My pumping routine is really simple, and I credit it to a good friend who told me what she did before heading back to work full time. I was so confused about how to introduce bottles and to try and pump EXTRA milk to create a freezer stash being a first time mom with Piper, and I know many of you can relate. I started pumping at 5 weeks after my supply was fully established and we had a good nursing routine going. There are two rules I’ll follow every day from now until I’m done breastfeeding:
- Pump when ever baby gets a bottle
- Pump every morning after my first feeding
I pump in the morning immediately following my first feed. Your supply is fuller than it will be at the end of the day and once you start the routine, your body adjusts accordingly and will continue to produce ‘extra’ milk every morning. At first I’d only get a few ounces but now I get around 5 ounces nearly every morning. Typically this milk will go straight to the freezer – and it’s how I’ve been able to save 3 freezer bags full of milk before I went back to work last week. I’m planning on using this for times when I’m out of town or out of the house (I have a bachelorette trip in May I’m preparing for)!
Once I start leaving the house more during the day and have our babysitter give Flora bottles I’ll still keep up this routine and because I’ll be pumping whenever Flora gets a bottle throughout the day I’ll always end up having an extra bottle to freeze at the end of the day. This sounds confusing but it’s really not! Here’s how it works for us:
-Feed Flora when she wakes up
-Immediately pump – if I’m going to be out that day I’ll put the bottle of milk in the fridge
-Whenever Flora is given that bottle, I’ll pump — and I’ll freeze that milk.
This works for us because I’m home nursing Flora the majority of the time — I know if I was working in an office full time I likely wouldn’t have as much luck but the same philosophy should hold true if you’re able to keep up production while pumping at work (I know some women aren’t able to). If you have any questions about this please feel free to send me a message on Instagram or email!
My Gear
Right now I’m using the Spectra S2 pump and I love it! It’s super efficient and quiet and has a ton of settings you can customize. Right now it takes me 6 minutes total to pump! I am going to be testing the all hands-free Willow pump this week and will be posting about my experience in the coming weeks with that. I actually haven’t bought a new hands free bra yet but nearly 50 people suggested this one when I posted on Instagram asking for suggestions!
I use these bags to freeze and just ordered THIS to help store the bags more compactly.
And this hand pump is the best!! It’s so easy to use and does a great, quick job at extracting milk. I use this if I need to pump during the night (I don’t regularly) or if I’m going out.
More breastfeeding posts:
How To Properly Clean Your Pump
How I Pumped My Freezer Stash
VIEW THE COMMENTS