Feeding Baby

[MrsReber]

Okay, that last thread is getting a little long! I have a question for all of you moms who nursed your babies- and for SusanD-

I have been looking at breast pumps since I will have to return to work. I found some good info on the internet and the Medela pumps seem to be the number one choice, but very expensive! I see JC Penny has an Evenflo pump which has cooling packs and four storage containers. I just get so confused looking at this stuff. My sister says to just rent one from the hospital, but I have to admit I am "weird" about that. I figure I'll be using the pump again anyway, since we want more than one child. My neighbor has one that she said we could borrow, but I am apprehensive now since I read that certain pumps cannot be sterlized and cleaned properly and contamination can occur. Also, it's that weird thing again about using a pump someone else used. I know that I need a good one. Can anyone offer an opinion on the brands and renting vs. buying?

[mightyh]

I did a lot of research into breast-feeding before my son was born and I'll offer my thoughts, though my situation is different than yours will be.

The two "best" pumps are the Medela Pump in Style and the Amanda Egnell Purely Yours. They're both over $200, but if you're going to use them for more than one baby and pump while you're back at full-time work, I'd spring for it. In all the books I've read and the breastfeeding classes I took, these were by far the most recommended.

I only work part-time from home, so am not separated from my baby often, though I did leave him for a 24 hour day when we went house shopping. I used the Medela mini-electric pump which is about $70, I think and had no problems with it once I got used to it--I think your body has to get psychologically used to the thought of a machine v. a baby trying to get at your milk...at first it will nto release much for the machine, but watching your baby as you pump or thinking of him can do the trick. I pumped during times when we were in public and I didn't feel like breastfeeding, for times when we wanted to leave the baby with a sitter, or for times when I just wanted his dad to feed him. I stockpiled my milk in the freezer in the medela freezer bags (so nice, btw, despite the cost) and would defrost them the night before I would want to use them.

Time is your major consideration. I could pump one breast in about ten minutes with the mini-electric (which also lets you pump manually if you're out of batteries and don't have an outlet nearby). So if you want to be done quicker than 20 minutes, you might want to go with the "double barrel" option http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

As for renting, some suggest your rent one of the high end ones for a month or so ($60) before deciding whether to buy one and that might not be a bad idea. As far as hygiene goes, they make you buy a kit of the bottles, shields, and tubes, so you're not really sharing anything that others have used except the motor.

I'd recommend you check product reviews, information on a few sites before making your decision: www.babycenter.com (http://www.babycenter.com) www.medela.com (http://www.medela.com)

Good luck!

[clairea]

I breastfed both of my children. I have the Medela Pump in Style, and also got the Avent pump (I think this is about $40)when I had my 2nd. The Avent is a hand pump, but I actually liked it a lot better. I had a really hard time expressing milk, and I found it a lot easier to get milk with the Avent. Also, this was a lot more comfortable when I had terrible cracked nipples. To my surprise, I didn't think it was that much more inconvenient to use a hand pump than an electric, but I never pumped more than 2-3 times a week, so I don't know if it would be more of a problem it you are pumping at work. It might be something to consider though, especially if you have a hard time pumping. I do think, however, that they may have made some changes to the Pump in Style since I got mine (4 years ago) to make it easier to use. It is a shame these things are so expensive, because I think it really varies from person to person what works best.

Good luck!

[mightyh]

You'll have to check this, but I think I remember that milk lasts up to 6 months in the freezer. Once it's in the fridge, though, it only lasts a few days. And it only lasts about 4 hours when not refrigerated.

[karen w]

Well, I too had some experience with pumps I can share. You can take it or leave it. With my first I bought the mini electric Medela for $70.00. It worked fine for him, but when I took it out to use for my second son I could not get it to maintain any suction. Despite my husbands best efforts to fix/clean it, it just never worked, so I never pumped with #2. (He got his warm from the tap!!). With #3 I planned on staying home full time and was not going to pump, but the weekend(Sunday) after I came home from the hospital I became so engorged and uncomfortable(and we had lots of guests coming that day) that my husband went to Toys'R Us and bought me a Gerber mini pump(about $40-$50). To try to make this story and this post shorter, I'll just try to cut to the chase. Within about 2-3 weeks it was obvious this pump just did not work well. I called Gerber several time. They were very helpful, but their suggestions only provided short term solutions. Finally we got so frustrated, my husband and I mailed the pump back to Gerber with a very nice letter of explanation. I will always be a loyal Gerber customer even though I did not like the pump. They mailed us a check for the price of the pump plus tax, and a bunch of coupons to cover our shipping costs. Now that's P.R.!
Anyway, I ended up renting a hospital Medela pump for 1-2 months, stocked the freezer real well and returned the pump after that since I did stay at home anyway. So #3 also got her milk hot off the tap, and I used up the frozen supply to mix with her cereal when she started on solids. So in my opinion, the baby is your best pump. Next to that the hospital rental worked the most efficiently, but supposedly there are some less expensive models out there that do work well. It may partially be an individual thing.

