Breast pump questions for working moms

AnnaReid81 · June 2016

Does anyone have recommendations for upgrades/needed items for a breast pump that would make going back to work easier? I'm covered for the double electric medela Pisa, two breast milk containers with lids, a 9 volt adapter, and breast shields, but I can upgrade to other options. I assume I'll want a case to transport it all--do I want one with a cooler? Is it nice to get a case where the pump motor can be removed? Is it worth upgrading to the Medela freestyle? Any suggestions/input would be appreciated!

SkiChic626 · June 2016

You'll definitely need a bag for pumping at work. I got one from Etsy that I just fold down a flap and don't have to actually take my pump out of it. It's great and I plan on using it again this time! That said, I also bought myself a Medela Freestyle, too. I'm going to keep one at home and one at work. I'm hoping to make pumping at work last longer this time....fingers crossed! You'll also need several bottles and/or bags for storing the milk, and once your milk comes in you'll nee to figure out what your actual flange size is - I needed to get larger ones than what came with my PISA, but you won't necessarily know that until you start pumping. You can also totally put your parts in the refrigerator between pumps without having to clean them. I didn't discover this until I was well into my pumping journey, and my goodness it was a game changer! Finally, you'll likely want to get a hands-free pumping bra....another game changer because you can get work done or answer emails while pumping!

AnnaReid81 · June 2016

Thank you so much for the info! Researching has been a long process, and I still had so many questions! Do you think you'll like the freestyle over the Pisa?

Curls919 · June 2016

Definitely get a bag with a built in cooler. Less to carry (and remember)

and definitely get a hands free pumping bra!

SkiChic626 · June 2016

AnnaReid81 said:

Thank you so much for the info! Researching has been a long process, and I still had so many questions! Do you think you'll like the freestyle over the Pisa?

I really have no idea. I'm going to have both, so I'll have to let you know once I start using them haha. I've heard that the Freestyle isn't as powerful as the PISA, but it's worth the convenience. We shall see.

AnnaReid81 · June 2016

Thanks Curls919! I was thinking the built in cooler would be handy but wasn't sure!

AnnaReid81 · June 2016

SkiChic626--I read somewhere that the power difference, though there is one, is really slight!

SkiChic626 · June 2016

AnnaReid81 said:

SkiChic626--I read somewhere that the power difference, though there is one, is really slight!

I'm just going by what people I know who've used both have told me. But I'm sure there are people out there who may say the opposite. It also has a lot to do with making sure all of the parts are in good working condition and making sure that you have the right size flanges.

bsckgb7 · June 2016

https://www.pumpinpal.com/html/all-in-one_kit.htm

Anyone bought the "kit" from this sight? It's angled flanges in 3 sizes so you don't have to lean forward for pumping and they have a hands free strap thing too.

Ceventa · June 2016

Like @SkiChic626 mentioned, definitely have a cooler or a bag that is well insulated with cooling blocks for transferring your pumped milk. During a work day (8 hours) I pumped between 30-36 oz. of milk, so I had a set of 6 bottles (6 oz each) in the bag, so depending on how long your work day is and how much milk you need for the little one make sure you have enough storage for it.

Abfisher · June 2016

I've heard the best about the Pump in Style Advanced. That's the one I will be going with. If you can rent a hospital grade, like the Medela Symphony, for the beginning while you are at home, that will get you off to a great start.

KMeredith82 · June 2016

Last time I just brought a small insulated lunch size cooler and kept it in our work fridge. I also would put the pump parts inside between sessions so I didn't have to clean them. I actually preferred to just use a normal tote bag. I had the pump in the bottom, a hands free bra, and extra bottles and parts. I also brought a thin cover (blanket), even though I was in a room by myself, I found that I still felt kind of exposed

ShanRum3 · June 2016

I will only be able to pump on my lunch break, and I'm wondering how often you other momma's pump at work? I know last time, I could only get about 6 ounces at a time, so DH had to supplement with formula some, but I exclusively nursed when I was home with DS. I only lasted a year, but I'm hoping to last longer this time.

ThisisNumber3 · June 2016

I have used both the PIS and the freestyle. For work I much prefer the freestyle. Mostly the display and the auto settings (versus dial). The portability (battery) and size is a big plus too. I think the membranes are stronger and need replaced less often.

