Exclusively Pumping for a preemie - need tips/tricks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry for not coming on here sooner. My milk came in last night. I’m pumping every 3 hours as advised by the hospital nurses. It’s varies how much I get each time - is this normal? My other questions are below

- Do you hand wash or can we just use the dishwasher and sanitize to make things easier?

- Do you think it’s best to buy a big mason jar and many store milk into it? I saw some doing that online but read you can’t mix just pumped milk with cold milk. Or is it best to store each pump session individually in bottles?

- How many pumping bras are needed? I have two.

- Is coconut oil fine to lube up the pump and my nipples before pumping?

- How long do you need to pump? I’ve read 15 minutes and some say 30 minutes.

- We were advised to wait two weeks to start trying to nurse. How often did you try to nurse while pumping?

Wonderful OP- those amts 15-18mls is great. baby is only taking about that right now on demand.

1. Whatever feels easier for you! Toss in the top rack of the DW- most parts are safe. We also used the Medela sterilizer bags a lot

2. Again whatever you're comfortable with..maybe ask the NICU team. New research says it's fine to mix cooled milk and fresh milk - although I believe this rec is for term babies. The idea is bm has enough Antibacterial properties to not have it be a problem. But for preterm or compromised babies wait until 3 months +. Ask your team!

3. I only have two but people usually say- wear, wash, spare. If you're getting by with two stick with it if you find yourself wishing you had another go for it. Try out different styles/brands

4. Yes coconut oil is encouraged unless you have elastic nipples- too much areola being pulled in

5. If you have the time if go for 30 min at least some of the pumps. If you're at the hospital or using manual stick with 15. 15 is the minimum. Most people go for 30 but it will also depend on how your supply develops over the next few days

6. I'd ask your team their reasoning. If it's because baby is burning too much energy trying to nurse them limit it to 1-2x a day to start. But overall the rec is the more they latch the better although I'd caution falling into nurse, pump, feed- triple protocol if you don't need to be on it .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much output should I be getting? Which pump is best? I used the handheld Medela to pump out the colostrum. I have the Spectra S1 and MomCozy S12. So far I’ve pumped.

10:32pm: 1.65oz ( 15m)
1:31am: 1.72oz (15m)
4:35am: 2.12oz ( 18m)
7:30am: 2.25oz (18m)
10:30am: 2.55oz (20m)
1:30pm: 3.75oz (30m)

This is what I got from both sides. Is this normal? So far my son has eaten 1-1.5oz every 2-3 hours. Is this normal?

Oh I misread - these amts are fantastic. You're doing great m you're probably fine pumping for 15-20 min. And every 3 hrs no need to do 2 since your supply is coming in so well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry for not coming on here sooner. My milk came in last night. I’m pumping every 3 hours as advised by the hospital nurses. It’s varies how much I get each time - is this normal? My other questions are below

- Do you hand wash or can we just use the dishwasher and sanitize to make things easier?

- Do you think it’s best to buy a big mason jar and many store milk into it? I saw some doing that online but read you can’t mix just pumped milk with cold milk. Or is it best to store each pump session individually in bottles?

- How many pumping bras are needed? I have two.

- Is coconut oil fine to lube up the pump and my nipples before pumping?

- How long do you need to pump? I’ve read 15 minutes and some say 30 minutes.

- We were advised to wait two weeks to start trying to nurse. How often did you try to nurse while pumping?

Wonderful OP- those amts 15-18mls is great. baby is only taking about that right now on demand.

1. Whatever feels easier for you! Toss in the top rack of the DW- most parts are safe. We also used the Medela sterilizer bags a lot

2. Again whatever you're comfortable with..maybe ask the NICU team. New research says it's fine to mix cooled milk and fresh milk - although I believe this rec is for term babies. The idea is bm has enough Antibacterial properties to not have it be a problem. But for preterm or compromised babies wait until 3 months +. Ask your team!

3. I only have two but people usually say- wear, wash, spare. If you're getting by with two stick with it if you find yourself wishing you had another go for it. Try out different styles/brands

4. Yes coconut oil is encouraged unless you have elastic nipples- too much areola being pulled in

5. If you have the time if go for 30 min at least some of the pumps. If you're at the hospital or using manual stick with 15. 15 is the minimum. Most people go for 30 but it will also depend on how your supply develops over the next few days

6. I'd ask your team their reasoning. If it's because baby is burning too much energy trying to nurse them limit it to 1-2x a day to start. But overall the rec is the more they latch the better although I'd caution falling into nurse, pump, feed- triple protocol if you don't need to be on it .

