Pumping at Work Question

swith5 · January 2012

I have been EBF'ing and I go back to work on Tuesday. My question - if my DS will be at daycare from about 8-5:30, and I'll be pumping 2 or 3 times during the day, do I need more than the 4 collection bottles that came with my PISA? Better question, have any of you bought more collection bottles? Also, how do you store milk during the day - keep in collection bottles? pour into a larger container? bag it? I know I used to see posts about people's pumping routines awhile back but I haven't seen one lately.

Thanks!

Sarah

megs68 · January 2012

Do you know how much you're pumping per session? I only ever needed 4 but it really depends on how much you pump. Better to have too many bottles than not enough I guess! I pumped into the bottles and stored them in the fridge at work, along with the flanges and other pump parts, so I wouldn't have to wash them each time.

ksulli · January 2012

I've been pumping at work for months and have only the 4 bottles it came with. I pour my milk into bags right after my pump session and keep them in a cooler inthe fridge, then freeze it when I get home. I only brig 2 bottles to pump into each day. I send 3 bottles of my oldest defrosted milk with dd each day, plus one bottle of fresh milk from the previous day. That way if she needs a 4th its there, and if she doesn't, it's fresh milk that can still be frozen that night.

jlsimon56 · January 2012

Here's what I do, and I hope this makes sense.

I pump 4x per day at work. First pump, I use Bottle A and Bottle B. At the end, I pour everything into Bottle A and save Bottle B (don't rinse, etc.). I put Bottle A into a cooler bag with ice packs. I put Bottle B in my pumping bag, stored at room temp. Second pump, I use Bottle B and Bottle C. At the end, I pour everything into Bottle B and save Bottle C. Bottle B goes into the cooler bag, Bottle C goes into my pump bag. Third pump, Bottle C and Bottle D. Fourth Pump, Bottle D and Bottle E. So at the end, I have 4 full-ish bottles and one empty but dirty bottle. If you pump 3x per day, you'd have 3 full-ish bottles and the one empty. So, four total.

On Mondays, I send the oldest frozen/thawed milk from my freezer stash for the 4 bottles I know she'll take. The extra bottle is fresh (I pump on weekends to keep my supply up). On Tuesdays, she gets Monday's extra bottle first, then any milk I pumped at work the previous day. On Wednesdays, she gets Tuesday's pumped milk. On Thursdays, she gets Wednesday's pumped milk. On Fridays, she gets Thursday's pumped milk. I freeze what I pump on Fridays and add it to my freezer stash. I do this b/c it rotates my freezer stash, uses less bags (less waste), and gives her fresh milk for 4 of the 5 days.

Sometimes, I pump a little extra. I just keep it in my fridge. I line the bottles up, oldest in the front and newest in the back. As I pump or make bottles for daycare, I move the fridge bottles along so the oldest is always in the front. Sometimes there are 10 bottles in there!

I bought cheapy bottles that fit my pump, and cheapy caps too, off Amazon. The brand name ones are expensive. The bottles were Evenflo or Nuk, I forget? And the caps were Dr. Browns. The only problem is the bottles aren't round so they don't fit into the space on the pump. Which isn't a big deal.

I really hope all that made sense.

drcolleen · January 2012

Ditto jlsimon56, that's what I did w/ DD1 and will do starting this week again. Except that I do have lots of medela bottles and will try to keep a few extra in my office just in case I forget my cooler or something (I have a fridge in my office). I refrigerated the flanges between pumps as well as the bottle that was pumped into but empty then washed everything at home.

lanbob · January 2012

I pump 2-3 times @ work. My double elecrtic stays @ work and comes home on off days I keep a cheap single electric @ home. First and second sessions I pour into cheap store bought 9oz bottles the third session I leave in the pump bottles. I pump 6-9 oz a session. I store bottles and flanges in a cooler with ice packs between sessions.I also pump once on my days off. I freeze my last work day milk. On the first work day of my week LO gets oldest frozen milk and fresh milk the rest of the week. BM is good in the frig for 7days so Fridays will still be good for monday. Hope this helps.

MissManda · January 2012

I pump 4 times a day. I bought extra collection bottles because I send 1 fresh bottle to daycare and don't want to waste a freezer bag for it. I used to send milk for cereal in bottles also, so I was taking 3 collection bottles to daycare every day.

