Hey friends!

We are still in newborn bliss over here. Mr. Rush is such a dreamy little man and we couldn’t be happier to have added him to our family.

Related: Welcome to the world, Rush Robert Boettcher!

Rush and I are getting into a good rhythm with breastfeeding now though still working through a few challenges. Breastfeeding is something that I feel passionate about because it’s such an intimate experience with my babies and truly an empowering act. I mean, we are FEEDING our children with our own bodies and giving them LIFE! Breastfeeding is also something that I feel passionate about supporting because I know firsthand how hard it can be. That’s why, if I can share any advice, experiences or encouragement with other mamas who are on their own breastfeeding / pumping journey, I am absolutely willing to do so.

After recently posting on Instagram and in my IG stories about my first batch of expressed milk going in the freezer, my cracked nipple troubles and phase of major engorgement, I had SO many questions flooding in about breastfeeding and pumping. Because I just couldn’t get to every single one, I decided to do a roundup of questions that covered hopefully nearly all of the topics that were asked about. I hope this is entirely helpful for you!

First and foremost, a few notes + considerations:

• I am not medical professional nor a lactation consultant. I simply am now in my third breastfeeding experience and have learned a LOT along the way through talking with other mamas, asking for lactation consultant assistance and reading about specific questions I have had.
• I am NOT an overproducer.
• I have had MAJOR engorgement all three times my milk has come in.
• I have had different work / maternity leave arrangements for each of my babies, which plays a role in pumping + preparation as you will read.
• Pumping is certainly not my favorite activity, but I have found once you get more comfortable it becomes easier + it’s necessary in order to build a good supply to have on hand. (See: not an over producer!)
• I always recommend chatting with other mamas because everyone has their own breastfeeding experience and may have different / similar challenges. In addition, lactation consultants are EXTREMELY helpful and have also been cornerstone in my breastfeeding journey success.
• My friend Rachele, a LC, wrote a great post about frequently asked breastfeeding questions that gives some amazing tips! It’s a must read!

This post does contain affiliate links.

BREASTFEEDING Q & A:

(1) “When did you start pumping with you first two children and how long did you breastfeed?” & “Is this time breastfeeding different than with my other children?”

 One thing about having deliveries earlier than 37 weeks is that it is protocol for Lactation Consultants to have you pump + hand express at each feed time to encourage your milk supply and ensure your little babe is getting enough milk for nourishment. Because all of my deliveries have occurred before that milestone, I have started pumping RIGHT AWAY upon birth. Here’s a little summary of those breastfeeding experiences:

• Maven: Began breastfeeding, hand expressing and pumping immediately. Had her latch right away during skin to skin and was on a regimented every two-hour schedule while in the hospital and days following when we returned home. I would nurse her as long as she was interested at the 2 hour intervals, hand express tiny drops of colostrum and feed it to her with a teeny tiny syringe and then pump for approximately 15 minutes to collect whatever few drops I could, plus to encourage my milk supply to come in. My milk took just over 5 days to come in this first time around – likely due to the fact it was my first baby and an early delivery. We did have to supplement with formula for about 3 days, small amounts, after each feed/syringe session. Once my milk came in, I immediately stopped doing so. I was very engorged for about a week and pumped 3x a day (+ hand expressed for comfort) during that time. It began my freezer stash.
  • I returned to work full time after a 12-week maternity leave and was pumping 4x a day during the week as well as trying to have at least 1 pumping session during the day on the weekends. Maven was a very good sleeper from early on, so we were no longer night waking and night feeding after about 9 weeks. Therefore, during the week, I was really only breastfeeding her once, maybe twice a day. My supply suffered greatly (stress of work, imbalance of pumping/breastfeeding, etc.). Because of this and the fact that we knew we wanted to try to have another baby (my cycle had not yet returned while breastfeeding), I stopped at about 7.5 months. There are many details that went into this including the diminished supply and need to supplement anyway. I did have some freezer stash that took us about another month, and then used formula thereafter. (Another note: I was traveling for work and had stretches of a few days of exclusively pumping here and there as well.)

• Sylvie: Again began breastfeeding, hand expressing and pumping immediately. Latched right away during skin to skin and again fed and pumped on a regimented, very tight schedule because she was born even earlier (35 weeks). Details of the first days are the same as with Maven, though my milk came in faster this time, around day 3. I did not have to supplement. After my milk came in, I began pumping immediately again due to engorgement. This engorgement was worse than with Maven, likely because my milk came in faster and I was pumping to encourage supply leading up to that point. I did pump and hand express for over 2 weeks at nearly every feed to help regulate the engorgement and make it easier for her to latch given the swollen breasts and nipples. After engorgement settled, I began pumping about once a day and feeding on demand.
  • I returned to work part time after a 10-week maternity leave and was pumping 2-3x a day during those work days. One thing I did differently was actually nurse Sylvie in the morning right before I went to work, rather than pump upon arrival to work. I was then able to pump less + add in a session at night if I wanted to collect more + build my stash. On my days off and weekends, I would fit in a pumping session or two if I could, but didn’t feel entirely stressed if I couldn’t make it happen. Most times when I pumped at work I would collect an ounce or two extra than she would typically take in a bottle, so I would freeze that extra. (Note: I also traveled for work occasionally and had days at a time of exclusively pumping.)
  • Sylvie was a very colicky baby with reflux. We had a lot of challenges with her, but were dedicated to breastfeeding. I had to change my diet for a period of time in order to continue feeding. She would sometimes have a hard time latching because of the reflux and was often fussy during feeds if she was uncomfortable. But, at the same time, feeding was soothing to her once we would get going, so it was a bit complicated.
    Read: The End of An Era (Infant Colic)
  • Sylvie self weaned, much to my surprise. We were down to one or two nursing sessions a day from about 11 months and had our final night feed when she was 14 months old.

