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All of you know how challenging breastfeeding is, especially when you do it while working.
Now, let's talk about something that's more challenging, exclusive pumping!
Today, I'm delighted to have Denise Pacurar in our blog.
Denise is an exclusive pumping mom who managed to pump for her babies for 1 year. What an achievement!
Today, she's here to share her exclusive pumping tips and story, and how she was able to survive it for one year. Enjoy!
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Hi there, my name is Denise and I write about motherhood on my website www.momming.com. In this post I want to share my personal experience with exclusive pumping for a year with both my children and how Rina's resources really encouraged me to keep it up!
She inspired me to not only provide the best for my babies (breastmilk) but to also share my success with so many mothers who wish to do the same!
When I had my babies I knew that I wanted to breastfeed. Breast milk contains antibodies that help your baby fight infections, viruses, colds, etc. It also has the right amount of fat, protein and other essential nutrients that baby needs.
When I had my son I soon discovered that he could not latch correctly. I met with several lactation nurses and tried everything with no success. That is when I decided that I wasn't ready to give up on providing breastmilk for my son and so I decided to switch to strictly pumping.
I struggled a lot in the beginning because as a first time mom, I didn't know how much milk output was normal, how often I needed to pump and I didn't know any tips and tricks to make pumping easier.
I was ready to give up completely when one day as I was searching the web, I discovered Rina's website and used it regularly for information on maintaining a milk supply while exclusively pumping.
Her articles encouraged me and offered a wealth of knowledge that helped me not only pump for an entire year, but also create a freezer supply of milk as backup for when my supply would dip.
Here are some of my tips that I learned from Rina and from my own experience with pumping for a year.
Supplies
To get started, you need to have the basic pumping supplies:
#1. A GOOD BREAST PUMP
I used Medela Pump In Style travel bag because I was working and needed a pump that was functional and had enough storage for the milk that I was pumping while at work.
This breast pump comes in a bag and includes a nice little freezer pack to help keep the milk cold until you get home.
It also has a portable battery pack so that you can pump anywhere on the go without needing an electric outlet.
It also doesn't look like a breast pump so you can walk in and out of work with it and no one would even know!
#2. THE CORRECT BREAST SHIELD SIZE
Your breast pump will come with several breast flange shield or you may need to purchase different sizes as needed.
If the flange is too large or too small for your breast, you will not get the maximum results out of the suction. Make sure your flange fits comfortably and snug enough that the suction is good.
#3. FREEZER STORAGE BAGS
You may not have extra milk at first, but if you continue to pump and empty your breasts regularly, your supply will increase yielding some extra to build a freezer stash. I always had freezer storage bags available because they are cheaper than buying bottles to store milk in and they are easily disposable after use.
Let-Down Techniques
The first step in pumping successfully is achieving let down. You can sit there and pump and not get any milk, but that doesn't mean that there is no milk! Once I mastered let down, I was amazed how much milk I could get in one sitting.
There are several techniques for achieving let down but I liked to use the following:
There are several techniques for achieving let down but I liked to use the following:
#4. BREAST MASSAGE
Massaging your breast before and during a pumping session helps get the milk flowing. Massage each breast one at a time from the top down. Rina has a great technique in her article here.
#5. SKIN TO SKIN
You can also achieve let down by doing skin to skin with your baby. This didn't work as well as the massage technique but when I was really struggling to achieve letdown, doing both really helped.
#6. Stick to your pumping schedule
In the beginning I wanted to establish a good supply so I set myself on a pumping schedule of every 3 hours minimum until my supply increased.
"I quickly learned that the more I pumped and emptied my breasts, the more milk I would produce."
Rather than looking at how much I was pumping and getting discouraged, I just kept sticking to my schedule.
Within a week I went from pumping 1-2 oz per session to up to 6 to 9 oz depending on the time of day! It was amazing how quickly my body responded to my continued pumping.
The key is to not give up and stick with it.
Emptying your breasts regularly will not only signal your body to produce more milk, but it will also prevent other complications like mastitis.
