EP - What Do I Need?

[Anonymous]

I’m going to EP and I want to know what I need? How many bottles to feed the baby? How many bottles for the pump? How many bottles to store milk in? Should I I buy freezer bags? What are the best brands?

[Anonymous]

I EPed for a year and used the kiinde twist bags and a medala pump. There are adaptors for these bags so you can pump straight into them, they also make bottles you can put the bags into, but I didn't use those. The bottle issue is going to come down to how often you are washing bottles. We washed once per day (our kid was in daycare, so we had to send in a certain number each day, then the ones we used at home). I don't think we ever had more than 8 in rotation at any given time. My supply ended up being just enough, with no extra, so I did not really freeze ahead and mostly just pumped for the next day and kept in the refrigerator. With EPing that can be common, it really will depend on how your body reacts to pumping, which is hard to know until you do it. We also supplemented some with formula at the beginning (dd was premature which is how I ended up EPing becuase she couldn't latch). Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I EPed for a year and used the kiinde twist bags and a medala pump. There are adaptors for these bags so you can pump straight into them, they also make bottles you can put the bags into, but I didn't use those. The bottle issue is going to come down to how often you are washing bottles. We washed once per day (our kid was in daycare, so we had to send in a certain number each day, then the ones we used at home). I don't think we ever had more than 8 in rotation at any given time. My supply ended up being just enough, with no extra, so I did not really freeze ahead and mostly just pumped for the next day and kept in the refrigerator. With EPing that can be common, it really will depend on how your body reacts to pumping, which is hard to know until you do it. We also supplemented some with formula at the beginning (dd was premature which is how I ended up EPing becuase she couldn't latch). Good luck!

OP here. I have a Spectra S1 pump. I have 5 baby bottles ( comotomo and tommee tippee) but would I like more so I don’t have to wash them all of the time. He eats 8-10 times a day. We currently supplement with 1 bottle of formula day so I am putting about 4oz in the freezer. I’ve been using a large mason jar and dumping everything in it, but I read you should mix cold with warm milk, and that i should keep the pumps in individual bottles. I’ve been freezing the milk in mason jars but I want something that allows for more space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I EPed for a year and used the kiinde twist bags and a medala pump. There are adaptors for these bags so you can pump straight into them, they also make bottles you can put the bags into, but I didn't use those. The bottle issue is going to come down to how often you are washing bottles. We washed once per day (our kid was in daycare, so we had to send in a certain number each day, then the ones we used at home). I don't think we ever had more than 8 in rotation at any given time. My supply ended up being just enough, with no extra, so I did not really freeze ahead and mostly just pumped for the next day and kept in the refrigerator. With EPing that can be common, it really will depend on how your body reacts to pumping, which is hard to know until you do it. We also supplemented some with formula at the beginning (dd was premature which is how I ended up EPing becuase she couldn't latch). Good luck!

OP here. I have a Spectra S1 pump. I have 5 baby bottles ( comotomo and tommee tippee) but would I like more so I don’t have to wash them all of the time. He eats 8-10 times a day. We currently supplement with 1 bottle of formula day so I am putting about 4oz in the freezer. I’ve been using a large mason jar and dumping everything in it, but I read you should mix cold with warm milk, and that i should keep the pumps in individual bottles. I’ve been freezing the milk in mason jars but I want something that allows for more space.

+ shouldn’t

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I EPed for a year and used the kiinde twist bags and a medala pump. There are adaptors for these bags so you can pump straight into them, they also make bottles you can put the bags into, but I didn't use those. The bottle issue is going to come down to how often you are washing bottles. We washed once per day (our kid was in daycare, so we had to send in a certain number each day, then the ones we used at home). I don't think we ever had more than 8 in rotation at any given time. My supply ended up being just enough, with no extra, so I did not really freeze ahead and mostly just pumped for the next day and kept in the refrigerator. With EPing that can be common, it really will depend on how your body reacts to pumping, which is hard to know until you do it. We also supplemented some with formula at the beginning (dd was premature which is how I ended up EPing becuase she couldn't latch). Good luck!

