Pumping & Storing Human Milk
When and how to start pumping depends on why you are pumping. Each family’s situation is unique; you will figure out what works best for you as you go along. To help get you started, here are some resources and tips:
If you are looking for information about antenatal colostrum expression, check out this video and this handout from Milkworks.org.
If you are exclusively pumping, this handout has great advice.
If you are pumping in the first month of your baby’s life and are still working on direct latching, check out our guidelines for ways to offer your milk to your baby that are supportive of that goal.
We recommend that parents who want to pump for occasional bottles start doing so when baby is between 4 and 8 weeks old. Pump about once a day (or so) whenever you can fit it in. Your baby can have an occasional bottle when it’s convenient for you, whether that’s once a day or a couple of times a week.
Many parents want to pump for stockpiling or to create a “stash” for return to work or other reasons. We recommend waiting until about 4 weeks postpartum to do this and to consider how much milk you really need. As the saying goes, “feed your baby, not your freezer.”
Think you might need to pump and dump because of alcohol consumption or medications? Please use these reliable resources or contact us, and we can share evidence-based information to help with your decision making process.
Pumping for return to work or school
It’s a good idea to start pumping a few weeks before you have to go back to work or school so that you can build a “buffer” supply in your freezer and your baby can get used to having a bottle. A few days before you go back to work (or school), you may want to practice the pumping routine you plan to follow, and bottle feed your baby at the times you’ll be at work. Some breastfeeding parents “practice” returning to work a few days early to help baby get used to their new routine and caregiver.
If you’re going back to work full time, see if you can start halfway through the work week. Or. . . just go cold turkey back to work! Either way, make space for your own feelings —it’s almost always the breastfeeding parent, not the baby, who has a hard time with the transition.
If you want to reduce the amount of time you spend pumping once you are back at work, you can try to nurse your baby just before going to work and ask your daycare provider to hold off bottle feeding your baby within an hour or so of you picking them up, so you can nurse as soon as you see your baby at the end of your work day.
How much should you pump while at work? Start with one pumping session for each bottle baby gets while you are at work and then adjust as needed.
See our post on return to work or school for more information on this topic.
General tips on expressing milk
Passive milk collectors, manual pumps, wearable pumps, electric pumps…There are so many choices, and there’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to choosing a pump.
Regardless of your situation or what kind of pump you have, here are a few tips:
Ensure the pump flanges fit you well. Both sides might be different sizes, and your size(s) may change over time.
Pumping both breasts at the same time is usually more efficient.
Pump for 10-15 minutes at a time. (Most of the milk is collected in the first 10 minutes of a pumping session. In our experience, the more time a person spends pumping…the more they hate pumping. Just stop at 10-15 minutes; what you get is what you have, and it may be different amounts every time.)
Give your body time to learn to respond to your pump. Over time, your body will develop a “relationship” with the pump, and you will likely be able to pump more volume in less time.
Handling and storing human milk
You may find different recommendations on handling and storing human milk. We follow the CDC guidelines, which you can find here. You may find these printable guidelines to be helpful at home or for baby’s caregiver.
If you want to do a deep dive into this topic, you can check out the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine’s protocol on human milk storage.
DISCLAIMER: We know when you surf the web for information, you can get conflicting results, and it’s not easy to know whether you are finding evidence-based, high quality recommendations. That’s part of our job here at Kodiak KINDNESS; we are here to support your informed decisions about infant feeding through your baby’s first year. We’ve done some background work, and to the best of our knowledge, this post reflects current best practices. However, the information contained in this post and any links contained herein is for your informational use only; it is not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Furthermore, Kodiak KINDNESS is not responsible for the accuracy of any information contained in this post or links contained herein; it is for you to review at your own risk and discuss, as needed, with your health care professional in order to make a plan that suits your individual circumstances.