I know this is long winded, but maybe there is some useful knowledge in some of this gibberish. Good Luck with your decisions.

Karen W.

[robinf]

What a coincidence - I just came across my breast pump the other day while cleaning out a closet. I used te Madela Mini Electric and had no problems with it. Granted, I was able to stay home full time until my daughter was almost 9 months old. I didn't do a lot of heavy-duty pumping but I did try to pump at least one a day after the first month or so just in case of an emergemncy and to be able to get out myself once in a while. I alway had milk in the freezer.

As it happened, I had to have some MRIs done while I was still exclusively breast feeding and having frozen milk was a literally a lifesaver. I had to have the kind of MRI what required they inject me with dye, I couldn't breastfeed for 24 hours after. It killed me to throw away breast milk.

Even after my daughter stopped nursing, I kept the milk. When she was about 14 months old, she got one of those nasty rotoviruses and couldn't keep any food down. I pulled out the breast milk which kept her nourished until she got over the bug.

One of the best things about nursing is you don't really have to carry around a diaper bag since you don't have to worry about formula, bottles, and the like. A diaper in my purse was all I needed for the first 5 months! It was soo much easier than lugging a ton of stuff around!

Best Wishes.

- robin

[LGBurns]

Mrs. Reber: just saw the web page you posted on the other site. You guys look so happy! It was great to see pictures of someone on the board. Anyway, I'm not pregnant or planning but I really love following the "Pregnant Susan" posts. I'm learning a lot. Thanks for sharing with all of us.

Linda

[MrsReber]

Thanks for all the great information. I had checked out Medela's website earlier and the pump you mentioned, the Pump in Style- seemed great. It runs $250 at Babies R Us so I may have to shop a bit for that. As far as freezing, I read that if you're planning to go back to work, it's good to try to stock up a few weeks before returning. How long does the milk last in the freezer?

[SusanD]

What a coincidence, I was just having this conversation with a friend as we walked out to the parking lot last night. She has an evenflo mini-electric that works just okay...does the trick but if she were to start over again she'd get the big Medela one (her second child is 6 months old and she's not sure if there's going to be a third). To quote her "then you can just hook 'em both up at once and not have to sit there forever." She told me to ask a nurse or at the breastfeeding class because sometimes you can buy them through the hospital at a reduced cost. I'm like you, the idea of renting a pump kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies (I don't even like to go bowling because of the shoe rental), but I'll probably at least look into it.

From what I've heard and read the posts above, it sounds like the best way to go if you're working is the big Medela one. Even though I'm only going to work 3-4 days and will probably be able to feed her at least once during the day (due to how close the daycare center is), I'll probably go that route.

I laughed when you called your dinner last night heartburn, because that's exactly what I thought when I first read it. I don't think I could handle sausages, peppers and onions (the potatoes sounded kind of good, though). I'd have to have a bottle of Tums for dessert. I made a chicken & veggie stir-fry last night and apparently it was too bland for my husband because he dumped a bunch of szechuan (sp?) sauce and red pepper on it. Ugh!!!

[This message has been edited by SusanD (edited 01-25-2001).]

[MrsReber]

There's some great advice here! Also, I'm glad to see so many others breastfed their children. Seems to be more popular nowadays. That's a good idea to see if the hospital can get me a discount at all. I have a feeling that I should just get the big Medela pump. It does seem to come with alot of stuff (20 storage bags for freezing, cold packs, 4 storage bottles).

Linda, glad you saw my webpage. Yes, we are very happy and we had the most beautiful day. It just could not have been any more perfect than it was. If only it could've lasted longer.

SusanD- surprisingly, I didn't have hearburn until this morning. My husband suggested all of those ingredients so I kept asking him how to serve it- over rice? Over pasta? Egg noodles? We ate it plain. I could hardly eat any, though, because I get full so fast- and so very very full that I can hardly breathe. Time for much smaller meals, I think! As luck would have it, I forwarded that mail to my work address and our email was down all morning. That one mail never made it through!

By the way, my sister breastfed her son and not her daughter. Her daughter suffered from ear infections all the time and her son only had one bad one (he's three and a half now).

