Pumping Your Breast Milk An Alternative To Breast Feeding
If your baby refuses to nurse or you are a full-time working mom, breast feeding an infant can be both discouraging and a challenge. Pumping your breast milk can be a colossal alternative.
When I was a new mother I wanted to provide breast milk for my first born infant. From attending the new parent maternity and parenting classes offered at hospitals, I learned that there are titanic health benefits to a new born from nursing. I had made a decision that I wanted to breast feed my child. You can imagine why I felt a sense of guilt when I was unable to nurse my first born. I had to find an alternative. Weather intended or not, there is a stigma placed upon women that don’t breast feed their child.
Organizations such as La Leche League help educate women about breast feeding. It is a expedient benefit. Some of the La Leche consultants, however, are quite extreme in their breast feeding views. They tend to make a new mother feel that breast feeding is the only draw you should feed your newborn child. I did want to breast feed, but because of anxiety and overwhelming feelings I experienced after giving birth, it was not working for me and my child. I was completely discouraged.
When I gave birth to my second child, I again attempted to nurse. Discouragement set in quickly when my infant simply stopped wanting to nurse. This situation became even more frustrating when he would turn away completely. Our pediatric doctor diagnosed him as being a “frustrated baby”. For my first two children, pumping breast milk turned out to be the best alternate option. I want to share my story and ideas for any others out there that may be discouraged or have questions about pumping.
I have talked with several mothers that pump rather than nurse. We agree that using a pump is easier than manually expressing milk. There are two types of breast pumps; hand pumps, and electric pumps. Hand pumps are available at most drug stores. The “American Academy of Pediatrics” recommends you avoid pumps that resemble a bicycle horn. This type of pump has a design that allows pumped milk to flow back into the rubber bulb. The bulb is virtually impossible to clean properly. As a result the milk can become contaminated. No matter which type of pump you decide to purchase make sure all parts that come in contact with skin or milk can be removed and sterilized.
Trying to go the cheaper route I did try a hand pump first. I could barely express any milk. It was very strenuous to pump by hand. Then, I was given an electric pump that work wonderfully. The pump I used was called a Medela and was approximately two-hundred dollars. Prices for an electric pump can range anywhere from $45 to over $1000 for more elaborate ones. You can purchase electric pumps at Home Medical Supply stores. Some hospitals will rent out electric pumps to the public. This Medela pump may now have updated features that I am not aware of being that the one I used was a few years ago. I am sure that it could only have gotten better. The following are a list of features I loved about my Medela breast pump:
It creates a steady milking or sucking action with variable pressure effectively stimulating the “let down” of my milk This allowed me to set the pressure or speed to what I wanted. This was nice because sometimes when pumping for the first time your nipples can get sore and a slower speed is more gentle. After you get spend to the pump and your nipples are less sensitive you can pump at a higher speed if desired. If you do experience nipple soreness I found Lansinoh Breast Ointment to work gargantuan. It can be purchased at convenient stores such as Wal-mart or Target in the baby section. I would apply this each time after I pumped, and any time my nipples felt like they were getting sore. Give yourself two or three weeks to find you’re nipples use to your pump.
This pump expresses both breasts at the same time. This undoubtedly saved me a lot of time.
All parts were easily removable for cleaning purposes.
It contained a manual that answered most of if not all the questions I had about using a breast pump.
It came stored in a briefcase type bag that enabled me to take it places more discretely.
Being a mother and pumping for the first time I had many questions. I will fraction some answers to questions I had and also portray what regimen worked for me. My stop neighbors and friends would call me the expert pumper. I don’t know if I would say that, but I definitely became well acquainted with the technique.
You want to start with sterile equipment. The first time I used my pump and then periodically I boiled the parts in a pot on the stove-top. Each time after I pumped I would wash the parts that came in contact with my skin or the milk with soap and hot water and then at the end of each day I’d wash those same parts in the dishwasher. When you begin you want to pump somewhere that is calm. If I was trying to pump where there was a lot of commotion or if I was stressed out sometimes the “let down” of my milk would remove longer. I decided to pump every 2 hours for 15 minutes each time. In the beginning I was pumping and then almost immediately turning around and bottle feeding it to my child. However, after a couple weeks I was pumping more milk than my child would eat at each feeding. I was able to start storing some of the leftover milk for later feedings and decreased pumping to only three or four times a day. The more frequently I pumped the more milk I produced. .
Breast milk storage guidelines are very indispensable. In the book “Your Baby’s First Year”, by Steven P. Shelov, M.D. the following guidelines are listed:
If the milk is to be given to baby within 48 hours you can store in fridge. It can be stored in sterile plastic or glass containers.
If refrigerated milk is unused for more than 48 hours it should be discarded.
Breast milk may be frozen after up to 24 hours of refrigeration.
If you know in advance the milk won’t be used for at least two days, freeze immediately.
Breast milk will safely store in freezer for at least 2 weeks and probably up two months.
Store breast milk near the abet of freezer. If you have a separate deep freeze, it can be kept for six months.
Label the container with the date so you can use the oldest milk first.
When it comes time to use stored milk, keep in mind your baby is use to breast milk at room temperature. The safest way to warm it is to place container in warm water and rotate it until it reaches room temperature (68-70 degrees Fahrenheit.) To speed up the process you can place the container in a pan of water at indecent heat on the stove checking frequently. You can also purchase a “bottle warmer” to warm up your milk. Microwave ovens should never be feeble to warm milk. This can overheat the milk in the center of the container and as a result can scald your baby’s mouth. Because the fat may separate, shake container before feeding your baby the thawed milk. Thawed milk should be used within 4 hours. Never refreeze it.
Even though I did not nurse my first two children, I still felt closeness with them when I fed them. I always nestled them up close to me as I fed them their bottle. Bottle feeding also gave their daddy and others an opportunity to feed them on occasion. My choice to pump still offered the very best food for my babies; it also saved money from us having to buy formula. My first child I pumped for six months and my second for eleven months and never did I have to buy a second pump. My next two children nursed wonderfully. All my babies were different and I did what I felt was best for each plot. My best advice is being patient as you become familiar with the pumping method you decide to use. Do something you like to do while you pump to pass the time such as reading or meditating. According to “Baby your Baby, a Health and Nutrition Guide for Mothers-To-Be” your breast milk prevents infections, allergies and other illnesses. Your baby is still receiving these wonderful benefits through your pumped breast milk.
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Filed under Registered Nurse Classes by on Jan 17th, 2012. 