Are you a new mother or about to give birth to a child? Then you must be wondering about breastfeeding your baby and pumping at the same time or some other time. If you are giving birth to your second child and your milk supply is low or require some expressed milk for bottle feeding, you may wonder how to combine breastfeeding and pumping.
Here, we will talk about combining breastfeeding and pumping, pumping sessions, bottle feeding techniques, and more.
So, keep reading to learn everything about breastfeeding and pumping and make your breastfeeding journey easy and relaxing.
Here are some reasons why you should moms breastfeed and breast pump or do both simultaneously.
Reasons for breastfeeding and pumping
There are many reasons that you choose to combine breastfeeding and pumping. Here are some of them:
Increase in milk supply
Breast milk usually produces milk based on how much you feed milk to your baby. The more milk you feed, the more milk supply your breasts may make. Your body makes milk as much as you will feed. You can try this trick to boost your breast milk supply.
Aiding with discomfort
If you have slow-flow nipples, you should clear milk out of your breasts to help with clogged ducts and inflammation of breast tissue. This may increase your milk flow.
Bottle feeding
You can pump milk supply from your breasts in a bottle, another thing is bottle and nipples are designed to work with breastfeeding. so you can bottle feed your baby when you are not with your baby.
Breastfeeding difficulties
If your baby faces challenges latching or drinking a good quantity of milk from your breasts alone, then you should pump some extra milk into a bottle to feed them afterward with a bottle. You can consult a lactation consultant to cure your baby’s lactation problem.
Why should I pump & breastfeed?
For some moms, pumping is a rare task, like pumping breast milk supply in a bottle for a nursing mom to feed the babies when going out. But for many women like working moms, pump daily or pump frequently in a day or even power pumping breast milk becomes a routine task.
Reason for Pumping breast milk
- In the freezer stash, store milk in milk storage bags, and breastfeed your baby after maternity leave.
- To aid the increasing supply of breast milk and boost milk flow.
- The baby’s mouth is incapable of latching or can’t feed well from the breast.
- To cure swollen breasts and to reduce pain and engorgement.
- To maintain milk production when unable to breastfeed due to any medical reason, you can start pumping breast milk to feed your baby.
Why should I breast pump?
Pumping allows you to produce your milk supply even before the baby needs more milk. So, you can store the extra milk for later. Pumping also allows you to donate your extra milk to moms who can’t breastfeed their babies themselves but want their little ones to have the benefits of breast milk.
Tips for combining breastfeeding and pumping:
If you want to try and combine breastfeeding and pumping, here are a few tips to get started:
1. First breastfed
Generally first-trimester pregnancy and first breastfeeding is a very important for the mother and their baby’s life. The pediatric doctor recommends breastfeeding for the 6 months of the baby’s life. Also, you should pump after breastfeeding. This way, you’ll have a satisfied breastfed baby, and then you can empty your breasts after, and your breasts will have enough milk refill before the next feed.
2. Hand expression
Many moms find that hand expression can support boosting the quantity of milk flow your breasts produce.
3. Store milk
You can use silicone breast pumps or other freezer stashes to contain the milk dripping from one breast your baby is not presently using, so the milk won’t be wasted before you pump. You can use baby bottles to store your breast milk.
Find the best breast pump
Before you pump milk from your breasts, check the breast pump and pump parts you are using so that it won’t harm your nipples. In case of any scar, you can use nipple cream to cure it.
Accessories:
You may need some useful accessories like nipple cream, baby bottles, a hands-free pumping bra, double electric pump to pump more breast milk out of your body.
Learn bottle-feeding techniques:
You can learn any bottle-feeding method and use it to ensure that your baby wants to continue breastfeeding. You can also learn some breastfeeding techniques.
Get a warm-up:
You can let down the pump and make your breasts relax and then do some nursing sessions to warm yourself up so your body can get some time to produce milk before the next feeding or pumping schedule.
What are the pros and cons of combining breastfeeding and breast pumping?
What You Need to Breastfeed & Pump
Here is a list of accessories that you may need at the time of breastfeeding sessions or pumping sessions.