I would invest in a second set of pump parts. You can either leave a back up set at work or only have to wash every other day.

KMeredith82 · June 2016

ShanRum3 said:

I will only be able to pump on my lunch break, and I'm wondering how often you other momma's pump at work? I know last time, I could only get about 6 ounces at a time, so DH had to supplement with formula some, but I exclusively nursed when I was home with DS. I only lasted a year, but I'm hoping to last longer this time.

I think I started by going three times a day but quickly reduced that to two. I have billable hours so as long as I was getting 8 a day, they didn't care if I broke my lunch hour up for pumping sessions. I think I tried to do 3, 20 min breaks but found that I really needed more like a half hour, plus it was just difficult to fit all that in. I did 2x a day for most of it, and then scaled back to once a day for maybe the last month.

What really helped me is that I bought a manual pump, and after a little while I started only feeding on one side first thing in the morning, and using the manual pump on the other at the same time. This did not add any time to my morning routine, but I was usually able to get about 4 "extra" oz each day by doing this.

Nikkoli98 · June 2016

ShanRum3 said:

I will only be able to pump on my lunch break, and I'm wondering how often you other momma's pump at work? I know last time, I could only get about 6 ounces at a time, so DH had to supplement with formula some, but I exclusively nursed when I was home with DS. I only lasted a year, but I'm hoping to last longer this time.

Kudos to you mama, I think a year is a pretty admirable outcome. :-) I will also have restricted times when I will be able to pump at work (it isn't likely to be at the same time each shift - so that worries me a bit). We will see how it goes. Best of luck this time around too!!

Curls919 · June 2016

ShanRum3 said:

I will only be able to pump on my lunch break, and I'm wondering how often you other momma's pump at work? I know last time, I could only get about 6 ounces at a time, so DH had to supplement with formula some, but I exclusively nursed when I was home with DS. I only lasted a year, but I'm hoping to last longer this time.

I'd nurse in the morning then pump when I first got to work. Pump again at lunch and once more mid afternoon. Then nurse again at night.

ashleybaker712 · June 2016

I have the PISA. It came with a bag and small cooler. I loved it and I'm feeling much more confident about pumping this time around. As others have said, you will love having the hands free bra. I didn't discover this until 7 months into pumping but it was a game changer! I was only able to pump 2-3 times a day. You'll figure out what works for you, your work, and your baby. If you have a day where you can't pump often enough, you can pump at home, too. I'd say the biggest thing I had to figure out was my routine. After I got that down, things went a lot smoother.

Edited because I can't figure out acronyms.

jamiesc58 · June 2016

ShanRum3 said:

I will only be able to pump on my lunch break, and I'm wondering how often you other momma's pump at work? I know last time, I could only get about 6 ounces at a time, so DH had to supplement with formula some, but I exclusively nursed when I was home with DS. I only lasted a year, but I'm hoping to last longer this time.

I am fortunate that I am close enough to nurse the baby on my lunch break so I only pumped twice during the day at work. I am not sure where you are located, but here in Michigan, there is a law that states

Employers must provide “a reasonable break time to an employee to express milk for her nursing child for one year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk.” The location provided must be a suitable place other than a bathroom and must be shielded from view and free from any intrusion from co-workers and the public.

There are a couple of stipulations like 1. it only applies to non-exempt workers. and 2. If the company has less than 50 employees and can prove this would impose an undue hardship, they don't have to.

SkiChic626 · June 2016

@Ceventa said:

Like @SkiChic626 mentioned, definitely have a cooler or a bag that is well insulated with cooling blocks for transferring your pumped milk. During a work day (8 hours) I pumped between 30-36 oz. of milk, so I had a set of 6 bottles (6 oz each) in the bag, so depending on how long your work day is and how much milk you need for the little one make sure you have enough storage for it.

Holy cow (no pun intended), how were you able to pump that kind of volume??? I was lucky if I got 12 oz when I went back to work and started pumping again. Needless to say, I stopped responding well to the pump and eventually dried up.

