what addtl tools do I REALLY need with BF & pumping?

hi all...

I am getting a medela advanced breastpump (backpack) from a friend, she only used it 4 times.....it comes with all orginal parts. I am now wondering, what addtl. items do I need to add on my registry for breastfeeding and pumping?

breastmilk storage bags
hands free halter for pumping
breast pads (for leakage)
some bottles for breastmilk feedings (done by helpers)
lanolin cream
nursing bra

anything else somebody can think of? also, do you bring the pump to the hospital with you for delivery? and what do you wear after giving birth while you're in hospital? for breastfeeding, etc.?

thank you for input!
alexa

 

You could bring either a boppy or the EZ to nurse pillow. The hospital I was at gave me the medela hospital grade pump to use while I was there so you could leave yours at home and just use theirs while there. They also provided me with all the storage botttles I needed for my milk.
I just wore my hospital gown and a nursing bra....nothing special. I did some BF'ing in the NICU with my babies and didn't really care if the nurses saw or not. They did provide privacy screens so other patients could not see though. Hope that helps!

 

Did she give you the shields and tubing? I think thats supposed to be new for each person since it can be hard to clean and bacteria can grow in there. You can check the medela website about buying a new kit (its like $20). Aside from that I think you have everything else. Since I wasn't prepared (ptl), I used a hospital pump and actually ended up renting a hospital grade pump after discharge (insurance covered the cost!). As for what I wore in the hospital, I wore nursing tanks (my mom got them at Target for me- like I said I wasn't prepared) with a long sleeve button down shirt over the top and yoga pants.

 

What you need for pumping will in part depend on how much you are doing it (either by plan or by necessity).

I ended up pumping 7x/day for almost 9 months, so I can give you lots of pumping advice.

If you end up doing a lot of pumping you will most likely want several sets of shields/bottles/tubing so that you don't have to wash everything each time you pump. If you have enough, you can just run everything through the dishwasher at the end of the day (don't recall on the tubing though if that went through the dishwasher).

I think I also sterilized everything every day (even if it went through the dishwasher). I used the Medela steam sterilization bags (you put the pump parts and a little water in the bag and then put it through the microwave - if you do this be careful of the tubing and do it for less time - it MELTS). You can also throw it all in a big pot of boiling water or use a bottle sterilizer.

Are you going to be freezing a lot of milk? I ended up just using ziplock freezer bags, since I froze A LOT of milk (I found that many of the generic brand bags leaked). These worked fine, and actually took up very little freezer space since I froze them flat and stacked them. Much cheaper than the breastmilk bags, although maybe not quite as easy to use.

I never got one of the handsfree things for pumping, but I got very good at it. I found I could cross one arm across my chest to hold both bottles on and still have some use of that hand as well as my other arm completely free. You'll figure out what works for you.

Nursing bras - definitely! I actually ended up mostly using the nursing camisoles from Target (look like Motherhood or Motherwear . . . whatever that expensive brand is) but much cheaper. If you are looking at Target you'll find them in the section with bras, NOT in the maternity clothes section (where I kept looking for them at first). They used to run very small, but I think they changed the brand name on them since then so I'm not sure now. Maybe get one to see how you like it.

Lanolin - I didn't like it, and found I didn't really need it. It's incredibly sticky (I do, however, like it on my hands when they get incredibly dry and chapped and my skin starts cracking)

Breast pads - I only used them when I was using the Lanolin, just to keep it off my clothes. When I stopped using Lanolin, I found that I didn't need the pads. No leaking (most of the time).

Good books/magazines! - if you are going to be doing a lot of pumping, having something to keep your mind off of it is crucial! I don't really watch TV, but I got through a lot of good books in those months (my way of judging a really good book was if in the middle of the night I was so engrossed that I ended up pumping more than the planned 20 minutes without realizing it).

As much help as you can get - it's hard to put in the time pumping when you have two needy babies. I don't know if you plan to be working and pumping there (which I never had to do), but if you're at home on your own and need to pump your going to need to find a way to get that time in.

Hope that is useful. Keep asking questions, but remember that you can never have everything all planned out ahead of time . . . you'll just have to see how things go for you.

