I just wanted to announce somewhere that this morning at 3AM I used a haakaa to un-engorge myself prior to feeding my son and my letdown produced 2 ounces in a matter of minutes. That poor dude IS getting beer bonged!!
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Anyone have these silicone pump flanges?
They seem wayyyy more comfy than the hard plastic ones…
My pump came with soft silicone parts that went over the hard plastic bits? Have you been pumping with hard plastic on your boobs this whole time? I HIGHLY recommend you get some nice soft silicone bits! Check your nipple size first
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Yeah I have! They’re not painful or anything because I got the right size but I didn’t know what I was missing, lol.
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You’re gonna be so comfy!
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Here I am with another question that makes me feel dumb, but am I supposed to be waking up to pump if the baby is sleeping longer thru the night? Like he’s been sleeping from 7:30-3ish, should I be waking up to pump around 10?? Am I dooming my supply? Ughhh
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Personally I say if the baby is sleeping dont wake up because sleep is so dang important. However, I have been super lucky bit things and have not had any problems with supply at all. Do you have an undersupply at all or wake up in pain if you let baby sleep?
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I definitely wake up pretty full. But not in pain. No supply issues so far…
I would let baby sleep and either use a haaka or a hand pump on the other side to help a bit. Sleep is so vitally important for everyone!
Edit because apparently I need sleep. By baby I mean you. You sleep so that you can best take care of yourself and baby.
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Cool, I have been haakaa-ing when I wake up so the baby isn’t firehosed when he does eat. Man why is this stuff so mystical
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I see this as matching babies needs. If he isn’t needing a feed then, why send the signal to the boobs that they need to have milk then. Unless you’re in need of a big freezer stash, and 90% of people are not, contrary to all those IG photos lol. So, reasons to yes: need the freezer bulk up, or fighting against under supply. Reasons to no: let your milk follow your babies requests, get sleep because sleep is wonderful.
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Good points.
Even if I wanted or needed a big freezer stash, which I don’t think I do, I have a small rental freezer.
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So I’ve read and heard about how to correct biting while nursing and it makes sense, but what if your kid is more just scraping their teeth on you while nursing? It’s not really a select instance so I don’t know what makes sense to do… but I do know i don’t want to power through it, lol.
The top 4 teeth are pretty new so is it just something she’ll figure it out? Idk. Any anecdotes or advice are useful.
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My experience with this was that both kiddos did this just before and after new teeth came through, no matter where they were in the mouth, and then they settled into their new mouth parts.
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During active sucking or while pulling off?
How did y’all choose a breast pump?
My options through insurance are
Medela
Spectra S2 or S1
Motif Luna
Lansinoh
Ameda mya
Afro calypso
Cimilre (s5, s6, s6+, p1)
Elvie
This is way too many choices lol
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What are your goals/important factors?
Medela is probably the most common and there are plenty of replacement parts (stuff wears out over time) in a store like Target or Walmart.
Spectra was the hotness when I was pregnant, there are the next most replacement parts available in stores (like Target, but maybe not Walmart). Lots of people wanted the 2 for portability in the house.
Ameda Mya was very quiet and small, and could run on battery, which is what I wanted expecting to need to pump in my office (and then pandemic, lol!). Parts were harder to source (from Ameda direct $$ or Amazon knockoffs), but turns out the flanges were compatible with Avent regular bottles, so when my supply crapped out and I gave it to a friend, she could oversupply into much larger bottles.
Lansinoh has probably one of the best nipple shapes on their bottles for back and forth with nursing, but that doesn’t strictly have to mean using the same pump. Same friend had issues with her Lansinoh and got a replacement and then had different issues with that one.
So consider portability if desired, ease of parts if desired, compatibility with other gear (like pumping bra—get one of those), and whether it comes with desired extras like tote or different sizes of flange (get different sizes ahead of time). Don’t pay any attention to people who “loved” their pump brand unless they truly have experience with different ones and have similar factors to you.
Also some will say stuff like “hospital strength” but this is a meaningless marketing term and none of the home insurance ones are truly the same as a hospital-provided pump.
In the end, it’s just one very small choice that probably won’t really affect much about your kid, so you could even just get the one that looks coolest and be fine.
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Pump options have exploded in the past few years which is great for choice but hard for decision making! It depends on how you plan/hope to use the pump (which you can sort of think about in advance) and how prolific your BM production is (which you can’t know ahead of time, alas).
How do you hope/plan to use the pump?
- If you’ll be exclusively pumping, a strong/“hospital strength” one may be important. If you’ll be primarily BFing and use pump as supplemental or if needed, then less so.
- Will you need to commute with it back and forth to work? Do you want to be able to walk around the house while pumping? Do you want to be able to (sort of) go out in public? There are various levels of portablility.
Medela and Spectra are the most common. You’d easily be able to pick up additional parts from Buy Nothing or newborn groups. I’m not familiar with all of the rest, but if they say “Medela compatible” or “Spectra” it will be similarly easy.
For me, who was pumping almost exclusively for several months and didn’t have the most amazing supply (NICU, etc.), the type of pump made a huge difference. The two important factors for me were (1) was it portable enough that I could get up to get a cup of water or feed myself and (2) strength of pump.
When I used Elvie exclusively for several weeks, it tanked my supply and it was a real time-consuming and expensive problem to get it back up. I loved mine for additional flexibility (it helped me pump during video meetings, during some bike commutes, and while driving up the side of a 5,000’ mountain) but would not recommend it as your ONLY pump especially if you’re buying it before knowing if you are an abundant BM producer. I use my insurance on this one and it was a mistake for my circumstances.
The hospital rented me an actual hospital-style Medela which was very annoying (heavy, not tethered to the wall plug) but effective. Medela also has portable ones that look much less annoying :).
I really liked the Baby Buddha. It’s very strong (comparable with hospital grade Medela) but the motor itself is pretty small and can be worn on a lanyard around your neck. It’s not as discreet as the Elvie (can’t be fully hidden under clothes). Unfortunately it’s not on your list.
Also, this can wait until baby is born, but if you use the pump more than 1x/day – do yourself a favor and buy 2-3 sets of parts so you can make it through a full day without washing.
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A wearable pump should be an in addition, not your only pump, so I would skip the Elvie. If you really wind up wanting a wearable, my cheap Amazon one seems to work fine. I have the mya joy. It’s fine? I wouldn’t have picked it. I do still hear really good things about the spectra in my various Facebook groups.
I have Legendairy collection cups that I use instead of pumping into the bottles. They were kind of pricey, but they let me pump and nurse at the same time. I also like that they fit inside my clothes, because on work mornings I like to pump at the breakfast table and my older kids are around at that time. Nursing is where the Mya Joy is pretty good. It’s so small that it is easy to sort of tuck in the chair next to me.
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I had a ton of options too, and I watched a bunch of reviews on YouTube! The videos by exclusive pumpers were especially helpful, even though I was not planning to be one.
Ultimately I went with a Spectra, but it’s the version that has to plug into a wall. Sorry, can’t remember if 1 or 2–it’s pink. But I’d go with the one you can use with batteries too! Good to have options and be more portable. FWIW I like the pump I ended up with, but I don’t have anything to compare it to.
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