Tell me about your breast pumps! I qualify for quite a few through insurance, I was surprised. Thought it’d be 1-2 but it’s more like 5. No idea where to start. Watching YouTube reviews, but it’s hard for me to tell the difference since I’ve never done this.
Medela Pump In Style with MaxFlow
Lansinoh SignaturePro
Zomee Z2
Motif Duo
Lansinoh Smartpump 2.0
Spectra S2 PLUS–there are two of these but they’re not free. They’ll cost me $30. I think because one comes with a cooler/ice pack and another comes with a backpack. I don’t need either of those items–have similar things I can use.
I very much disliked my medela pump in style (though I had an older version circa 2019?). BUT - what your work has is probably the hospital grade Medela (I think Symphony?) which is what was at my work as well, and also what my hospital lent to me for 2 months when I was struggling in the beginning. I do like the hospital grade and really liked not having to haul my pump back and forth.
My coworker also says that she hates the medela pump in style (only option through our insurance) and she bought the spectra out of pocket. She uses the hospital grade medela at work with no issues.
I don’t know - I never used my battery pack but I also did not pump for very long (I went back to work Feb 2020….).
Do you think you’d ever be in the situation where you’ll need to pump on the go? I always pumped at some kind of desk with an outlet.
I also bought a manual hand pump (Medela) for “emergencies” - and I actually did okay with that. I only used it at night when baby started sleeping for longer durations to relieve discomfort. I think that if I had to pump on the go I’d rather use the manual than haul a portable around (but I don’t travel for work regularly).
I don’t really think so. The only places I see us going for a while are my parents’ place 1 hour away, or maybe my grandma’s place 2.5 hours away (but could stop at my parents’ on the way to break up the trip). DH’s family is all in Chicago. Getting a manual for emergencies seems like a sound plan. I’m hoping those are cheaper
The manual one is somewhere on the order of $30, I think.
With all this said, I’m putting a bunch of money in my flex account because I’m eyeing the willow or Elvie portable pump this next time around. I work in the office at least 3 days a week (big chunks of my work requires it), and walking over to the lactation room is pretty disruptive to my day. With the portable one I think I can pump in my shared office (my officemate is a new mom and wouldn’t mind).
What are your timeframes/expectations for pumping?
I had a manual Medela and manual lifebrand last time and didn’t like either.
I love the haakaa
I had a manual phillips/avent that I used to EP for a few days in the hospital and it was fine.
I EP a few more days with the medela pump in style and a nursing bra and it was much better. But I hear the spectra is even better. I still pump once a week or so and it is good
Rental grade pumps can make a HUGE difference for some people! I was actually sent home from the hospital with a set of Medela pump parts because they had me triple feeding (and the parts are single user anyway).
I did not get to choose a pump with insurance and the one I have is not on your list and I don’t like it very much, but I hear good things about the spectra in my Facebook groups.
pump enough where DH, the night owl, can take like a 2am feeding so I can sleep til 4 or 5ish? Some kind of shift situation so I’m not up ALL night. Tho I expect that will probably be the case for the first few weeks regardless
pump to sustain bottles for daycare when I have to go back to work
stop when ??? Solid foods are well-introduced? Baby cues say no more boobs? I am tired? Lol
Maybe you know this, but worth noting that if you want an overnight feed to continue being breast milk, you need to extract milk at the same time (roughly) as milk is given. So even is husband gives the bottle, you need to pump milk around the same time. that’s why some families opt for replacing an overnight feed with a formula feed. We opted for “husband does everything and I side lie nurse/don’t even get out of bed, so I’m basically still asleep, but milk leaves boob at the right time”
A couple misc ones then-
Breast milk is all supply and demand. An empty breast fills more quickly, too. The best way to improve supply is to just remove milk more often.
Baby and boob are a dyad. One of the reasons babies cluster feed (feed a bunch of times all in a row for a couple days) is that suckling an empty breast stimulates a supply increase. Less milk removal, less milk gets produced- especially at that time of day.
Newborns should not go more than 3 hours without eating, day or night, at least until they’ve regained to their birth weight. This does mean you need to wake a sleeping baby at the beginning (usually the first couple weeks) and annoy them until they eat.
There’s lots of positions your can feed in. There’s special techniques for getting a baby to latch right. A good latch isn’t just the nipple in their mouth, it’s the whole areola in their mouth, roughly.
Ummm those are some of the random ones I remembered that people might not know. A breastfeeding class by an IBCLC for me and husband was one of the best things we did, and I DO have previous exposure to and knowledge of BFing. It’s common to know nothing and feel overwhelmed. What the nurses show you at the hospital is not all there is.
that’s why some families opt for replacing an overnight feed with a formula feed. We opted for “husband does everything and I side lie nurse/don’t even get out of bed, so I’m basically still asleep, but milk leaves boob at the right time”