Thank you! I will ask. There is just so much conflicting information that it’s hard to choose what to follow.

Would you recommend the Spectra or we the Momcozy? I’ve been using the Momcozy but I’ve read they aren’t as great as the Spectra.

The pediatrician and nurses advised to start nursing when he is 2 weeks because he will be very sleepy and may not have the strength to nurse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry for not coming on here sooner. My milk came in last night. I’m pumping every 3 hours as advised by the hospital nurses. It’s varies how much I get each time - is this normal? My other questions are below

- Do you hand wash or can we just use the dishwasher and sanitize to make things easier?

- Do you think it’s best to buy a big mason jar and many store milk into it? I saw some doing that online but read you can’t mix just pumped milk with cold milk. Or is it best to store each pump session individually in bottles?

- How many pumping bras are needed? I have two.

- Is coconut oil fine to lube up the pump and my nipples before pumping?

- How long do you need to pump? I’ve read 15 minutes and some say 30 minutes.

- We were advised to wait two weeks to start trying to nurse. How often did you try to nurse while pumping?

Wonderful OP- those amts 15-18mls is great. baby is only taking about that right now on demand.

1. Whatever feels easier for you! Toss in the top rack of the DW- most parts are safe. We also used the Medela sterilizer bags a lot

2. Again whatever you're comfortable with..maybe ask the NICU team. New research says it's fine to mix cooled milk and fresh milk - although I believe this rec is for term babies. The idea is bm has enough Antibacterial properties to not have it be a problem. But for preterm or compromised babies wait until 3 months +. Ask your team!

3. I only have two but people usually say- wear, wash, spare. If you're getting by with two stick with it if you find yourself wishing you had another go for it. Try out different styles/brands

4. Yes coconut oil is encouraged unless you have elastic nipples- too much areola being pulled in

5. If you have the time if go for 30 min at least some of the pumps. If you're at the hospital or using manual stick with 15. 15 is the minimum. Most people go for 30 but it will also depend on how your supply develops over the next few days

6. I'd ask your team their reasoning. If it's because baby is burning too much energy trying to nurse them limit it to 1-2x a day to start. But overall the rec is the more they latch the better although I'd caution falling into nurse, pump, feed- triple protocol if you don't need to be on it .

Thank you! I will ask. There is just so much conflicting information that it’s hard to choose what to follow.

Would you recommend the Spectra or we the Momcozy? I’ve been using the Momcozy but I’ve read they aren’t as great as the Spectra.

The pediatrician and nurses advised to start nursing when he is 2 weeks because he will be very sleepy and may not have the strength to nurse.

I've never used the mom cozy but I've gone through blue spectra, spectra gold portable, Medela symphony, elvie, Medela manual, Haakaas, lansinoh discreet duo and baby Buddha. I don't respond well to Medela pumps, respond better to the blue spectra and the best to the baby Buddha

It truly is trial and error. Also frustrating you can ask 10 different nurses or lactation consultants the same question and get a different answer every time. Nobody is necessarily wrong but it's all so confusing and different things work for different people.

I truly wouldn't stress about it. You already have a great supply for the first week. That is half the battle
Limit latching to 15 min to make sure buddy isn't spending too much energy trying and increase sessions as he gets stronger

[Anonymous]

I only lasted 4 months and my baby never nursed. Once they have a bottle it’s hard for them to nurse because the bottle is easier. You may very well be exclusively pumping forever. I drove myself crazy with the first and for the next two children I used formula. I also pumped manually a lot because it was faster but most people think that’s crazy!

[Anonymous]

I also had a preemie! Use the NICU staff - they’re great.

Also, the lactation people were really big on pumping every three hours around the clock, but some nights I just…couldn’t. I skipped the occasional pump when he was in the nicu to get a glorious 6-hour stretch of sleep, and that made me feel quite human.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also had a preemie! Use the NICU staff - they’re great.

Also, the lactation people were really big on pumping every three hours around the clock, but some nights I just…couldn’t. I skipped the occasional pump when he was in the nicu to get a glorious 6-hour stretch of sleep, and that made me feel quite human.

This is great advice - once your milk is all the way in, you can drop one of the middle of the night pumps. And then adjust further depending on your supply.

My only other advice is to NOT overfill the milk freezer storage bags. Learned that lesson the hard way.

And I know it doesn’t work for many people, but I had great success transitioning preemies from bottle to breast. I would only put baby to breast once a week in the early days - didn’t want to push/force something that physically wasn’t possible for them (plus then I had a better sense of their true intake). My babies (33 weekers) started nursing for one feeding per day around six weeks and fully transitioned to nursing by eight weeks. Good luck!