Storing milk for work seems to be one of the hardest things to do for moms! Most women are what I call “just enoughers”. What does that mean? You make just enough to feed your baby with no extra so keeping up or storing milk is a struggle.We will highlight all different ways to save as much milk as possible and some ways do not even require a breast pump! 81% of women start out breastfeeding at birth but that statistic drops to 57% by six months,when most moms have returned to work. Trying to keep up, pump enough while at work, find times to pump etc are always a struggle. We will discuss how to overcome these struggles. We don’t want enough for just one day of work we want to store enough for 2-3 days of work! We will cover the products that are best for this (I am not affiliated with these companies. These are the products I have used with clients to bring them the most success)as well as prices and where you can purchase them. Let’s get started on lesson one!
The Haaka and the milk-saver are one of the most valuable tools for the first 3-5 weeks after baby is born, as well as beyond! For the first 3-5 weeks your nipples are sore, you and baby are learning how to breastfeed and your breastmilk supply is regulating. Pumping should be done very little if at all. So how are you expected to save milk? Silicone Breast pumps like the Haaka. You attach the Hakka to your breast while nursing and it uses gentle suction as well as your let down to collect milk. You can collect at least 1-2 ounces per feed by doing this! The hakka is not only valuable to save milk while nursing it is also used to suction out clogs of the milk ducts! It can also be a great tool if you have a forceful let down. It is sometimes suggested to pump some milk off if you do, with the silicone breast pump you can do it quicker and easier! Its one definitely of those products I think every breastfeeding mom should have! They aren’t terrible expensive and they aren’t the only brand you can buy! The Hakka is sold on amazon for about $17.99 but there are also other brands. You can purchase the Bumblebee silicone pump for $13.59 or Natures Brand silicone pump for $11.99.
The Haaka isn’t for everyone, some women do struggle with it and there are other options! One of my favorite tools when I was nursing was something called “Milky-Saver”. The name is exactly what it does, saves the milk that leaks out of your other breast while you’re nursing! You can collect a decent amount of milk this way! Milky-saver is $27.95 currently on amazon and isn’t the only brand to collect milk! Breast Shells is another brand, which you can purchase for $9.99. There is also a product called “milky saver on the go” which goes into your bra inbetween feeds to collect milk. These are great when youre not able to feed baby or pump within 3 hours because your breasts will leak. Keeping them with you and a transfer bottle can be another ounce saved! Every ounce counts! If you collect 1-2 ounces everytime you feed that could be 12-24 ounces A DAY without ever using a breast pump! That could be as much as 2 days of breast milk for your baby while you’re working!
Once your milk supply is more established and you get breastfeeding down a little more its time to break out the breast pump! Like I said in the above paragraphs, around 3-5 weeks. The best way to do this is to pick 1-2 times a day to pump, not after every feed. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself or cause an oversupply, you just want to put away some milk and possibly give babe a practice bottle. Keep in mind when picking your best times to pump that prolactin is highest from 12 am-6am. Prolactin is the hormone that makes milk. My suggestion is always to pump after the first morning feed. Even nursing through the night you will still have some more milk at this time. The other pump is really up to your schedule. Is the baby taking a 2 hour nap at some point in the day? If so, pump after the first hour!
Don’t get discouraged when you see what comes out of the pump! Most moms only pump 1-4 total each pump. A breast pump is not an accurate measurement for how much breastmilk you make and keep in mind you’re feeding baby as well. Every ounce you pump is more liquid gold put away for your sweet baby!
Now let’s talk about storage. After we get all of this liquid gold out we need to make sure its properly stored. Measure out the milk in 2-4 ounce increments, I know it seems small but when you go back to work baby will probably only be drinking 4 ounces by bottle each feed. You can always thaw more, you can’t put it back so you want to keep the waste down, especially when you’ve worked so hard to make it! When thawing milk the recommended way to do so is to use warm water or let the bags thaw in the fridge or on the counter(can be left at room temp for 6 hours. We will go over storage in the next lesson). NEVER MICROWAVE! You can use the bottle warmer if you would like but it is not a requirement.
Breastmilk bags can break or leak during the thawing process, which is infuriating! This is why not every brand is best, sometimes I think freezing in bottles is a better way to do it but hard to store. The best bags in my opinion are Kiinde and Nanobebe. They are thick, durable and store well. When you freeze your breast milk bags you should lay them on their side so that that they freeze flat and you can store them better. Freezing 2-4 ounces at a time makes it easier to make this happen, as well as less waste if it does break in the thawing process. When measuring the milk always go by the measurement on the bottle, the bag measurements are not accurate. Nanobebe are more compact bags which are fantastic for storing, but you can pump directly into Kiinde bags which makes it easier when you go back to work.
Being an overproducer is not the only way to save up and store a breastmilk stash. It definitely will take some work, but breastfeeding is hard work. Using the Hakka and Milky saver it will save you some time and it will not require you to be attached to a pump all day! Picking a designated time to pump daily also helps you not stay attached to the pump all day which saves your mental health!
Questions? Feel free to reply to the post or email me birthwithavoice@gmail.com
Our next Lesson will cover the ideal schedule for pumping/nursing around your work schedule and the laws that protect you.
Birth with a Voice 