Overwhelmed - How EXACTLY does the whole pumping and storing thing work?

KreecherMom · October 2015

Please don't tell me to search for other threads - I've spent all together too much time trying to figure this out.... FTM, plan to breastfeed, but will want/need to pump and store. I'll have the Medela Pump in Style. What I can't get a clear answer on is - do you have to pump into one vessel and store in another and then pour into the bottle you want to use? That seems like a whole lot of work and wasted effort. Everything I've read is that Medela bottles are not good for feeding. (We've got some comotomos, some phillips avent, and some dr. brown's.) Is there any way to pump directly into storage bags? Do you ever pump straight into bottles? And, if so, who sells the adapters? Medela? or the storage bag/bottle company?

STMs - please help!!!! Make it simple for me please

jenbstevens · October 2015

There are multiple ways to do this. You can pump in to a bottle with a bag in it, and then put the bag in whatever bottle you want to use. You can also pump directly in to a bottle then use that bottle to feed baby. OR you can pump in to whatever container (I plan on using bags so they take up less space) then pour that in to whatever bottle you will be using. I agree that medela bottles are not ideal for feeding when they're really little as the nipple isn't like a real nipple, but every baby is different. I don't know about adapters, I'm a FTM too but this is my understanding.

NJPita22 · October 2015

I had advent and medela bottles. Medela bags have a connection and I pumped right into the bag. (The bags are hard to measure how much you have) then I would label the bag lay it flat and freeze it. If I knew she would be drinking it within a few days I pumped into the Medela bottle or I bought adapters to pump into my avent bottles. The Medela bottles are good because the nipples are small and DD choked on bigger openings for a while

nik6499 · October 2015

There isn't really a rule book, it's about comfort. I frequently stored in the bottles I pumped in and did dump them in another bottle to use but I wasn't using the medela nipples like I plan to try this time. I sometimes in the beginning would pump and pour into freezer bags as well. But it's really about what works for you. Don't let it stress you out, you can do this and will quickly figure out what works and feels best for you. There may be some milk mishaps but you have time to sort it out.

lmyrmo · October 2015

I always preferred pumping into a bottle and transferring it into a bag (with a double zip) to freeze it. But there isn't a right or wrong. You figure out what you like as you go. Some systems let you pump into a bag and some storage bottles can be frozen. We always use Avent bottles, but again, no right or wrong. And sometimes babies have their own preferences. Kellymom.com is a good resource for questions and particularly helpful in giving info for freezing, thawing, and times milk can be left out, thawed, etc. Try not to stress it too much. You will get it.

Mags128 · October 2015

I have a pump in style advance and would pump into either a medals bottle or a dr. Browns bottle. I would usually combine pumping sessions and store in the fridge in the dr. Brown bottles. If I was freezing the milk I would then freeze in the storage bags. It was a system that I had to figure out but it worked well for me.

dec15mum · October 2015

This is gonna seem stupid but see if you're storing breast milk, how long does it keep for in the fridge?

Mags128 · October 2015

dec15mum said:

This is gonna seem stupid but see if you're storing breast milk, how long does it keep for in the fridge?

In the fridge 3-8 days. In the freezer it depends on if it's a deep freezer or a regular freezer. Deep freezer is 6 months and regular freezer is less. I highly recommend kellymom website. They have a ton of info https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/

HFjeld · October 2015

With my first, I pumped into medela bottles, poured those into Lasinoh milk storage bags to freeze, and labeled them with the date and amount per bag. I stored a variety of amounts in bags, because I found it was helpful to have 5 ounce bags, and also smaller bags such as 1 or 2 ounce bags, so that if you thought maybe the baby want to just a little more to drink you didn't wind up thawing out more than you needed and wasting it if the baby didn't drink it after all. I froze the baggies flat and then once they were frozen I kept them in a bread baking tin in the freezer, card – catalog style, sorted by date so that I used the oldest milk first. We used to Medela bottles for feeding. My son really never liked bottles, but they were as good as any of the others were (we tried tons of bottles before we realized that he just didn't like bottles.). Our lactation consultant said a Medela bottle with the slow flow nipple was fine.

Having two sets of pump parts was really helpful, because you're right, it is a lot of dishes and steps. I found it convenient to have all Medela accessories because all the tops and nipples for the bottles, so on the occasions when I pumped and didn't bother freezing it but instead just had my husband feed the baby directly, I could skip the baggy step and just leave the bottle that I pumped into in the fridge and have him put a nipple on it when he wanted it. You get the hang of it after a while, and it stops being such a big deal. Having two sets of pump parts does help because you can pump even if you haven't gotten around to washing one set.

breezypip · October 2015

Thank you for these questions and answers! I just got my first pack of bottle in the mail today and I sat there holding them wondering how I'm going to do this because I have no idea how any of it really works. This helps!

dec15mum · October 2015

Mags128 said:

dec15mum said:

This is gonna seem stupid but see if you're storing breast milk, how long does it keep for in the fridge?

In the fridge 3-8 days. In the freezer it depends on if it's a deep freezer or a regular freezer. Deep freezer is 6 months and regular freezer is less. I highly recommend kellymom website. They have a ton of info

https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/

Thank you!!

navyblueladybug · October 2015

I was always told the 5-5-5 rule... Milk can be 5 hours on the counter, 5 days in the fridge, 5 months in the freezer

erikaalzet · October 2015

My niece (we are close in age, she is a mom of 3) told me bottles go bad! That was news to me.

