Newbie Pump & Feeding Question

[~Brandy~]

Hi Everyone!

I will be attempting to BF twins That right there is scaring me! So I have ordered the following pump

Hygeia Enjoye Breast Pump
The EnJoye™ is a hospital-grade performance, personal-use, double electric breast pump that is designed for long-term and frequent pumping needs.

I understand there can be issues with nipple confusion but my husband wants to be able to feed the girls as well so we are going to try both BF and bottle feeding after a month or so.. During that first month or so I will be pumping non stop to try and get my supply up for both the girls as well as creating a stockpile for freezing.

My questions are

What is the best storage method for the expressed milk?
How long does it keep?
How much should I store in each container to start with?
Is there anything gadgets/accessories that you found helpful if you were going to attempt this method?


Its quite possible that we will create too much nipple confusion doing this and we may have to convert fully to bottles of expressed milk So I just need to be prepared as possible to keep up with supply and demand.

Sorry for the newbie book!

 

[Darlin65]

Nipple confusion is overrated I think. It depends on the baby. My DS was fine drinking from a bottle and bf as long as we didn't supplement. If you end up supplementing it fills them up quicker so that really threw him off. I like the plastic milk bags for storing in the freezer. Leave a little room at the top so it can expand and when you do store release as much of the air as possible and lay it flat. Unused milk can be left on the counter for up to 6hrs after pumping but if baby drinks from it or it has been refrigerated already put it into the fridge immediately. In the fridge it is good for up to 5-8 days. Freezer 6-12 months. You can defrost it by laying it out on the counter to thaw or running it under cool water.

A neat tip I learned that might be extremely helpful to you is to get a large piece of tupperware to place your pump pieces in and place them in the fridge after pumping. Then just pull them out a few minutes before pumping to let them warm up to room temp. This way you aren't driving yourself mad washing them every time. If you have a 2nd set you can then just rinse the pieces well and wash them every 2 days. I know that was the frustrating part about pumping for me.

Also if you decide to store milk in a cooler while you are out you can keep it in a cooler with ice packs for up to 24hrs. All of this is on the mayo clinic website but it's exactly what I was told when I was bf'ing my son too. Good Luck!