OP here. I have a Spectra S1 pump. I have 5 baby bottles ( comotomo and tommee tippee) but would I like more so I don’t have to wash them all of the time. He eats 8-10 times a day. We currently supplement with 1 bottle of formula day so I am putting about 4oz in the freezer. I’ve been using a large mason jar and dumping everything in it, but I read you should mix cold with warm milk, and that i should keep the pumps in individual bottles. I’ve been freezing the milk in mason jars but I want something that allows for more space.

+ shouldn’t

I had the comotomo and liked those a lot. I would get enough extra bottles over what you have now so you only have to wash once per day, so maybe 6 more of whichever bottle you prefer. I expect that the adaptor pack for those bags would also fit the Spectra, it came with a variety, and I just tested the options to find the one that worked with my pump. I used an empty pair of bags every time I pumped, but I also pumped on a schedule, and by the time my daughter was 4 months old and my supply was established, it was about 5 times per day, and I went down to 4 times per day closer to a year old when she was eating more solid food and less milk. I also washed and sterilized those bags and reused them a few times before discarding because I wasn't freezing in them, so that cut down on the number i had to buy. I did freeze some here and there and never reused those bags.

[Anonymous]

OP here. What bags did you use? What are the best ones to freeze?

I’ve been able to get a little ahead so I’ve been pumping and putting it into a mason jar until I wash the bottles and fill them up. My goal is to have have enough bottles to wash once a day and then fill them up for the night and next day. What bottles do you store your milk in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. What bags did you use? What are the best ones to freeze?

I’ve been able to get a little ahead so I’ve been pumping and putting it into a mason jar until I wash the bottles and fill them up. My goal is to have have enough bottles to wash once a day and then fill them up for the night and next day. What bottles do you store your milk in?

These bags:
https://smile.amazon.com/Kiinde-Breast-Storage-Twist-Pouch/dp/B00JWX0SL2/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kiinde+bags&qid=1620676752&sr=8-1

I kept them in the fridge, and made up bottles once they were clean that night and then kept those in the fridge. My kid was fine with fridge temp milk.

[Anonymous]

I EPed for six months. This is what I did

- 10 bottles. My baby eventually went from 8-10 feedings to 5, but it was nice to have enough for the next day.
- I had the same pump and brought an extra pair of Spectra bottles. I had another set of pump parts.
- I put the pump parts in the fridge and would wash and sterilizer them at the end of the night.
- I bought Medela bottles and would store my milk in those. I had a good supply and was able to pump enough and then fill all the bottles in the evening for the next feedings.
- I like the Kiinde bags but those stand upright and take up a lot of space. The other brand I liked that paid flat was the Target ones.

It sounds like a lot but having extras is really nice when you’re pumping that much.

I started out pumping 10 times a day ( 2 hours in the day, then 3 hours at night). I lasted about a month and then the two hours was way too much. I switched to 8 pumps ( every 3 hours) and then dropped down to 7 pumps at 8 weeks when my baby started sleeping longer stretches. At 3 months I started to reduce pumps every 2 weeks. I went down to 6, waited two week, and then went down to 5 pumps. I did 5 pumped for almost 2 months and then was able to go to 4. It was still nice to have all the extra pumping stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. What bags did you use? What are the best ones to freeze?

I’ve been able to get a little ahead so I’ve been pumping and putting it into a mason jar until I wash the bottles and fill them up. My goal is to have have enough bottles to wash once a day and then fill them up for the night and next day. What bottles do you store your milk in?

These bags:
https://smile.amazon.com/Kiinde-Breast-Storage-Twist-Pouch/dp/B00JWX0SL2/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kiinde+bags&qid=1620676752&sr=8-1

I kept them in the fridge, and made up bottles once they were clean that night and then kept those in the fridge. My kid was fine with fridge temp milk.