Thank you for asking this! So far this has been very helpful.

kcklein12315 · October 2015

Have you seen the kiinde system? One bag you pump into, store and use as the bottle. I'm going to try it and see what happens...I've definitely heard that babies can be picky about bottles, so we'll see if LO actually likes these and go from there!

arz1215 · October 2015

I had a breast feeding class last night and the nurse/teacher told us that if your freeze your milk in a deep freezer (cold enough to make ice cream rock hard) then the milk can be in there for up to 12 months. She also said that breast milk can be left out for an hour, but after that it needs to be dumped if not consumed.

Mizuiro007 · October 2015

This may seem a little weird but when I was breastfeeding DS I got some of the best info from Similac. I had signed up for their siteam and besides samples I got a little booklet that had all the milk storage info in it. I kept that in the kitchen as an easy reference. Their forum was also helpful quite a few times with figuring out things like how to figure out what size bottle to give when you've been BF and want to give expressed milk.

I had a lansinoh pump and would pump into their bottles and usually from there poured it into a storage bag so I could label them. If I knew it was a bottle DS would have that day, I would pour it into a brand bottle we were using with him (Tommee Tippee) and put it in the fridge with a storage cap, the next day or two a storage bag in the fridge, if I wasn't sure or had a good supply it went in the freezer. It was a lot to wash but if you rinse everything immediately it isn't hard at all to wash.

Adapters I've seen are purchased from the brand you want to use for the bottle. For instance, we're going to start out with the tommee tippee bottles again this time and will this time try an adapter. So I'll buy the adapter from Tommee Tippee to use with my pump. It may be something worth testing out but standard sized bottles tend to fit the same things so some brands may not require an adapter.

soulfish · October 2015

I pumped into storage containers. In the evenings I froze my milk in ice cube trays. I stored the frozen cubes in dated freezer bags. Your baby will probably have a bottle or nipple preference and it may not work with the storage containers. The ice cube method allowed me to plop however many ounces I needed into whatever bottle we were using.

TomekiaB · October 2015

From some of the research I've done many regular sized bottles are actually universal as far as the screw-on part. So, many bottles should be interchangeable on the pump and the cap that holds the nipple. If you start buying wide mouth bottles like avent or tommee tippee I'd assume you'd need adaptors to pump directly into the bottle (since these specialty bottles are probably more expensive it may or may not be worth it to you when the universal ones are cheaper and don't require more pump parts).

Another thing to think about is how much breastmilk you want to store. Breastmilk is a living food that changes with babies age and needs. The probiotics in it are one of the great benefits as far as immunity. One of my friends is a medical doctor and posted an interesting article on facebook recently on how physically breastfeeding your child actually tells your immune system what your child needs (basically, it was a scientific variation of the baby's "backwash" helps mom's body produce immunity to help the baby fight infections--so using milk closer to when it is pumped would be better for the immune response and freezing may damage some of those probiotics too).

Obviously, you will still want to work on building some frozen store so that if you get sick or aren't near the baby for a few days you have backup plan.

theawc42 · October 2015

kcklein12315 said:

Have you seen the kiinde system? One bag you pump into, store and use as the bottle. I'm going to try it and see what happens...I've definitely heard that babies can be picky about bottles, so we'll see if LO actually likes these and go from there!

i too am trying the kiinde system. I need to stock up on their bottles and bags though

mac-n-cheesy · November 2015

theawc42 said:

kcklein12315 said:

Have you seen the kiinde system? One bag you pump into, store and use as the bottle. I'm going to try it and see what happens...I've definitely heard that babies can be picky about bottles, so we'll see if LO actually likes these and go from there!

i too am trying the kiinde system. I need to stock up on their bottles and bags though

I got the full Kiinde system with the warmer for half off due to a Facebook sale awhile back that another lady on this BMB shared and then was gifted a ton of their bags, nipples, and extra bottles the bags go in from my MIL during my baby shower.
I'm going to be a SAHM so I don't plan on pumping a lot but I was gifted a Medela Freestyle pump and wanted a very easy system for my DH, mom, and MIL to use while I'm out and about on my own, at the gym, etc. the Kiinde system seems incredibly user friendly so I hope LO takes to it.

theawc42 · November 2015

I got into an argument with my SO about using the kiinde system versus the Dr. Brown bottle for prevention of colic. I tried to explain to him that the kiinde system was specifically for breast feeding and the Dr. Brown bottle, while you can use for breast milk, it seemed more appropriate for formula because the kiinde system does allow you to cut out a few steps. I got everything organized the other night and the kiinde system is very user friendly and attaches to my Ameda pump. I am hoping everything works smoothly when its time to breastfeed.

MillyDally · November 2015

Get in touch with your local LLL (La Leche League)! Mine has a Facebook group and has monthly meetings, which is really fun. We have a mom who had a preemie and she is a pumping expert and told me to ask her any time if I have questions.
It's also worth it to get to know your lactation consultant at your hospital now, they are wonderful and supportive ladies.

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