Pumping chit chat 3

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

I must say, hats off to you ladies that EP. Out was my first day back to work and pumping sucked! I got plenty of milk for tomorrow though. What do you all do about your breast shields between pumping? Somewhere I read to just put then in a cooler......do you need to wash/rinse them first? How often do you sterilize them? Ugg..gotta go to a meeting tomorrow out of town and will probably have to pump through lunch instead of going home

I used to wipe them off, but now, I just stick them in my cooler if I am where I can't put them in the fridge as is. I gave up sterilizing them months and months ago. I do hand wash mine, as I found they come cleaner, but I only wash once a day.

[@llli*toddlerandtwins]

I wipe off excess milk and put horns with bottles attached in my ziploc bag. I either lightly wash with dishsoap after last use each day or rinse and use a microwave sterilizing bag, then air dry.
I use the same ziploc bag all week (usually 4 days), and then bring it all home on friday to wash everything in the dishwasher and get a fresh bag for next week.
Daily I keep it all at room temperature, including my milk, as it's for 8-11 hours.

[@llli*toddlerandtwins]

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I've been wondering how pump-weaning is going? One day you pump, the next day you don't? I don't quite get how it works. You nurse when not working, but then at work you don't nurse/pump all day? How many hours do you go? Do you get full/engorged?
Why is 12 months the magic number? Is it because you aren't supposed to introduce other milk until then and need BM 100%? What if you (I) pump wean at 11 months? What will that do to supply?

[@llli*scienceteachermommy]

I've been wondering how pump-weaning is going? One day you pump, the next day you don't? I don't quite get how it works. You nurse when not working, but then at work you don't nurse/pump all day? How many hours do you go? Do you get full/engorged?
Why is 12 months the magic number? Is it because you aren't supposed to introduce other milk until then and need BM 100%? What if you (I) pump wean at 11 months? What will that do to supply?

The reason is (1) you can replace the daytime bottles with other milks if need be. I have a really big freezer stash this time, but I didn't with DD and switched her straight to cow's milk when she got to a year. With DS1 I had to supplement before a year and had already given up on pumping. and (2) if it does affect your supply you can again add other milk's during the day.

I probably could have pump weaned at 11 months with the freezer stash that I have. And apparently in Europe they introduce cow's milk earlier than they do in the US.

I nurse him in the morning at about 5:30-6:00 AM and get home between 4:30 and 5.

With DD I pump weaned cold turkey, but that is not recommended. I have never gotten a plugged duct at anytime while nursing so I may just be lucky. With DS2, I had been pumping twice in the fall. When I came back after Christmas, I dropped to one pump session, and then last week I did not pump to empty. I was definitely "full" by the time I came home last night but that made Glowworm particularly happy.

[@llli*mtmama]

ive been slacking on pumping in the afternoons. jack doesnt seem interested in nursing at daycare anymore so ive stopped going and started running during mu lunch instead. for about two weeks i was going and he would nurse for about 5 min then run off and play so i figured he was ready for me not to go bit i am a but sad. i do pump after i run but it ends up being later than when i nursed him.

anyway, i really should pump around 3:30 (this is the 3rd pump of the day) each day but i have been skipping it a lot, i pick him up at about 5. and he nurses A LOT when i get him so i feel like he really empties me.

so i pump:

8:30
12:30 ish
3:30

should i make a point of pumping at 3:30 or what? he will be a year on march 3.

i want to keep nursing and offering bm at daycare. am i just being lazy??? you can tell me

[@llli*wiggle.bug]

...What do you all do about your breast shields between pumping? Somewhere I read to just put then in a cooler......do you need to wash/rinse them first? How often do you sterilize them?

I didn't go back to work until DS was 5 1/2 months old. At first, I washed with hot, soapy water after every pump. Then, I started just rinsing after each pump and washing at the end of the day. I wash pump parts really well at home at the end of the week. I prefer to rinse to avoid build-up (though I get some anyway, but it's a lot less).

Mtmama, sorry about the end of the nursing lunch. But I bet it feels good to be able to run again. If it were me, and I weren't pumping or nursing at lunch, I'd try really hard to keep that 3:30 pump. But I am always super worried about losing supply because I had low supply in the beginning with DS, and I worked super hard to be able to nurse without supplementing. But if you're getting enough for daycare without the pump, maybe you're doing okay? Do you have a stash where you could pull milk from for the next couple weeks if dropping that pump affects your supply?

Today I got a whopping 7 oz. at first pump. But this is because DS didn't nurse well last night or this morning. I think his ears are still bothering him, and those top molars and the other bottom one are so slowly breaking the surface of his gums. Poor baby.

[@llli*scienceteachermommy]

Pump weaning has been going fine until today--suddenly I am feeling full and tender. I don't think he fed particularly early before I went to work, and I am not late leaving work.

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

Well, I have a dilemma. The mom I donated like gallons or milk to brought it back. She is done with trying and is going to formula 100% (she has been trying for 3 months), she also now says her baby won't drink my milk. Ok. Whatever. Your choice.

But now I have tons of milk in the freezer again. Gav drink 16 oz of mama milk and 8-10 oz of cow's milk a day, plus eating everything in sight. He loves his cow milk and asks for it specifically. But I guess I could cut back and use 1-2 bags of freezer milk a day to use it all up eventually.

I was also thinking I could cut back even more on pumping, but DH is that I bought this new pump and wouldn't be using it very much. That does make sense. And I prefer Gav to have fresh milk, since we keep passing germs among our family

I am not eligible to donate because of my asthma meds. And I don't want to give it away again because of the lipase problem. I would hate for someone I don't know to throw it out or be relying on it and their baby not drink it.

[@llli*mamaDuMonte]

Susan that sucks that she cant use it. You were so very generous to give it to her. I hope that you can find a good way to use it.

[@llli*wiggle.bug]

Scienceteachermommy, does that mean you have to start pumping again? Or maybe just for a day or two? Or do you just see what happens tomorrow? I'm asking because pump weaning is in my future (at some point), and I'm trying to figure out how it works. I feel like I just figured out pumping, and now there's pump weaning...

Susan, ooh, that's hard. I hope you find a good use for your milk. Could you maybe cook with it? I've never done it, but I think there are some women here who have done something like that.

Well, the days of the amazing pumps are gone. 3 oz. at each of the first two pumps, and probably 2 at this one. Ah, well. Thank goodness it's Friday--looking forward to a weekend of no pumping!