OP here. I would prefer to pump into bottles. I’m not comfortable reusing bags like that or pumping into them. I do like those for freezing. I will order a box. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I EPed for six months. This is what I did

- 10 bottles. My baby eventually went from 8-10 feedings to 5, but it was nice to have enough for the next day.
- I had the same pump and brought an extra pair of Spectra bottles. I had another set of pump parts.
- I put the pump parts in the fridge and would wash and sterilizer them at the end of the night.
- I bought Medela bottles and would store my milk in those. I had a good supply and was able to pump enough and then fill all the bottles in the evening for the next feedings.
- I like the Kiinde bags but those stand upright and take up a lot of space. The other brand I liked that paid flat was the Target ones.

It sounds like a lot but having extras is really nice when you’re pumping that much.

I started out pumping 10 times a day ( 2 hours in the day, then 3 hours at night). I lasted about a month and then the two hours was way too much. I switched to 8 pumps ( every 3 hours) and then dropped down to 7 pumps at 8 weeks when my baby started sleeping longer stretches. At 3 months I started to reduce pumps every 2 weeks. I went down to 6, waited two week, and then went down to 5 pumps. I did 5 pumped for almost 2 months and then was able to go to 4. It was still nice to have all the extra pumping stuff.

OP here. Thanks. I will order some extra pumps parts, bottles, and the Medela bottles. I will order both bags and see which ones I like more.

[Anonymous]

You need to be sure you want to do it because it’s a freaking nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to be sure you want to do it because it’s a freaking nightmare.

This was an unnecessary comment. Clearly OP wants to do since she is asking what she needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to be sure you want to do it because it’s a freaking nightmare.

NP here. It’s not a freaking nightmare for everyone. I did it for 12 months and it was very doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. What bags did you use? What are the best ones to freeze?

I’ve been able to get a little ahead so I’ve been pumping and putting it into a mason jar until I wash the bottles and fill them up. My goal is to have have enough bottles to wash once a day and then fill them up for the night and next day. What bottles do you store your milk in?

These bags:
https://smile.amazon.com/Kiinde-Breast-Storage-Twist-Pouch/dp/B00JWX0SL2/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kiinde+bags&qid=1620676752&sr=8-1

I kept them in the fridge, and made up bottles once they were clean that night and then kept those in the fridge. My kid was fine with fridge temp milk.

OP here. I would prefer to pump into bottles. I’m not comfortable reusing bags like that or pumping into them. I do like those for freezing. I will order a box. Thanks.

If you prefer to not pump into bags, you might like these Avent storage containers. They fit on the Spectra flanges with the included adapter, you can use as bottles with Avent nipples, and they are also good for snacks when the baby is older.

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-AVENT-Breast-Storage-10/dp/B00PF841GQ

[Anonymous]

I EPd and WOH for a year. Some things to consider:
Don't go crazy buying any one type of bottle yet, wait until you know what baby likes for sure. We used tommee tippee and avent but eventually only the Nuk naturals would do.

Start freezing in bags and in the amount of one feed or an amount that can be easily broken down (like 3oz if baby takes 6oz feeds but you don't have that much). The target bags are the best, they freeze flat and thaw very quickly. Google brick freezing for the best storage option.

I had a spectra. Get at least two sets of pump parts and a wet bag for fridge storage if you will be out of the home, while I was home I just kept the parts in a Tupperwear in the fridge. And be sure you have enough bottles for each pump session of the day...save yourself the last minute dishes when you realized you are out of clean bottles. You may not go through them all but more is better. I just ordered spectra compatible bottles from Amazon and combined them into bottles at the end of the day for the next day, freeze any extra.
And the kindred bravely hands free pumping bras were the best investment by far.

You can combine milk from different sessions as long as its all at the same temperature, FYI.