Hands Free Pumping Bra Blog : The Hands Free Bra Solution for Pumping Moms! Tips and Tricks on how to pump breast milk

Oatmeal Butterscotch Lactation Cookies

8/9/2014

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Flax Seed Meal
2 Tablespoons   Water
½ cup                    Butter
½ cup                    Sugar
½ cup                    Brown Sugar (firmly packed)
1                              Egg
½ teaspoon        Vanilla
1 cup                     Flour
2 Tablespoons   Brewer’s Yeast
½ teaspoon        Baking Soda
½ teaspoon        Salt
1-1/3 cup             Old Fashioned Oats (not quick oats)
½ cup                    Butterscotch Chips (optional)

Directions

1.       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2.       Mix the Flax Seed Meal and Water; let it set for 3 minutes

3.       In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars well.

4.       Add vanilla, and flax seed mixture; mix well.

5.       In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, brewer’s yeast, baking soda, and salt)

6.       Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl; mix well.

7.       Stir in oats & butterscotch chips.

8.       Spoon mixture onto baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.

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With the Power Outages of Sandy... Breast Milk Stoarage Information

10/30/2012

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A research article from 2006 on breast milk storage including thawing & refreezing, shows if the milk is thawed under certain circumstances it CAN be refrozen. Just wanted to share this with any moms experiencing power outages and worrying about losing their freezer stash.

http://www.dors.it/latte/docum/Unpasteurized%20Donor%20Human%20Milk.pdf

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Pumping at the Airport

9/18/2012

1 Comment

Pumping while traveling can be a hassle, so I want to try and make it easier for you moms! I'm compiling a list of "pump friendly" places in airports. I'll continue to update it as I hear back from airports, travel myself, and if you have experiences good or bad with airports, please email me claire@handsfreepumpbra.com or comment on this post and I'll get it added to the airport list. Thanks!

DFW - Dallas Forth Worth
Terminal D - has companion care rooms. There was a seat and outlet in there for pumping.

MCO- Orlando
Look or ask for companion care rooms. They have seating and an outlet. It's suppose to be reserved for people with disabilities, but the airport staff was friendly and said it was no problem.

MSP - Minneapolis/St. Paul
There is a nursing room on the C concourse as well as a family room on the E concourse. II used the nursing room on concourse C - nice, but I did have to find a person to unlock it for me.

SFO - San Fransisco
There is a nursery near the bathrooms. I used the courtesy phone to get a code to go in. Chairs & outlets.

TYS-Knoxville, TN
There are chairs and outlets in a sectioned off area within the women's bathrooms for pumping.

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Entertaining Your Baby While Pumping Breast Milk

8/16/2012

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It's tough to be superwoman all the time. Pumping, washing breast pump parts, and oh yeah taking care of that beautiful new baby!

Don't isolate yourself when you're pumping (well, unless you want sneak 20 minutes of alone time!). When you're pumping, have you're little one near by to play with or feed.

Not only have you have fun bonding with baby and passed the pumping time. Have your baby there and making you happy is going to help decrease stress and increase in oxytocin, which means.... more milk!

Happy Pumping!

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Breast Milk Storage Recommendations

12/8/2011

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Freshly Pumped Breast Milk (never in a fridge or freezer) can be left out at room temp (66-78 degrees F) for 4-6 hours.

Breast Milk stored in a Refrigerator (less than 39 degrees F) can last 3-8 days.

Breast milk store in a standard freezer (0-4 degrees F) will last 3-6 months (like a top-bottom or side by side fridge & freezer).

Breast milk stored in a deep freezer (less than 0 degrees F) will last up to 12 months.

Remember to rotate your stock and always check your breast milk before giving it to your baby - if it smells or tastes funny then its likely gone bad.

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Responsing to the common question... "Are You Breastfeeding?"

10/11/2011

4 Comments

People will tell you...
you need to try harder to breastfeed
keep at it and your baby will latch
its always a little painful in the beginning to breastfeed

Why don't you just breastfeed?
It's way easier to breast feed
Breastfeeding is healthiest for baby

Pumping is SO much work.
I hated pumping
You'll never keep up a supply with pumping
Your milk will dry up with pumping.

If you're choosing to exclusively pump, inevitably you will come across at least a few of these comments from inquisitive friends, family, and sometimes even strangers! It's best to be prepared on how you want to answer these questions, and what you choose to reveal is up to you.

Many moms I know respond with "My baby gets breast milk" or "I pump breast milk" and do their best to end the conversation with a simple statement. I have participated in conversations where I strongly defended pumping and other times I've just replied with a simple "yes." Remember, you're the mom, answer how you feel.

The truth is you are giving your baby breast milk and that's whats important!

4 Comments

Tips & tricks for Dropping a Pumping Session

9/28/2011

1 Comment

The question that often comes up after a few weeks of exclusively pumping is... "When can I drop a pumping session?!" It might be from lack of sleep, the isolation of leaving to go pump all the time, the negative comments from others who want you to keep trying to breastfeed, formula sounds easier, the list of reasons goes on and on, but inevitably pumping moms feel the pressure to drop a pumping session.