Good luck!

Rachel

 

QUOTE(RachelJoy @ Dec 3 2007, 11:54 AM) [snapback]519027[/snapback]
What you need for pumping will in part depend on how much you are doing it (either by plan or by necessity).

I ended up pumping 7x/day for almost 9 months, so I can give you lots of pumping advice.

If you end up doing a lot of pumping you will most likely want several sets of shields/bottles/tubing so that you don't have to wash everything each time you pump. If you have enough, you can just run everything through the dishwasher at the end of the day (don't recall on the tubing though if that went through the dishwasher).

I think I also sterilized everything every day (even if it went through the dishwasher). I used the Medela steam sterilization bags (you put the pump parts and a little water in the bag and then put it through the microwave - if you do this be careful of the tubing and do it for less time - it MELTS). You can also throw it all in a big pot of boiling water or use a bottle sterilizer.

Are you going to be freezing a lot of milk? I ended up just using ziplock freezer bags, since I froze A LOT of milk (I found that many of the generic brand bags leaked). These worked fine, and actually took up very little freezer space since I froze them flat and stacked them. Much cheaper than the breastmilk bags, although maybe not quite as easy to use.

I never got one of the handsfree things for pumping, but I got very good at it. I found I could cross one arm across my chest to hold both bottles on and still have some use of that hand as well as my other arm completely free. You'll figure out what works for you.

Nursing bras - definitely! I actually ended up mostly using the nursing camisoles from Target (look like Motherhood or Motherwear . . . whatever that expensive brand is) but much cheaper. If you are looking at Target you'll find them in the section with bras, NOT in the maternity clothes section (where I kept looking for them at first). They used to run very small, but I think they changed the brand name on them since then so I'm not sure now. Maybe get one to see how you like it.

Lanolin - I didn't like it, and found I didn't really need it. It's incredibly sticky (I do, however, like it on my hands when they get incredibly dry and chapped and my skin starts cracking)

Breast pads - I only used them when I was using the Lanolin, just to keep it off my clothes. When I stopped using Lanolin, I found that I didn't need the pads. No leaking (most of the time).

Good books/magazines! - if you are going to be doing a lot of pumping, having something to keep your mind off of it is crucial! I don't really watch TV, but I got through a lot of good books in those months (my way of judging a really good book was if in the middle of the night I was so engrossed that I ended up pumping more than the planned 20 minutes without realizing it).

As much help as you can get - it's hard to put in the time pumping when you have two needy babies. I don't know if you plan to be working and pumping there (which I never had to do), but if you're at home on your own and need to pump your going to need to find a way to get that time in.

Hope that is useful. Keep asking questions, but remember that you can never have everything all planned out ahead of time . . . you'll just have to see how things go for you.

Good luck!

Rachel


thank you guys ----

Rachel, I am not going back to work for at least a couple years....(that's what we say now, it's all difficult to plan as I don't even know if I'll be able to breastfeed, but we assume I will. I am planning on breastfeeding exclusively in beginning, not to confuse babies, (unless we need to add other food because of preemies/sucking problems etc.), then after a couple weeks, we would like to add pumping so I can get help from MIL and DH for some of the feedings, also to have pumped/frozen milk if I'm not around all the time....
makes sense?

thanks for all the tips so far!
alexa

 

Bring a bottle washer so you can wash all the parts by hand and reach all the detailed parts.

 

The EZ2Nurse pillow is a must! Don't know if you'd want to bother with it at the hospital, though. It's also worth getting a Boppy for when you're just nursing one baby - much more comfy than the EZ in those cases. Wouldn't bother bringing it to the hospital, though - newborns are so light that it's easy to nurse them just on a regular bed pillow.

I'd wait to buy nursing bras until your milk comes in. You may be in for a big surprise, of the "Should I work for Penthouse?" variety. :lol: I just bought one very soft, stretchy nursing tank before delivery and wore it the whole time I was in the hospital. The Majamas Easybra is also a good soft, stretchy choice - should fit both before and after your milk comes in.

