Pumping is the worst! You’re in the middle of work, trying to do a million things and then you realize you need to pump. It’s always at the most stressful time…
…So you quickly try to finish up and then excuse yourself to go pump. There are five people hanging out in the room you usually use and you don’t really feel like making a grand announcement and asking everyone to vacate. So you look for somewhere else, the bathroom? Not enough Purell to sanitize that. Supply closet? You drag a chair in there, lock the door, hope no one else has the key and start setting it all up. Then, of course, you notice that you left a piece at home, drying on the rack next to the sink.
While you’re trying to come up with another plan you hear your coworker calling you, reminding you about a meeting in 10 minutes. Sounds familiar?
Whatever calmness, love and bonding I felt when I started nursing, was gone when I started pumping during my shifts at work. But I want to be able to keep nursing and I want my children to benefit from the most incredible food that exists in the world, so I keep pumping. A few years ago, I decided to ask around and do some research so that I could make this very worthwhile effort a bit more manageable.
It really worked! I made a few small changes. And while pumping didn’t become something I loved to do, it became something I found worthwhile rather than being something I dreaded.
1. Keep the Equipment in the Fridge
I’m a nurse so time is a massive factor. I found that I could save at least five minutes each session by skipping the cleaning process. You do not need to clean all your pump pieces before or after each session. Instead, put the pieces in a Ziploc bag or an insulated lunch bag (if you don’t want people to see what’s in there) and place the whole bag in the fridge. You can then use the pieces as many times as you need that day and wash them just once in the evening. This also keeps things more hygienic than trying to clean all the pieces in some public sink when you’re short on time. I also found switching to this method kept the mold away because the pieces are always cold until they are properly cleaned. (Note this should not be done for a premature or medically fragile baby.)
2. More About That Insulated Lunch Bag
The insulated lunch bag is a great item to use in general, if not for the pieces, then definitely for the milk. It keeps everything from spoiling during your commute to and from work. You can find one in whatever size works for you. It’s also a bit more discreet in a shared refrigerator.
3. Have a Cover in Case
Bring along a nursing cover for those times you find yourself pumping in a less than ideal place.
4. Have an Extra
Keep an extra set of pieces at work in case you forget something at home. Or, keep an inexpensive hand pump at work in case of forgotten pieces or if you’re stuck in a room with an inconvenient outlet.
5. Convenient Sanitizing
Keep a bottle of hand sanitizer with your pumping stuff so you can clean your hands before you begin.
6. Be Inspired By Baby
If you have difficulty with letdown you can induce it by stimulating your senses. Look at a picture of your baby, watch a video of your baby, or even a piece of your baby’s clothing along that you can smell.
If you have the time, hand expressing for a few minutes immediately after finishing pumping will provide you with more milk. It also gives you more of the hind milk which keeps your baby full longer.
7. Pump Extra at Home
Somehow babies go through a whole lot more milk when they are out of the house. When I had my second baby, I began creating an additional pumping session in the evening. It takes me around 15 minutes each evening and helps me build up a bit of an extra stash of milk. Pick a time of day or night when your child takes a longer stretch between feedings. By consistently pumping at that hour, your body will learn to produce milk at that time and you can stockpile extra milk.
8. When Storing
Always label milk bags with name, date and amount, then freeze milk bags laying down flat to save on space in the freezer.
I find this really helpful https://amzn.to/3xo3kKe
As a 3rd time pump-twice-at-work mom; my personal favorite is the avent hand pump. I even used two this time around to get more milk faster. There are much fewer parts to clean, no outlet necessary and easy to store. They even make cups you can pump into that have covers..
When I pumped twice a day at work, I used Medela wipes to clean wipes the parts I would be using again later in the day. Everything else went into a food storage bag until I got home. I also used an insulated cooler bag with an ice pack (as shown in the post) for the actual bottles of milk.
Here is the link:
https://amzn.to/3xrD2a1
As an aside, these wipes are also great for cleaning high chairs etc
For those of you using the Medela Freestyle, these adapters are awesome! They let you pump directly into freezer bags, and you can order them here:
https://lansinoh.com/products/pump-adapter?variant=28396269568072¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&campaignid=8628947657&adgroupid=92448135331&adid=406614249541&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyZmEBhCpARIsALIzmnI8ZyzZiZ1cFkqxfYpzyMMi0d_gJvrC46Y4i4Yncix4QSxwjg5s7SAaAimiEALw_wcB
You also can buy a package of Lansinoh freezer bags that come with these adapters in the box in Walmart or CVS.
Pumping working mom. Thanks for all of these tips! I keep my pump parts in the fridge between pumps as well in wet dry bags. For me, the lifesaver has been the Ceres chill. A little bit pricey, but you can keep a ton of milk cold for a long time without a fridge and you don’t need to lug around a bunch of bottles or bags.
I pumped for all 3 kids, and found the tip I loved best is to keep my regular bra on and just stick the pump in, that way I get some of the “pumping bra” effect without the hassle of changing. Also, as mentioned, to stick the pump pieces in the insulated bag with the milk, that way I wouldn’t need to wash them between pumping sessions during the day, and just wash them when I got home. ALSO – at the beginning especially – to put a little olive oil in a small container and to put on nipples so they don’t feel raw when pumping. And of course, while pumping, to manual pump, massage the milk down, it really gets more milk out, and faster.
Any bra can be turned into a hands free pumping bra with some hair pony tails! Love this trick!
Its explained here…
https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/hands-free-pumping/
I switched from pumping in two separate sessions to just one longer one, and that makes a big difference for me, because I find that the setup and cleanup are a big hassle and take time. I use a pumping bra and that helps me a lot- holding the cups in place was so stressful and I get much more milk this way because I’m calmer. And since I only pump once I don’t need to wash the parts at work- I just wrap them up in the spit-diaper that I cover my lap with to catch any spills, and put them back in my pump bag.
Hope this is helpful.
I pump directly into the bottle that I send the next day to the babysitter. No pouring over, no spills. This worked very well with me. Another tip was that I keep the pump in the office, no schlepping it around, and at home, I have a cheap hand pump for the times my baby is sleeping too long and I want to empty out a little
Can anyone please recommend a good Electric Pump. I’m a first time mom and the Medela pump just doesnt work for me….
Spectra is more powerful than Medela. If that’s your issue, Spectra should work better.
I have the medela maxflow+ and I’m very happy with the performance.
I also got the medela harmony, which is a hand pump . its only about $25. and is the easiest manual pump I’ve used so far.