pumping a few times a day.
I am also planning on expressing once a day at the start so DP can do a night feed.

What else do i need?
Nipple shields?
Medela breastmilk bags?
Spare milk bottles?
Breast shells?
Sterilization bags?

What will make my life easier at work, and at home?

I am not sure if this is your first or not, so am assuming it is.

Nipple Shields - you wont need these for expressing but may need them when bf. I never used them but Jake was a good latcher so only got a light grazing on my nipples the first week and after growth spurts.

Medela milk bags - not sure how much these are but you can get whissper milk bags at the supermarket . Might be a cheaper option, tho they wont fit on the pump so expressing straight into a bottle and then transfering might be a cheaper option. I also using the Avent storage cups as minik8e said, you can turn them into bottles so very handy.

Spare bottles - I have 4 bottles, 2 x 125ml and 2 x 260ml. I use the small bottles if Jake has had a small feed and DH might need to top him up while im out and the big bottles for full feeds. You would want enough bottles to cover however many feeds bubs will have while you are away. ie/ Jake has 5 milk feeds per day and 1 night feed. If I was gone from 8am until 6pm then I would need 3 bottles for him during the day and I would probably throw in a small bottle too just incase he is being piggy that day

Breast Shells - I would wait and see on this. It really depends on what kind of let down you have. I could have used some as I leaked so much in the first 6 weeks, about 50 ml per feed. Jake only fed off one side and I could have used the shell on the other breast to collect the milk and keep it. Such a waste! Now my milk is settled I dont spray like that anymore. On the other hand, my friend never leaked and never suffered any engorgement, not even when her milk came in or bubs started sleeping through. No point buying something if you dont need it!

Sterilising - I boiled everything up until a couple of weeks ago and finally got a micorwave steriliser, much easier. Plunket state that from 3 months you dont need to boil water or sterilise as baby is putting hands in mouth and anything else they find so will expose themself to germs. I still sterilise as it just looks cleaner. A friend puts her stuff in the dishwasher now....

Lots of breast pads, I soaked through the cloth ones so needed the disposables for the first 4 months.

Hope that helps

yes its my first, and its a double pump

and thanks! i think Medela sell storage bottles you can pump straight into, and freeze/microwave/etc so I might buy a set of those and some cheap freezer bags for the frozen stuff.

Edited by Lizze

I chose Avent storage pottles over Medela because of cost....$35 for 10 Avent against $40 for 2 Medela. I never had problems with spraying, but I don't have a fantastic supply so yeah. This also means cloth breast pads were fine for me. Also, with a double pump you shouldn't need a shell because you won't be leaking from one while expressing the other.

can't microwave it?? whats the easiest way to defrost/warm it???

K8e, spraying isnt necessarily a supply thing hun... just how active a let down you have! I think you are doing an amazing job!

Goes to show how different everyone is Mamma2N, I was going through a box of 24 every couple of days!

melnel...ahhh I never realised that!!! In that case, I have good letdown in one boob and not so good in the other...I also learnt today that the girls crying increases my milk supply The girls have never really been criers, but Amber has colic and has cried most of today and I got the most milk I've ever got at one time before (130ml total - woohoo!!!).

Definitely have something to relax you - it helps with your letdown.