Top 3 Tips for Pumping Breast Milk
Suzane Bacelar Films
Hi. Today we'll hear from Lauren Reza. She's a lactation and sleep consultant, and she will share her top three tips for pumping breast milk. I hope you enjoy it!
Lactation Consultant Lauren Reza
Pumping and breastfeeding are such a labor of love. I actually pumped as a nurse for two years for my son, so I wanted to share with you some of the top tips I learned on my pumping journey. And I just want to say kudos to you mama for pumping and doing that while working, especially. It is such a beautiful gift that you're giving your baby.
Breast Milk Pumping tip 1 - Flange Sizes
Number one tip would be to check your flange size and check it often because sometimes throughout your pumping journey, your flange size might change. You might be one size on one breast, one size on the other. And it's something that you should keep in mind if you're starting to notice a different output that your were previously having. So it will forever be my plate in life to get the pumping companies to change their flange size. Typically they give you a 24 millimeter, which is very large for most mamas. So just make sure, just like with Goldilocks and the Three Bears, it's not too big, not too small, but just right. You don't want to have too much of your breast going in there, so your areola is coming into the flange. You also don't want to have where your nipple is coming around the flange and it's really becoming painful.
So another thing I really, truly love are these pump and pulse flanges. They're very soft, more ergonomically designed, made out of silicone, and they come in a wide variety of sizes and they actually send you a couple to try. So that way you're not continually buying one size and then the next when you realize it's not working for you. So my number one tip for pumping would be check these sizes and make sure that you've got the right one for your body.
Breast Milk Pumping tip 2 - Pump Suction Valves
Number two tip for pumping would be to make sure that you're getting your suction valves and you're changing them often, especially if you're a pumping mom that is working 40 hours a week outside the home or an exclusively pumping mom, you need to make sure that you're changing these every couple of weeks. The suction. This is integral and key to how much milk you're going to get out. So if this suction is not very tight up against each other and each pump comes with different types of suction, but they're typically very, very cheap to replace and they wear out very quickly. So you want to make sure that it is very tight up against whatever it's next to and that you are able to like. For instance, on this one, you can see through it and you know that those two tiny pieces are not forming a good suction. So making sure that you change those often is a very big key to helping with your output on a pump.
Breast Milk Pumping tip 3 - No Stress
Another tip I would say is a watched pot never boils. And so what do you mean by that is if you're continually sitting there with your pump in place, stressing out about how many ounces you need to send to day care the next day, or with the nanny or what you need to be able to have a night out. It's not going to help your production. So if you aren't able to do something that's distracting while you're pumping or watch beautiful videos of your baby, or even just put some type of a sheet or a cover over you while you're pumping so you are not attached to the outcome of what is coming out of that pump. You will be able to get so much more milk if you are not stressed and worried about how much milk you're creating. As always, you're doing a beautiful job and continue pumping for that baby, mama.
Lauren Reza is a Lactation Consultant and Gentle Sleep Coach serving Palm Beach County and beyond. Website: LactationandLullabies.com . IG: @lactationlullabiesandlife