breast pumps - tell me what else i need!
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Topic: breast pumps - tell me what else i need!
Posted By: Lizze
Subject: breast pumps - tell me what else i need!
Date Posted: 18 September 2009 at 4:06pm
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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? ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: minik8e
Date Posted: 18 September 2009 at 8:31pm
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I don't use nipple shields with the pump - I pump after every feed as it's the only way the girls get breast milk (and I go back to work at the end of November). For storage I got the Avent storage pottles, but more because I can convert them into bottles without having to transfer the milk. For sterilisation I use the Milton tablets, in a 4L container of water (I have a lot of things to sterilise, with the bottles as well) - so easy and convenient.
Is your pump a single or double pump? I just ask because of the breast shell question - mine is from the hospital, so a double one, which means I don't need the shells. |
Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 19 September 2009 at 10:15am
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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  -------------   
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Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 19 September 2009 at 10:16am
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Oh and old fashioned cloth nappies. The are great for spilly babies or mopping leaking boobs! -------------
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Posted By: Lizze
Date Posted: 19 September 2009 at 10:43am
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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. -------------
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Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 19 September 2009 at 10:47am
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FYI, you cant microwave breastmilk. -------------
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Posted By: minik8e
Date Posted: 19 September 2009 at 10:20pm
| 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. |
Posted By: Mamma2N
Date Posted: 19 September 2009 at 10:36pm
Just a word of advice - don't go buying too many breastpads - I bought like 5 boxes, as everybody told me I would leak. I did in the first 6 weeks (only if she hadn't emptied them within a hours), never really sprayed and haven't leaked since around 6-8 weeks.. Sooooo I had roughly 4 & a half boxes left over 
You can always send someone out to get you some more if need be
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Posted By: Lizze
Date Posted: 20 September 2009 at 11:38am
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can't microwave it?? whats the easiest way to defrost/warm it???
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 20 September 2009 at 1:55pm
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I had a good milk supply for twins and other the first few weeks I didn't needed breastpads.
To reheat breastmilk you either let it warm to room temperature or place it in a bowl of warm water to heat up. To defrost we either put it in the fridge the night before or used the same method as reheating. Defrosted milk can last in the fridge for 24hours. For sterilizing, if you have lots then the 4L container and the milton tablets is the way to go. |
Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 21 September 2009 at 11:00am
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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! -------------
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Posted By: Stogglebox
Date Posted: 28 September 2009 at 3:14pm
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I came back to work when my baby was 5 months old (she is now over 8 months) and I have been expressing milk the whole time. I initially thought I would have to express twice a day, but since I feed her at lunchtime (the creche is not too far from my work) I just express in the morning. I have a double pump which is definitely a good idea - basically I pump off two bottles each time (usually, if all goes well), which is enough for her to have one bottle in the morning and one in the afternoon. The expressing itself was a bit up and down -sometimes I wouldn't get a letdown and would hardly get any milk at all, and other times get heaps of milk! I had heaps of storage containers - about 15 or so I think, which at one stage I managed to use up so I had to chuck some of my milk out! But last week I managed to get down to only a couple of bottles because I was having a bad run of no letdowns - so I was getting worried that I would run out of milk! So I reckon the more storage containers the better, so you can stockpile for times of 'drought'. Keep a space in your freezer for this -breastmilk is apparently good in there for 3 months and you can heat it in a waterbath. You might also want to have extra on hand in case you want to go out shopping or somewhere on the weekend too, but don't want to pump to make up for it. I have a microwave sterilizer which I still use but not religiously. I sterilize the pump bits once a week to keep them clean. I do a few bottles at a time so that they are usually pretty clean before I store milk in them. Also I have found that when I am pumping at work, that a magazine or something to read helps -gets you relaxed so that the juices flow! Also I never found stickers that were good for labelling - most stickers you can buy at bookshops aren't easy to get off the bottles, so I made a little tag system - firm cardboard rectangles with a hole punched through one corner, through which I put a hair tie (or rubberband) so that I could attach that to the bottles, with the date on one side and my baby's name on the other (because she is at creche). Anyway good luck! ------------- Mother of Natsumi Sarah born on 23 January 2009 |
Posted By: minik8e
Date Posted: 28 September 2009 at 5:31pm
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. |
Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 28 September 2009 at 8:25pm
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Thats great K8e!!! Thats a good go at one time, I am getting that now! (I guess you do have 2 hungry mouths to feed tho and I have a one bubs with a small apetite). Baby crying can activate a let down!
Stogglebox, you can get little milk bags from the supermarket (whissper is the brand) they work out to be about 50cents each from memory and they might be good to have as a backup so you dont have to throw away any of that precious milk!!!!! -------------
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