I take 8 bottles with me - some days, I can't combine bottles after pumping (I'll get 8-9 oz sometimes), so I want to have more than I need rather than not enough. The bottles with the milk go in the ice pack storage thing that came with my pump (Medela PISA). The empty bottles go in the plastic bag that I keep my horns in -- kept in the refrigerator in my classroom so that I don't have to wash in between sessions.

katiegal · January 2012

Here's my routine, hopefully this will answer your questions:

I get up an hour before LO to pump before work, that gives me 8-10 oz total.

I pump 3 times a day at work, that gives me 12-14 oz total. My LO drinks 4 oz bottles. I bring 4 bottles with me and cap them off once I get 4 oz. I store them in the little cooler bag with the ice pack in the 'fridge at work. I keep my pump parts attached to the bottles and put that in a plastic bag and store that in the 'fridge at work to use throughout the day. I wash the parts at the end of the day.

I pump at least once when I get home from work. Most times I leave everything connected and just keep in all in the 'fridge. Saves time.

Every few days I sterilize the parts using one of those microwave Medela bags or sometimes I just boil.

Good luck with everything! After a few days you'll get your own routine down.

babynoodle07 · January 2012

I use mainly the 4 bottles that came with my PISA. Here's our routine:

BF at home or at DC drop off (7:50ish)

Pump at work- 2 Medela bottles that came with my pump (9:30ish)

Lunch break, go to DC to BF DS (12:30-1:30)

Pump at work- 2 more Medela bottles (3:30ish)

BF at pickup from DC or at home, depending on if DS is hungry or not (5:30ish)

I always carry an extra set of bottles (Evenflo glass bottles) just in case I need to pump for an extra session. I put my pump parts in a rectangular tupperware and stick them in the fridge at work after my first pumping session so they are "fresh" for the second one.

DS drinks about 2oz of pumped milk in the morning and 2.5-3.5oz of pumped milk in the afternoon. He has almost completley reverse-cycled his eating during the week while I am gone. I pump 4oz from each side during each pumping session so I give him the freshest milk possible (from afternoon session) in his bottles for the next day and freeze the rest. My deep freezer is getting a little cramped from all of the milk I have stored in there. I thaw a bag of the oldest milk for Monday's feedings.

(BTW- if your DS does reverse cycle like mine did don't panic. Have your Pedi check him out but if everything else is fine he will do just fine. My DS is a happy camper all day but just adds in a few extra feedings at night. No biggie.)

pitterpatter129 · January 2012

I didn't read the other answers, but I would encourage you to buy some more bottles! You won't want to do that many dishes on a regular basis - there will be days you forget to wash or accidently leave the milk in the work fridge, etc. The gerber and parent's choice brands fit your pump and are super cheap.

We fed from the same bottles, so I just stored in the bottles in a cooler bag. Combined whatever I needed for daycare the next day and put the rest in the fridge. At the end of the week any extra was frozen in bags and I used old frozen for Monday's daycare bottles.

I kept bottles and caps to them in a cold bag with my pump parts during the day so I didn't have to wash between pumps. I suggest keeping an extra set at work for those busy mornings when you don't have time or forget something too.

Also, just in case you haven't found this trick or don't have a hands-free bra, this works great! https://kellymom.com/bf/pumping/hands-free-pumping.html

swith5 · January 2012

Thanks for all the helpful replies! I think I will get some extra bottles just in case b/c I tend to pump more than 4 oz in the morning and may run out of room if I just combine throughout the day as I originally planned. I might just take bags for the first week to see how it goes, since I already own them. Thanks again!

ns1 · January 2012

I have an extra set of all pumping parts, collection bottles included, on hand just so if I don't get everything into the dishwasher, out of the dishwasher, and dried in a timely manner I have more to fall back on.

I pour what I collect into my bottles for daycare into the exact ounces I will need for the next day so I don't have to do that when I get home. Then I reattach the collection bottles to everything, throw them in a ziplock bag and into a cooler and throw them in our work fridge so I don't have to wash them until I get home!

mrambo3 · January 2012

I have 9 or 10 bottles. Three will always we at daycare since DS drinks 3 5oz bottled while we're at work. I take 4 5oz bottles with me to work to pump three times. I wash bottles every night so it's a PITA but I'm not spending any more money on bottles.

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