In the hospital, I mostly just wore the nursing tank and hospital johnnies. You don't want to wear nice stuff, because of all the yucky PP bleeding. Maybe some old sweatpants with a very loose waist.

Good luck! Look forward to seeing you in the BF forum!

 

QUOTE(NatalieK @ Dec 3 2007, 12:03 PM) [snapback]519048[/snapback]
Bring a bottle washer so you can wash all the parts by hand and reach all the detailed parts.


Natalie, thanks what do you mean with bring the bottle washer? I never heard of that....
alexa

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Dec 3 2007, 12:07 PM) [snapback]519055[/snapback]
The EZ2Nurse pillow is a must! Don't know if you'd want to bother with it at the hospital, though. It's also worth getting a Boppy for when you're just nursing one baby - much more comfy than the EZ in those cases. Wouldn't bother bringing it to the hospital, though - newborns are so light that it's easy to nurse them just on a regular bed pillow.

I'd wait to buy nursing bras until your milk comes in. You may be in for a big surprise, of the "Should I work for Penthouse?" variety. :lol: I just bought one very soft, stretchy nursing tank before delivery and wore it the whole time I was in the hospital. The Majamas Easybra is also a good soft, stretchy choice - should fit both before and after your milk comes in.

In the hospital, I mostly just wore the nursing tank and hospital johnnies. You don't want to wear nice stuff, because of all the yucky PP bleeding. Maybe some old sweatpants with a very loose waist.

Good luck! Look forward to seeing you in the BF forum!


fuchsiarogan, thank you...I do have already the EZ2nurse pillow, and also boppy pillows..(I'm a organizational freak!)...I wait on the nursing bra then..I just get one at target, it's more like a sports bra, very soft and stretchy...
alexa

 

I liked to wear my regular maternity yoga pants and a t-shirt in the hospital. I'm not a gown person. But I wish I would have waited to buy bras; who knew that I'd end up needing a DD one! My C ones that I had bought when I was pregnant were too small almost right away. Avoid underwires too: they can add to your plugged duct woes.

You sound a lot like I did when I was pregnant with all my plans on EBF'ing. Mine were 5 weeks early and not real interested in BF. If we had forced them to EBF we would have been in the hospital another week. At that point I just wanted to get food in them and get them thriving and get them home, so we gave them formula and expressed breast milk in bottles. In the hospital I pumped every 3 hours around the clock---that's 8 times per 24 hour period. Once we got home, we kept that schedule and tried to "practice" BF a couple times a day, but then we all came down with thrush. I felt like I was constantly walking around topless because my nipples hurt so bad that I couldn't stand to have any bra or shirt touching them. Needless to say, this had an effect on how much "practice" BFing I was into doing.

Long story. But we ended up giving up on BFing around 4 weeks and I just kept pumping and bottlefeeding.

Now we are almost at 6 months, I still pump 4 times a day, and am slowly but surely phasing it out.

Of course I wish I had tried harder to get them to learn to BF, but I am proud that they got as much breastmilk as they did. So prepare, but also know that things might not go exactly as you planned. And if that happens, do NOT beat yourself up about it. Just remember, having twins is the "extreme sport" of parenting. You will be a great mom!

 

I would recommend bringing the EZ 2 Nurse. I EBF my babies and always use it. I bf my son also so was experienced but found the pillow to make set up and nursing so much less stressful and easy than getting pillows in the right spot so we were all comfortable. The pillow allowed me to set them up just right and really helped get our bfing relationship off to a great start. I remember being in the hospital and learning to bf my son and was stressed by it but trying to get everything just right with pillows and the LCs telling me what to do was tough. THe EZ 2 Nurse pillow really helped avoid all that!

 

I didn't use anything in the hospital but a nursing tank top (the target ones are awesome). I brought the EZ 2 nurse pillow with me, but didn't really use it. I didn't get the hang of tandem feeding for the first couple of months. I left all the other contraptions at home. I've never really been a big pumper. In the beginning they eat so often I don't know how people find the time to pump in addition to it all! I'd bring the lanolin and use it before you ever get sore, and that will help lessen any soreness. Good luck!

reyna

 

Good for you for planning on BFing... I second what pp said about not really knowing how it will all turn out; i expected to deliver vaginally w/out drugs and ended up on hospital bedrest w/two babies in the NICU. That said- I pumped from the night I delivered - honestly, I'd leave your pump home and use the hospital one, they are SOOO efficient. I ended up renting it; it was about $60/month (and although insurance is supposed to cover it, i'm STILL fighting w/mine over additional paperwork they want about why it was 'medically necessary' for the babies to have BM....)

