Tips for New EP-er

[ajacot924]

Hey Everyone,
I'm excited to see this board. My baby is 1 week old and because of various issues, I am going to be exclusively pumping. I am hoping to hear any tips and/or advice you have. What do you wish you had known when your first got started?
Thanks for the help!

[meladorie]

Mar 21, 2015 17:04:17 GMT -5 ajacot924 said:

Hey Everyone,
I'm excited to see this board. My baby is 1 week old and because of various issues, I am going to be exclusively pumping. I am hoping to hear any tips and/or advice you have. What do you wish you had known when your first got started?
Thanks for the help!

Welcome! When the nurses and LCs tell you to pump about 10-15 minutes in a session, remember that's an average. If you're at 15 minutes and still have a good stream, don't stop or you risk clogged ducts.

[aurora1181]

I wish I had pumped longer in the beginning. I was pumping 15-20 minutes every three hours, but now I realize that I'm more of the 30-45 minutes type. It took awhile for my milk to come in, and I think pumping longer in the beginning could have helped. In the beginning I pumped and fed a baby at the same time- that saved me some time. Buy enough bottles to only have to wash every other day so you're not constantly washing bottles. Buy enough pumping sets so you only have to wash once a day if that. Use your pump stuff more than once by sticking it in a ziploc bag in your fridge in between sessions. I have five sets of shields/valves/etc and use each set twice before washing. That's ten pumping sessions before I have to wash! Get a hands free bra-  I love my Simple Wishes one. It's a life saver.

[Widget123]

I wish I knew that pumping on a schedule and being consistent with that schedule is key to getting your body to keep up with demand. I agree with PP that 15-20 minutes may not be enough time for you, I was also a 30 minute-r. I used to use the sterilization bags or microwave sterilizers to clean parts and started out with only a few sets of parts, but soon I learned that having 5 sets was better (I could still sterilize or refrigerate parts at home, but it was a pain to even consider at work) and then I would run the dishwasher to clean parts and bottles once a day. Once you get consistent you can drop night pumps, but that probably won't be for a while. Don't beat yourself up if it takes you a while to really build supply / a stash and you have to supplement with formula a little bit. Good luck!

[Deleted]

Don't drop pumps too early. It's common to have a bit of an oversupply at first, but if you drop pumps too quickly, you'll end up paying for it later.

[gldnbearz]

I can't say enough about having spare sets of flanges available.

[raechay]

All of previous advice from PP's are great. Pump at least 20 min per session (I set my phone timer). Pump at least 8x/day for the first 2-3 months. I pumped when baby ate, which told my body exactly how much I needed to make. I feed baby while pumping- he sits in his swing and I sit next to him. Use lube on your nipples- pumping can be harder on them than BF'ing. Run your pump once you are done pumping to clear tubes of moisture. If you plan to EP for longer than a couple weeks, seriously consider a hospital grade rental - your supply could dry up early with a lesser pump. It takes about 3 months to establish your supply; you might be able to drop to 7 pumps/day around 10 weeks, but don't do less than that, and don't go more than 5 or so hours between pumps until after three months.