SkiChic626 · June 2016

ShanRum3 said:

I will only be able to pump on my lunch break, and I'm wondering how often you other momma's pump at work? I know last time, I could only get about 6 ounces at a time, so DH had to supplement with formula some, but I exclusively nursed when I was home with DS. I only lasted a year, but I'm hoping to last longer this time.

A year is awesome, my milk disappeared never to return again when I got my period back at about 7.5 mos. I had enough of a freezer stash to get us to about 9 mos, but it caused me serious PPD because I was not mentally ready to stop BFing. Plus, once DD started daycare and got used to bottles, she really wanted nothing to do with nursing, and for us it wasn't worth the fights and fits, so I EP'd as long as I could.

That said, my days pretty much all looked like.....nurse on one side and pump the other upon waking up, pump about an hour after I got to work, pump again around lunch time, and then one more time around 3-4pm. Then nurse or pump when I got home from work, and then pump once more before I went to bed. Your employer should be providing you with ample time and place to pump other than just a lunch break. It's really unhealthy for a breastfeeding mother to not be able to express her milk in a timely manner.

Ceventa · June 2016

SkiChic626 said:

@Ceventa said:

Like @SkiChic626 mentioned, definitely have a cooler or a bag that is well insulated with cooling blocks for transferring your pumped milk. During a work day (8 hours) I pumped between 30-36 oz. of milk, so I had a set of 6 bottles (6 oz each) in the bag, so depending on how long your work day is and how much milk you need for the little one make sure you have enough storage for it.

Holy cow (no pun intended), how were you able to pump that kind of volume??? I was lucky if I got 12 oz when I went back to work and started pumping again. Needless to say, I stopped responding well to the pump and eventually dried up.

LOL The "holy cow" made me laugh.

Thankfully I was very fortunate that as long as I drank plenty of water, my milk production did well. I would nurse before leaving for work, pump around 10:30, again at lunch, and then just before I left for work. Each time I had a 6 oz. bottle on each boob and would usually fill anywhere between half to a complete bottle. If I dipped in how much water I drank, I noticed a depletion in my milk production. DS's daycare is right here at work, I would often go see him at lunch. In the beginning I would take advantange that I was there and nurse him, but I noticed that doing that would throw me off in pumping and throw him off his bottle schedule at school :-/ so eventually I learned that when I was with him at school to stick to their bottle schedule and my pumping schedule. If I ran low during the day, I would try to squeeze in another pumping session before bed to help stimulate milk production and get some more ounces in for the next day.

I always recommend to mommas, whatever you have extra, freeze it! It saved my butt so many times!

SkiChic626 · June 2016

@Ceventa Totally agree. I had about 600 oz frozen, but most of it was from the early days while I was still out on maternity leave and my supply was crazy! Once I started EPing is when it took a nose dive, regardless of food, water, supplements, frequency, etc. I think for me it was all hormones and pheromones that affected it.

KMeredith82 · June 2016

I think I'm going to have to use the restroom this time for pumping, which is not ideal... My company is small (under 50 total) and my office only has 4 people in it. We are in an open space, with only a conference room that has a door. It is not at all private though (visually and acoustically) so I wouldn't feel comfortable using it. At least the restroom is away from the open work area and has a locking door. We have two single restrooms (one men's and one women's) and the other women I work with have said they can always use the other restroom if needed if I'm using the women's. I know it's not ideal, but I pumped in some strange places last time.... At least the restroom stays clean. Anyone else having an issue finding a room to use for pumping at work?

Ceventa · June 2016

@KMeredith82 Would pumping in your car be an option? I know there are car adapters for the pumps and/or some pumps use batteries (which is a pain to keep track of), but maybe that would be a nice quiet option.

ThisisNumber3 · June 2016

KMeredith82 said:

I think I'm going to have to use the restroom this time for pumping, which is not ideal... My company is small (under 50 total) and my office only has 4 people in it. We are in an open space, with only a conference room that has a door. It is not at all private though (visually and acoustically) so I wouldn't feel comfortable using it. At least the restroom is away from the open work area and has a locking door. We have two single restrooms (one men's and one women's) and the other women I work with have said they can always use the other restroom if needed if I'm using the women's. I know it's not ideal, but I pumped in some strange places last time.... At least the restroom stays clean. Anyone else having an issue finding a room to use for pumping at work?