[SusanD]

MrsReber, speaking of food, how's your appetite these days? I'm like a bottomless pit! I can't eat very much in one sitting, but I make up for it by constantly snacking throughout the day. My biggest problem is candy - one of the women in my area keeps 3-4 jars at her desk and we all take turns keeping them full. Right now they're full of candy hearts and hershey kisses, and I have to go the long way around to avoid her desk because otherwise I'll stop for a treat. It will be a miracle if I make it out of this pregnancy with no cavities!

[sal]

MrsReber, I am another advocate for the Medela. I breastfed both children, went back to work at 8wks w/my daughter and at 4 mos. w/son. I was nicknamed the dairy queen (all in good fun), coworkers would "moo" when I walked by w/my "black bag that looks like a briefcase" - yeah right! With #1, I used Gerber pump - (at home I used to nurse on one side and pump other side at same time. It took some practice but it was what worked for me). With #2, I used a rental pump while home, then bought a used Medela fr a coworker. At a medical supply store I bought my own new "hookup" - all that stuff that touches your skin, the milk etc. so I knew it was sterilized properly by me. I pumped etc until he was 8.5 mos old. I stocked the freezer, so I had backup. BTW, my used Medela then went to a neighbor and my SIL after that, and never needed replacement parts. I used it heavily (at least 2x a day). While I'm not sure about the longterm preventative effects of bf, my children (ages 7.5 and 3) recover very quickly from the illnesses they do get. I don't mean to inundate you w/info, just another perspective http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif sally

[SusanD]

Wow! You are so good...I'm impressed! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif
I'm still getting up and walking in the mornings but that's about it. I bring a lot of food to work too, but it never seems like its enough. Yesterday it was yogurt, an orange, crackers, a sandwich, and cut-up veggies w/spinach dip. Plus someone had a breakfast meeting and brought in kringle and orange juice - of course I had to partake (shame on me...but I can't say no to kringle. And that's on top of my daily bowl of oatmeal before I leave in the morning. Yikes!

Well I signed up for that church daycare that's right near my office. I feel better about that - having that decision out of the way, and feeling like I made the right decision!

[MrsReber]

I'm glad you're so happy with your daycare decision. I wish I could be closer to my baby during the day, but I don't think Newark NJ is a very good atmosphere for that!!

I try to eat yogurt, but it seems to give me the worst heartburn! It's right up there with OJ.

Oh, I'm not being that good, I am just trying to be good! I want to get to the gym tomorrow morning (early so I can get an eliptical trainer!). I just don't want to be in the delivery room screaming in pain and thinking "WHY didn't I exercise more?!?!" I hear it does have a significant effect on time spent in labor and especially ease of delivery. I am willing to give it a shot! My sister exercised the whole time when she was pregnant with her son and she actually enjoyed the delivery. Not that it wasn't painful, but she previously had a c-section and thought it was neat to have a VBAC. Said she wanted to try it again, but they are stopping at 2 kids. Anyway, she felt great after delivery and had a rather short recovery altogether. She was going to an aerobics class at her gym!

[MrsReber]

Thanks Sally! Never too much information. I just want to know everything! It seems to help to hear different opinions, too.

SusanD, I know how you feel. Up until about two weeks ago, I could eat and eat at one sitting. Now, I can eat a small portion, but I get hungry again quickly. I try to avoid the candy. I bring 2 of those small Dannon blended fruit yogurts, some oatmeal or farina for breakfast, a peice of fruit, my lunch, and some crackers. Of course, I am hungry again when I get home! And, of course, my evil co-workers keep putting things by the mailboxes and running away- things like Dunkin Donuts (yesterday) and a coffee cake and apple pie (today). At least once a week, there is some kind of cake over there. I have to avoid my own mailbox and the copy machine! Then, on Wednesday, this one guy I work with asks me if I've ever been to the 14th floor. I said no, so he asked me to take a walk with him. Hooo boy- they have all these candy bars down there, all discounted. The money goes to the March of Dimes. He said "see? It's for a good cause!" Yeah, like that takes away the calories or something. He insisted on buying me 2 candy bars, but it did take me two days to eat them.

I feel like I am getting shin splints. I sure hope not. I am going to try to keep up with my exercise at the gym. The chiropractor says I really need to strengthen my abs and my back for delivery. I bought Denise Austin's video and a Buns of Steel video from Amazon. I don't have them yet, but they got very good reviews from the women who used them. At least on the days I don't make the gym, I can do something at home to feel better.