Breastfeeding

blueskychicago12

Thanks, ladies!  I'm nervous about stocking up on breastmilk since I'll be returning to work, so I think I'll give it a try!  But I can also see how an extra step could be a pain in the neck.  At my breastfeeding class, they recommended pumping on both sides for a few minutes after each feed in order to stimulate production from the very beginning.  Did anyone do that?  I'm hesitant because I've heard that overproduction can become an issue, as well.  There's so much to learn!

Stac928

I wish I had pumped after feedings. I probably will try this time. My supply plummeted when I went back to work. Having a stash would have been nice. 

stillziggysmom

Sooo... I have major paranoia that this baby will try and make an early appearance and I feel obsessed with getting things in order just in case. I'm trying to piece together a plan for one of those 3-tier rolling cards to prep as a bedside nursing and bf station and am curious what your organization for bedside stations have been. What worked? What would you have like to change? I'm a third time mom, but my milk never came in with my first and I only got 6 weeks with my second before his hospitalization, so I am still a bf novice.

g_gabs71016

@stillziggysmom

I didn’t do a bedside station but like the idea ! I would have a heating pad, liners for leaking, nipple cream, and my pumping stuff handy if I was pumping vs breastfeeding. I would also have burp cloths close by.

In general, I found the following helpful:
- having a glider or other comfy chair vs breastfeeding in bed was easier
- getting a lactation consultant that comes to your home right away
- using hot pads (washcloths with hot water or a heating pad) on my breast before nursing to stimulate supply
- pumping after the first morning feeding 
- if I skipped a feeding making sure to pump so that my supply stays up
- once I was back at work, pumping in the am after a feed and then again before going to bed and saving the stash 

blueskychicago12

@g_gabs71016 would you recommend proactively setting up a lactation consultant visit ahead of time?  Or wait and see if issues arise?  (I'm figuring pretty much all first time moms are bound to have some issues arise!)

Peachie89

@blueskychicago12 I saw a lactation consultant in the hospital the day after I had my son. He had to stay under bili lights for 24 hours so when they allowed me to feed him I asked for her to come to check latch and teach me some different positions to hold him in. Then while I finished feeding him in the nursery she went back to my room to set up a pump and show me the right way to use it plus gave me a bunch of extra goodies to take home for my personal pump. I really appreciated learning and having someone with me early on so I knew what to watch for in case a problem did occur. 

g_gabs71016

@blueskychicago12 Where are you giving birth? I assume Chicago? I was in Chicago for my first and found that Prentice really didn’t have great support. Your pediatrician can recommend one, otherwise I used Lactation Partners and worked with Joan. She was great! I’d set it up for the day or two after you get home just because I found it helpful just to boost up my confidence and feel sure that my baby was getting enough. It was very reassuring! They weigh the baby before each feed so you know how much the baby drank and give you tons of resources and tips. 

https://www.lactationpartners.com/
 

blueskychicago12

Thanks @Peachie89!  Glad to hear that the consultant in the hospital was helpful for you.  @g_gabs71016 Yes, I am giving birth at Prentice.  How was your experience there otherwise?  And thanks for the consultant recommendation!

g_gabs71016

@blueskychicago12 I had a great experience at Prentice! My nurses were lovely and I felt very well taken care of. The doctor who delivered my baby was from the practice I was going to (they rotate whoever is on call) and I was going to have a resident there but she got called to something more complex. Be aware it is a teaching hospital so residents and nursing students maybe there. The place is fancy and feels almost like a hotel haha. Did you do a tour? I’d do that eventually just so you know what happens and it feels familiar. 

CapricaAndrea

I had my OB consultation today about the ovarian cyst (update in another thread, but basically we're still just keeping an eye on it) and she was surprised that I'm still breastfeeding my 2y/o, which I get it, most people don't go that long. But then she actually recommended stopping before baby was born because "it will be easier". Uh, ok, it took the first 3 months to actually get it properly figured out in the first place and it's not been "easy" with this nipple soreness from being pregnant, but that doesn't seem like a medically-sound reason for stopping, and it kind of bothered me that she said it, especially within the first 5 minutes of meeting me. 

ashorkey

@CapricaAndrea I would have totally have said something snippy back. I nursed my daughter for 2.5 years and then it was my choice to stop (she was still waking in the middle of the night to comfort nurse). You'll find the right time or she'll decide on her own! I will say it was easier than I expected to stop for the both of us and she became much more snugly after the fact... she still wanted the skin to skin (face to my chest) for a long time after which I was ok with. You can always work out tandem nursing, I've known plenty of people to do it so it's not like you'd be the first. 