When to Drop a Pumping Session. Most women drop their first pumping session somewhere between 10-14 weeks. A mother's breast milk supply is said to be established around 12 weeks; this means your breast operate less on a demand = supply approach, so you're less likely to see a dip in your supply when you drop a pumping session.
How to Drop a Pumping Session. When you're dropping a pumping session, I recommend doing it slowly over 4-7 days, so your body can adjust. There's two different ways to drop a pumping session:
1. You can pick to increase the time in between all your sessions evenly; say moving from pumping every 3 hours to every 3.5 hours which will naturally eliminate a session. In this approach every few days add an extra 10-15 minutes in between your pumping sessions, until you've phased a pumping session out of your day.
2. You can pick a specific pumping session - say you hate that 11pm pumping session and choose to eliminate that session. If you choose to eliminate a specific pumping time, let's say you pump at 7pm, 11pm, and 3am, I recommend pushing back the 7pm pumping time to 8:30 or 9pm and moving the 3am session to 1:30 or 2am, so there isn't a large time gap between pumping sessions. In this approach, some women drop the pumping session cold turkey and adjust the spacing with the prior/post pumping sessions to accommodate. Others will move the time prior /post pumping sessions times closer by 30-60 minutes every couple days until the desired session is eliminated and timing is fairly evenly spaced.
Drop in Breast Milk Supply. A few days before you start dropping a pumping session, track your breast milk output for each day so you can see your average output per day. Then continue to track it as you drop your session. A decrease in supply of 1-2 oz is common when dropping a session (make sure you're okay with losing a few ounces of breast milk per day before deciding to drop a session). If you find your output has dropped several ounces, you can add the pump back in and most likely recover back to about the same output as before or accept that you'll be short a few more ounces each day than originally planned.
What Pumping Session NOT to Drop. Your prolactin hormone levels are highest in the late night/early morning, which is why they say pumping at least once between 1AM-5AM is so important. Prolactin is a hormone that stimulates breast milk production in your breasts. I always recommend keeping at least one session during that time frame, but after that pick the pumping session that is most inconvenient in your schedule. For some, it's very stressful pumping at work so dropping a session there is best, while others would love a little more sleep and the nighttime/midnight pumping session gets eliminated.

Once you have dropped a pumping session it make take your body a few days to adjust and settle into a average milk output. So, be sure to monitor your breast milk output for at least a week if you are concerned about losing ounces when dropping a pumping session. Most moms I speak with see the dip between 3 and 6 days after the session is dropped.

1 Comment

Breast Compression Tips

9/25/2011

2 Comments

When you're pumping often you may find you can get extra milk out by doing breast compressions after you finish pumping. Here's a video from Standford that has some great tips on breast compression.

http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/MaxProduction.html

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Increasing Your Milk Supply

9/14/2011

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Here are some tips & tricks for increasing your supply. Try them all out, you never know if one might work wonders for your milk supply!

Pump Frequently. For almost every mother the more you pump the more milk your body with make. If you want to increase your supply, try to pump 8-12 times per day.
Drain your breasts. It is important to completely drain your breasts at each session. You can do this by pumping 1-2 minutes past your last drop of milk.
Breast massages. While you're pumping massage and gently press on your breast, it will help you get all the milk out. Be sure to massage all your ducts and glands - even near your armpit.
Pump right after your baby nurses. This tells your breasts they need to make more milk. I should mention especially in the first 8-12 weeks this can sometimes lead to overproduction, so if you plan to mainly nurse don't pump for very long.
Protien Shakes. I love the Special K protien shakes & would have one every couple days to boost my supply.
Perscriptions & herbal supplements. If you're having milk supply troubles talk with your lactation consultant or doctor about other prescription and herbal options you may have including: Reglan, Domperidone, or fenugreek.

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Can I Start Pumping Breast Milk at the Hospital?

8/26/2011

9 Comments

Yes, you can start pumping as soon as you feel comfortable. There's two basic ways to go about pumping breast milk at the hospital.

First, you can pump and breastfeed. I'd recommend trying to breastfeed every two hours (or more if your baby wants to). Your baby will greatly help stimulate milk production and if your baby can latch breastfeeding (even if you are planning to exclusively pump) is a wonderful skill to learn. I've often found that a baby can clear a clogged duct much quicker and with less pain than a pump and all the different pumping mom trick outs there. About 15 minutes after you breastfeed (or when you find time in-between feedings). Add in a pumping session for 10 minutes or so, and use the hospital grade pump provided.

The second option is to start exclusively pumping right away. This method I recommend you pump every 2 hours for 20 minutes, then switch to every 3 hours at night once your milk comes in (every mom needs a little sleep!). At first you may not get anything out from an entire pumping session - DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED! It may talk a little for the colostrum to start flowing. I can remember when being in the hospital after giving birth to my first child pumping away and cheering the first time I got two drops into a bottle. Babies need very little in the beginning - just a little of that extra good healthy colostrum can get them a long way. If you're not getting colostrum or your LC is concerned about your baby's weight (all babies will lose weight after birth), it's okay to supplement with formula. Formula isn't poison and doesn't make you a bad mom, sometimes its exactly what your baby needs the first few days while you get your supply going.

Happy Pumping!

9 Comments

<<Previous

Oatmeal Butterscotch Lactation Cookies

With the Power Outages of Sandy... Breast Milk Stoarage Information

Pumping at the Airport

Entertaining Your Baby While Pumping Breast Milk

Breast Milk Storage Recommendations

Responsing to the common question... "Are You Breastfeeding?"

Tips & tricks for Dropping a Pumping Session

Breast Compression Tips

Increasing Your Milk Supply

Can I Start Pumping Breast Milk at the Hospital?

Exclusively Pumping Blog

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