RELATED: Exclusive Pumping Schedule from An EP Mom
When your supply dips
Sometimes I noticed a dip in my milk supply and the following techniques always helped boost my supply back up:
#7. POWER PUMPING
Power pumping works by emptying the breasts multiple times in a short period of time, which will signal the body to produce more milk.
For power pumping, select one hour each day and follow a pattern of pumping for 20 minutes; rest 10 minutes. Pump another 10 minutes; rest 10 minutes.
Repeat for the entire hour.
I would power pump in the evenings when the kids were asleep for an hour while watching a movie and would do this for a few days in a row.
I would notice an increase in my supply every time.
Rina has an awesome complete power pumping guide here.
#8. GET MORE REST
Along with power pumping, sometimes I was just exhausted. Whenever I took naps or had more rest, I would notice that my milk supply was up rather than down. Try to get enough rest and nap when the baby naps.
#9. DRINK WATER
In general, we need a lot of water but I would argue that even more while breastfeeding. The more water I drank, the better my supply did.
#10. LACTOGENICS
There are many foods you can eat or drink that may help increase your milk supply. These are called lactogenics and I have a list of some of my favorites in this post here.
I also loved to drink Mother's Milk Tea every day and always noticed that this helped me.
Herbs such as Fenugreek also help to increase milk production.
You can learn more about lactogenic herbs here.
#11. Don't give up - it gets easier
To be completely honest, the first few weeks was the hardest because I was waking up around the clock to feed the baby and pump.
However, after a few weeks when I had a really good supply (over supply!), I was able to drop my night pumping sessions and only pump when my baby was hungry.
My schedule changed from pumping every few hours to pumping after my baby ate. I adjusted my schedule to his schedule rather than around the clock every few hours.
By the time my maternity leave was over and I had to return to work, I only had to pump 2-3 times while away from my baby and I had built a freezer stash that took up my entire freezer.
My number one biggest advice that I give all of my mom friends is don't give up. Be persistent and stick with a routine, it really pays off.
For more resources on breastfeeding and pumping, checkout Rina's resource lists, they are amazing! So much knowledge and so many great tips!
Denise Pacurar is a mom of two kids 3 years old and under. She was working full time before finally quit and running her vintage Etsy Shop while sharing her motherhood stories in momming.com.
Thank you for sharing your story, Denise!
I know quite a number of readers here are an Exclusively Pumping Moms, so I hope Denise's post can give a fresh cup of motivation.
Exclusive pumping is tough and challenging, but it is doable!
PS: If you still need a complete online guide about exclusive pumping, check out The Ultimate Exclusive Pumping Class from Milkology.
RELATED READINGS:
1. Pumping 101 Series: Learn How To Pump Effectively and Get Plenty of Milk
2. The Detailed Guide of Power Pumping (The What, How, Tips, and Case Studies)
TK says
How do you manage to stick to a schedule if you have another child to look after along with a newborn who only wants to nap on you? My husband helps where possible but he has to work throughout the day. I don’t really have anyone else to ask for support. Any suggestions? I’ve been pumping for my 7 week old since he was only a week old and I’m still only getting about 1oz each time. I’ve recently changed flange sizes, I’ve increased pumping sessions to around 8-9 times a day (I’ve tried but I can’t seem to fit anymore in) for approx 15 mins each session (can’t seem to manage any longer with the kids around) and am taking fenugreek supplements. I really feel like giving up but I’ve invested so much money in the Spectra pump and accessories and bottles and want to give my baby BM. I just don’t want to let this thing beat me. Any advice would be so gratefully received. Can’t tell you have discouraging it is to get such little output after pumping for almost 6 weeks and seeing barely any changes.
Rina says
Hi TK,
I can totally relate. Pumping with kids around is hard. I would suggest you to mix in some hands-free pumping into your sessions. Say, 5 hand-sfree and 5 hands-on pumping. This way, you can pump while attending to your kids / chores. I used to pump while cooking / have meals with kids. And it’s doable while not perfect, of course.
Do you get let-down while pumping btw? Does your milk spray when you pump or just drip slowly? If dripping only, you may have trouble getting let-down and these tips to stimulate let-down may help.