After our initial struggles, breastfeeding Maia has gone very well. So well in fact that I’ve been pushing back pumping and giving a bottle although combination feeding was our initial plan. We thought combining breast and bottle would give us more flexibility in caring for the baby as she wouldn’t depend on me being around for feeding. I do worry that introducing a bottle now could disturb the well established breastfeeding. What’s more, I’ve also been worried about making the problem of overproduction even worse! (Read about my battle)
However, since I’ve had the rental Medela double electric pump for six weeks already I figured I have to give it a try. I could always just pump a little bit and freeze the milk for if/when we need it.
Once I figured out how to assemble the bits and pieces and had sterilised everything, I gave it a go. I had just fed Maia and she was taking a nap and I saw a window of opportunity. The pump was so easy to use I could hold her with one arm (she still naps on me) and pump the other side. I was saving the other boob for her in case she’d wake up sooner than expected and hungry.
The pumping was easy and efficient – I got 80ml in 15-minutes from one boob. And yes, it did make me feel like an industrial cow but that was the only downside. I was very positively surprised! In the instructions it recommends to pump for at least 15-minutes and I suspect its to get both the foremilk (more watery) and hindmilk (richer). I used the Medela freezer bag to store the milk.
My friend who had just attended a breastfeeding clinic had been recommended a manual silicon breast pump from NatureBond which she really loved. Since it was only 11.90£ on Amazon I decided to try that too. Amazingly, it worked even better for me than the expensive and complicated electric Medela pump!
It’s a one piece silicon “bottle” (see the picture above) and requires no effort from you. You simply put it over your nipple and squeeze the bottle for suction and it stays on by itself while the suction makes the milk flow. This is a slower process compared to the Medela but super easy and can be done while feeding from the other boob, which at least for me starts leaking anyway – no wasted milk!
A word of warning though, when the bottle gets full, it can fall off! I was feeding Maia and had the pump on the other boob while drinking coffee and scrolling Instagram. Sure enough, the full bottle fell off and spilled breast milk all over our sofa! Yuck, the smell… They say don’t cry over spilled milk but I say if it’s expressed breastmilk, you can cry!
I’m now seriously considering returning the rental Medela to the pharmacy. Who could have guessed a little 12-quid device could do the same job? And much more naturally if I may add, without feeling like you’re being milked…
Next step is to decide when we’ll try offering the bottle… My idea was to have Maia’s dad take over the 11pm feed with the bottle so that she gets used to it and we can rely on the bottle if/when I’m away for more than two hours. It could also be a nice bonding time for her an her daddy who doesn’t get to be very involved in caring for her (since he’s working long hours).
I’ll keep you posted on how we decide to go about it and what happens!
xoxoxo,
Sini