I never liked the ez2nurse; it just didn't work for us. I know i'm in the minority. I ended up having one non-latcher so i bf'd and pumped. I also didn't love the boppies to nurse, but i DID love the My Brest Friend pillow; it straps around your waist and basically forms a flat shelf. I often felt like an old-fashioned cigarette girl, but- it saved my back!

AND - make sure you are VERY clear to the nurses about your plan; if the babies will not be rooming with you, then make sure nobody gives them formula when they are in the nursery. Have your dh or partner or whomever get on board as well. It is very challenging nursing two, and lots of people have opinions about it (people who have never tried!). And - check out the Bfing forum here; it saved my life.

Oh - i didn't really like lanolin and only used it occasionally. I never found a pad that felt comfortable. BUT - the hands-free bra was the best money I spent: it completely changed my life when i got it after about 8 days - the only reason i was ever online! SEriously, if you are pumping a lot it makes a huge difference.

I ended up buying two, since one constantly had milk on it (and lanolin stains).

Good luck!

 

I just wore my hospital gown and a robe. I bought a nursing gown and didn't even end up using it. The hospital should give you as many storage bottles (and possibly labels too) as you need. THat way you don't have to worry about washing, etc. They also freeze well with no risk of puncture like bags. I had a couple of nursing bras but ended up buying more that were bigger because my breasts were so full and sore that I couldn't stand the pressure and I also couldn't stand going bra-less and not having the support. I found lanolin very helpful. I didn't necessarily have much chapping, but it provided a little lubrication for the constant pumping and relieved some of the soreness from the chafing caused by pumping.

 

I can't really remember what I wore; I think just the hospital gowns for awhile. I ended up being so swollen, nothing I brought would fit. Nursing tanks are awesome, though. The nurses tend to want as little clothing as possible when you're nursing; the skin to skin contact helps the babies.

It's so hard to plan ahead & know what's going to work for you. I do wish I had bought a sleep nursing bra & taken my Boppy with me to the hospital. My favorite bra was one from Medela, a sports bra type. They have them online, but they also sold them at my hospital. Definitely ask them to send a lactation nurse to you! Even if you expect everything to go smoothly, they are just such a help.

A nursing stool also would've been nice, but not necessary. Maybe a couple different brands of freezable bags; we had some that leaked & I can't remember which it was.

And I saw this thing at Target the other day I thought was really cool; like a little holder for your frozen milk that had a handle so you could hang it from your sink faucet & let the hot water run through & thaw the milk. I was a firm believer in not microwaving & that would've been a nice thing to have!

 

It is so hard to plan in advance for this. I was planning on making it to 38 weeks and not breastfeed but they came early. They came at 33 weeks. I was not prepared. It is a good thing that you are preparing early b/c they will be here before you know it. My twins were in the NICU for two weeks. The NICU nurse urged me to breastfeed. She said that it would help them so much in the long run.

One thing I wished I would of done is ask more questions. They had 3 lactation consultants at the hospital I delivered at and I wished I would of asked a lot more questions. I felt so lost when I got home with them. Now I feed DS only breastmilk at the breast and DD I only feed once or twice a day. I gave up on feeding her around 8 weeks b/c she takes forever to eat and it was wearing me out. I would recommend breastfeeding though. I am so close to my DS b/c of this. We have this special bond and when he is not feeling well I can pick him up and he stops crying. I love that.

Something else I recommend is a big insulated cup(maybe 32 oz size) because you will need to drink TONS of water after you have them to help with your milk supply. Also you might want to buy some fenugreek. Nobody told me about fenugreek. You can get it at GNC stores and it will help boost your supply. I took that when they were about four weeks old and it took a couple of days but it really helped my supply.