Stac928

@CapricaAndrea based on this and what you said in the other thread I would be tempted to think about another OB.

McKBaby

@CapricaAndrea Your doc would have a field day with me. I nursed DD until a few months after her 3rd birthday. She was only nursing at night at that point, and I was ready to stop, but that was MY choice. 

anniemarie887

STM+ what pumps did ya'll like? also, did any of you use any kind of reusable breast milk storage? i'm not loving that all of these plastic pouches (lansinoh, kiinde, medela etc) are all one time use?! ugh. i started googling and it seems like if you want something reusable people are only doing silicone food trays to freeze, or glass mason jars?!

Spartanrd4

@anniemarie887 I used the medela pump in style and it worked great for me and plan on using it again this time around. I've heard good things about the Spectra but medela parts aren't compatible so I would need to get all new stuff to adapt to it and learn a new system and I guess I just don't really need anything fancy...if its not broke, why fix it? I did not use reusuable milk storages but I did like the lasinoh bags the best because they laid flatter for storage and I never experienced any of them leaking. 

McKBaby

@anniemarie887 I’ve used both Medela and Ameda pumps and they were pretty much the same as far as I’m concerned.

With my son, I had supply/pumping issues so we supplemented with formula starting around 6ish months. I was never able to pump a ton for him with either brand pump.

With my daughter she pretty much never took a bottle so pumping was useless. I was able to get more volume when I did pump, though. 

I don’t see much in the way of reusable milk bags either. If that’s important to you, I’d look for a glass option or freeze as ice cubes and transfer to something larger that’s more eco-friendly. 

Stac928

@anniemarie887 I used the Lansinoh Electric Double Smart Pump. I really, really wanted a closed system.  I wish I had done a Spectra though (and I'm going to see if insurance will cover another one, even though it's been pretty recent that I got one).  I've heard great things about the Spectra and it's another closed system. 

I used disposable bags (Lansinoh), I would have had to buy a crap ton of reusable.  I knew we would be trying to have a baby shortly and I can't breastfeed while pregnant (one of the meds I take you can't breastfeed with).  So I stocked up as much as possible ahead of time so DS could continue to have some breastmilk.  I probably had enough stock to give him 1-2 bottles of breastmilk for 5 months.  I don't think I could have afforded reusable for that, nor would I have had room to store anything that wasn't flat. 

anniemarie887

thanks @Spartanrd4 @McKBaby @stac928 - it never dawned on me that all the bags are single use until i started reading over the weekend. i'm not like super duper crunchy granola, but I do try and limit single use plastic. and also it's another reoccurring expense, one that i feel like will go quickly if you're pumping. also - i have equal friends w/spectra and lansinoh and they equally like them, which is why i'm like let me poll more ppl!

ale9687

@Anniemarie887 you can also pump directly into bottles. It depends on if you’re pumping to build a stash or bc you’ll be giving bottles. I only pumped w DS so I would pump into a bottle an then gave it to him. 

k_mama91

This is a dumb question especially for a STM but I didn’t commit to BF last time. Can you not just rinse/wash the disposable bags and reuse them? I plan on BFing this time and, don’t hate me, I usually don’t think twice about using plastic or disposable products but it seems the disposable is more efficient for storage but the cost and waste is a concern so this could be a solution? 

anniemarie887

@k_mama91 i had assumed that's what people did, but alas every single company says they are not reusable for sanitary reasons. 

k_mama91

@anniemarie887 I’m wondering if they’re saying that to boost sales? I don’t see how it wouldn’t be safe to wash with soap and hot water. But then again, that would probably be more hassle than it’s worth.

Stac928

@k_mama91 and @anniemarie887 They are sterile bags (at least lanisoh's are).  Once used they cannot be guaranteed to be sterile anymore, you've introduced ick.  I would be hesitant to use them again, especially for long term storage, unless you could find a way to effectively sterilize them again. 

anniemarie887

@Stac928 they all say that. i'm a decent balance of like not being a germaphobe but also keep clean... and i know my adult immune system can handle a good bit. i wouldn't want to do that to baby. 

i did read online that you can use one bag for a 24 hr period and continue to add milk to it before you freeze it? it's not like each pumping session need to have its own bag... any insight ladies?

ale9687

@anniemarie887 you’ll want to freeze the bags close to quantities that your baby takes, but if you do put multiple sessions into one bag the milk has to be the same temp before mixing. So don’t put freshly pumped milk in with milk from a fridge. 

anniemarie887

@ale9687 ah makes sense. i think this is the thing legit stressing me out the most. 