Hopefully you could maybe drag a chair in there.

** You should pump to replace each feeding. So if you are gone from baby for 3 feedings, you should pump 3 times. Expect that pumping will not produce exactly what a baby would extract and the baby may need more ounces from being bottle fed and at daycare.

charmedlifex3 · June 2016

We bought the Kiinde system to work with my PISA. I like the idea of not having to transfer.

A question for everyone - My husband also is starting a job where he'll work 4pm-2am. The plan is for him to drop the baby off at daycare around 1, and for me to pick him up at 5:30. My office is on the way to the day care, sort of, but it's far enough I'd be under a time crunch if I ran over on my lunch hour.

So my question - Would my right to nurse him be covered under "opportunity to express milk" if the baby were to come to me? I'm thinking it'd be GREAT if my husband could stop by every day and I could nurse him before he heads to daycare for the afternoon. I'm not thinking it would be a huge problem, but it would be awesome if that were legally protected? (and plus also, it'd be really nice to spend half an hour or so with my husband everyday, since otherwise we won't see each other much during the week...)

@kmeredith82 Right there with you. We have two bathrooms which are both singles, and I also plan on using the bathroom. I could technically use the break room, which is adjacent to the bathroom, but it has a big window I would need to cover, and then no one else would be able to eat, make coffee etc. while I was pumping. To avoid pumping in a room with a toilet, which is clean and less than a foot away from my other option, it seems silly to insist upon the "not a bathroom" clause. Legally I would be in my rights to do so (I work for a small office of a fortune 500 company, so while we are bitty here I get all the big company protections), but it just seems kinda mean. I think it's more for large offices where the "bathroom" is stalls, with no where to sit but the toilet, and even though it's a bathroom, still not terribly private. (and might be lacking things like an outlet...)

The bathroom in question is the same place we wash our dishes as an office, so the usual argument against pumping in the bathroom "would you eat off of something from the bathroom" - I do. Lol.

I already spoke to my supervisor, and the plan is to put a chair and table for pumping in the "employees only" bathroom. Maybe your office would be willing to do the same in one or the other, and designate both as unisex so you aren't taking up the only women's room? If you're comfortable with it, (go with your mom-gut!) I'd say its probably fine.

Ceventa · June 2016

@Allisun85

Check out this link on Kellymom.com: Your Rights As a Breastfeeding Employee

Perhaps this can help in terms of having LO come nurse, or at least give you somewhere to call to ask these questions.

The pumping room that I was provided when I pumped for DS was also a break room. It was a small room with a fridge and a table that when I was in there the employees could not access. I would recommend to time your pumping sessions during a time when the break room would be less busy, for example lunch times and first thing in the morning since people would tend to be in there eating. That could help with not stepping on any toes in terms of other people accessing the break room. If there is a room available for you that is not a bathroom, use it and don't feel bad about it. You are doing something important for your baby while working for heaven's sake, people can wait for their freakin' coffee.

KMeredith82 · June 2016

Thanks ladies, sounds like I'm not the only one with the restroom option! At one point it was mentioned that they could try to put a curtain in one corner of our storage area (which is not a private room), but that just seemed even less private - everyone would still be able to hear the pump!

my employeer is great about helping out in any way that they can, so I'm sure they'll reimburse me for whatever I need to buy to make the restroom more comfortable. It's not a huge room, but I think I could get a smaller chair in there, and we already added a nice storage cabinet. Maybe I'll try to find a comfy foldable camping chair that I can leave in a corner or in a nearby closet.

I have a feeling I'll be pumping a lot in my car as I travel out of the office often. Unfortunately I park a good 10 mins away from my office so it wouldn't be ideal to walk there each time I needed to pump.

charmedlifex3 · June 2016

@ceventa Thanks! It looks like having the baby come visit should be covered. I normally have an hour paid lunch, so if that is my lunch that would be considered "reasonable." - It's not like I am asking the company to pay me for time they wouldn't otherwise, which seems to be the cincher.

Also - google your state laws ladies! VT actually extends the protection to three years instead of the one offered federally. VT also protects my right to nurse in public, so if my husband and I wanted to go out for lunch while I fed the baby, no one can say I can't - we don't have to hide in the breakroom unless we want to.

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