- Breast pumps
- Hands-free Pumping bra
- Milk storage bags
- Freezer stash for milk
- Bag for pump
- Breastfeeding cover
- Hand wipes to sanitize
- Baby bottles
Other useful items
- A car charger for your pump.
- Nipple cream.
- Breast pads.
- Water bottle and supplements.
- Double electric pump.
How to Time Your Feeding & Pumping to Maximize Your Output
Massage and Hand Expression
Using your hand expressions while pumping can increase the supply of your milk flow.
Swap Your Pump Parts
You should replace your pump parts after a year or before that to make your breast pumps work efficiently.
Adapt to Your Expectations
Many moms can produce much milk in a day, and some can’t. So it’s okay if you can’t pump milk 5 or 6 times daily. There is no need to expect more than you can do.
Make Sure You Have the Best Pumps to work with
If you pump milk regularly, use a double electric pump, instead of a normal pump. Make sure that the pump is good in condition.
Take Care of Yourself
With breastfeeding sessions, a new mother should also care for her health. When you start breastfeeding for the first time, it might feel overwhelming. You need to give yourself some rest and need to relax a bit.
Involve your Baby
You can involve your baby while you are pumping. This can help you increase your milk flow and be a nursing mom to your baby by pampering your baby from one breast. This way, your one breast will pump milk, and on the other side, you can nurse your baby.
Ask for help
You can ask for help if you can not do this alone. You can find help when you want to pump milk or if you want some help to take care of your baby.
FAQS on How to Combine Breastfeeding and Pumping
1. How Soon Should I Pump After Breastfeeding?
You can pump between breastfeeding 15-20 minutes after nursing or breastfeeding. This will leave enough milk in your breast, so if your baby wants to feed again after you breastfeed, you will have more milk to feed.
2. How Long Should I Pump and Breastfeed?
You can pump for 15 to 20 minutes and get enough breast milk. You can pump until your breast’s milk flow has slowed and your breasts are well-drained.
3. Is it possible to Pump and Breastfeed at the Same Time?
Yes, it’s possible to combine breastfeeding and pumping simultaneously. From one breast, you can pump out milk, and from the other one, you can directly breastfeed your baby while nursing them.
4. Is it okay to pump just once a day while breastfeeding?
It’s okay if you pump once a day. But if you are away from your child, you need a lot of milk to feed your baby. Thus, you should pump frequently if there’s a need.
5. How can a mom learn bottle-feeding techniques?
Most women lack the technique of bottle-feeding their babies. A bottle can provide artificial or mother’s milk pumped through power pumping. If you breastfeed and bottle feed your child, you must avoid doing so as the technique used by your baby to suck the milk is different in both situations. To feed using a bottle, hold your baby in a semi-sitting position and stroke the baby’s lips with the bottle nipple before you insert the nipple into their mouth.
6. Do mothers produce much milk while pumping?
Whether you power pump your milk or breastfeed your baby, you will only produce sufficient milk to feed your baby.
7. How to combine breastfeeding and pumping
If you are a new mother, you can adopt breastfeeding and power-pumping your milk. How? Check the below pointers:
- Always prefer breastfeeding your baby first
- Power pump your milk only after breastfeeding
- Use your hands to feed the baby & pump milk
- Get the perfect fit for the breast pump to avoid leakages
- Make sure to have enough storage for the milk
- Learn bottle feeding techniques
Conclusion
After reading this article, you must have understood that there’s a big difference between breastfeeding and pumping. So now you can consider combining breastfeeding and pumping simultaneously.
So you do not have to take any pressure or stress while you pump and breastfeed your baby. You can ask for help when you want to pump milk and feed your baby simultaneously. Make sure you have all the accessories with you when you feed your baby, like nipple cream, baby bottles, a hand-free pumping bra, and a double electric pump to pump out more milk so that you can use it when your baby wants to feed again after you breastfeed.
So there is no need to get uncomfortable when you want to pump milk from your breasts and feed your baby. It is always a good decision to make when you are away from your baby or need some extra milk to feed them.