Spartanrd4

I agree with @stac928, I would not risk reusing the bag based on the sterilization issues. You can use a sterilizer (the machine or the sterlizer steam bags) for your pump parts and bottles but I feel like it would hurt the integrity of the bags or even melt the plastic of bags. Even when you thaw the bag (I used a bottle warmer) I think they were not the same afterwards. 

mrszoobear

@anniemarie887 - you dont have to freeze them in those bags. You can freeze them in ice cube trays. Then, when frozen, pop them out and put them in gallon size freezer bags. When your ready to thaw them out. Put the number of cubes you need in a bottle, in the fridge. I've seen this tip on a lot of websites when researching cloth diapering and making your own rash cream. Please note I'm a FTM so this isn't first hand knowledge. But it is very similar to how I plan on making baby food and seems like a sterile enough solution to the one use plastic problem. Sure you will go through multiple gallon ziploc bags but it's still less then those single use breastmilk baggies. 

Spartanrd4

@mrszoobear that is an interesting idea I guess my question is how do you figure out how many ice cubes you use for a bottle. Also I always dated my milk to keep organized so I would be confused which milk was the oldest when you are mixing all these random cubes in a giant bag. 

anniemarie887

@mrszoobear right - that's what i had read/mentioned earlier was using like silicone food trays (which was a fancier way of saying ice cube trays)

ale9687

@mrszoobear the only thing with the tray freezing method is I would think it would be hard to keep dates organized. Even frozen milk has a shelf life so you want use the oldest frozen milk first. 

mrszoobear

@Spartanrd4 - it would depend on the size of the ice cube molds. You could always melt pain ice cubes from your trays to see how many oz each one is. 

As far as organizing them by date, I think a week range is a good way to track. Or for smaller batches use freezer safe glass jars instead of disposable bags. You can write the individual dates on tape on the front of the jars. They are also a good way to get around using any plastic at all. 

anniemarie887

@Spartanrd4 @ale9687 yea, the stuff i've read recommended silicone food trays that each little "blob" is 1oz, so that's at least how you would know. and then xfer them to either plastic bags or glass containers and label. 

been chatting w/ some of my mama friends today re this topic - and they're just like i get the annoyance about single use plastic, but trust me you don't need anything else in your life to wash.

Spartanrd4

@anniemarie887 yes that is the biggest pain in the ass about pumping and bottles is all the washing and sterilizing you have to do. It's so time consuming! 

k_mama91

Regarding the freezing and thawing of breast milk- I’ve read some babies won’t take thawed milk, like the consistency changes or something? Anyone had issues like this? 

Stac928

there are ice cube trays that are 1 ounce...that's what I used when I made purees.  But I would think dating would be an issue.

@k_mama91 there is an enzyme Lipase that can impact taste of milk, some women have more in their milk than others.  It can cause stored milk to taste like metallic or sour.  We did not have this issue but I know others who have.  Scalding the milk before freezing/storing can help (and be a giant pain in the ass, I'm sure)

brrrrrrrrie

I have a ridiculous bottle question. Does everything have to be sterilized? Is it not enough to just wash it? I'm talking about bottles and bottle parts. I'm planning on breastfeeding but pumping into bottles so my husband and I can both feed and it seems like a whole different game to wash vs. sterilize. 

anniemarie887

@Spartanrd4 now i'll foray into another brand of this - did you buy a sterilizer? microwave pouch thing? just use boiling water? again so. many. freaking. options.

@brrrrrrrrie i'm under the impression you sterilize before using, but if you use a dishwasher you don't have to sterilize every time b/c of the high heat?! STM+ chime in, i only know what i'm reading online so far.

Stac928

brrrrrrrrie  I did an initial sterilization on everything.  At first I sterilized bottles every use.  I use a microwave sterilizer so it wasn't bad.  Wash.  Load up sterilizer.  Put in microwave for 4 minutes.  When its done let it sit for 10.  Then to the drying rack.  As DS got older with a better immune system I would sterilize like once a week or so.  Eventually I just washed unless there was some really old crusty ick in there (they will throw bottles in odd placed like behind the couch and you may not find them for awhile lol)

brrrrrrrrie

@anniemarie887 Oh no. That is a huge bummer. We don't have a dishwasher and are already not great at keeping up with dishes. Can't imagine adding the need to sterilize bottles into the mix.