• Rush: Though Rush’s delivery was also earlier than 37 weeks, I didn’t feel as much pressure to hand express and pump at each feed from the very beginning. I was a little more confident I knew what I was doing. I trusted my body would produce milk (maybe even earlier than it had before) and he did a great job latching and nursing from the very beginning. I could also hand express to know that he was getting healthy drops of colostrum at each feed + he was having a good amount of diapers, so I chose to not pump while in the hospital for fear of experiencing the same (or worse engorgement) than with the girls. Welp, even without that extra stimulation for milk production, that engorgement has been STRONG. ? My milk came in by the end of day 2 and was extremely uncomfortable almost immediately. I began pumping 3-4x a day and was hand expressing throughout the day to relieve the pain. In the beginning I would usually pump BEFORE feeding in the morning and add in extra pumping sessions between feeds during the day.
  • New this time around: cracked nipples. I had not experienced this before and I can say it is extremely painful. So sorry to all you mamas who have had to work through these broke open nipples once or even more! UGH! Thankfully, my (LC) friend Rachele and helped me work through this painful challenge. Some strategies included: Lansinoh gel soothe pads, Earth Mama Angel Baby nipple butter, ensuring an appropriate latch, giving the wounds some air and ibuprofen.
  • I will not be “returning to work” this time because I now work from home. With that said, I know I won’t always be with Rush during our breastfeeding phase, so continuing to pump to have milk frozen is still important to me. Now that the engorgement phase is getting some relief, I will settle into a schedule of pumping once each morning around breakfast time. This will mean I have already fed Rush and the girls will (hopefully) be content while eating and then playing for a while in order for me to fit this session in. If I feel like I need more, I would possibly add another session in at the end of the day, knowing that my milk supply isn’t the highest at that point of day, but in effort to just collect whatever extra I am able to.

 

(2) “I am BF my 6 week old but will go back to work in January and would like to have some frozen milk ready. How are you building up a freezer stash while also BF? When do you pump? After each feeding?”

While I’m not “returning to work” this time around ( I work from home! ) I can totally relate to trying to figure this all out. After having Maven, I went back to work full time and after having Sylvie, I went back to work part time. Both of those instances made me entirely concentrated on having enough milk stashed away for when I wasn’t going to be available to nurse on demand during the day. With that said, my strategy of building up a freezer stash includes a few steps:

1. Start pumping early in your breastfeeding journey. I’ve experienced engorgement with all three breastfeeding experiences now, so I not only pump for comfort, but also to begin getting a head start on that freezer stash.
2. Know when your body produces the most milk. This is in the morning! And even during the night. Add a pumping session in each morning and you’ll see those ounces start collecting quickly.
   TIP: Freeze + store your milk in small quantities so it doesn’t go to waste. I typically make my freezer bags 2 oz each in the beginning because young babies usually don’t drink large bottles. Having the low quantity freezer bags has helped me waste less once the milk has thawed. (Favorite freezer bags here!)
3. I typically haven’t pumped after a feeding. If I’m working on building up more of a supply, I add sessions in between feeds when I know my body will have the opportunity to still feed on demand. So, start with #2 and then if you want to add another, maybe pump once again right before bed. I’ve done this, too, and while I may only get a few ounces, it’s EXTRA and will contribute to that beloved milk collection for you.

Notes here: I am NOT an overproducer. These answers are based on having a supply that has just met my babies demands. If you do overproduce, you can certainly pump  after nursing sessions AND at the times I suggested above. (Some who overproduce have to pump BERFORE feeds to make it easier for their babies to latch and drink milk.) Certainly in that case, you would build a stash much faster. My encouragement here though is don’t think that pumping and collecting only 2 ounces is worthless. Sometimes that’s all I would get if I was trying to add a pumping session in the day! When you are trying to build up a supply though, every little bit counts.

(3) “When did you start pumping? How often do you pump? And at what times after or before feedings?”

I started pumping the day after my milk came in because engorgement set in so quickly. I just couldn’t bear the discomfort and needed relief + knew that pumping would collect ounces for a freezer stash that I most certainly want to build up. In the first week this time, I was pumping 3-4 times a day. Once in the morning either before or after the 7a-ish feeding time; once in the afternoon between feeds, mostly because I was feeling very full and uncomfortable again at that point; and finally before I went to bed which was also between feeds and sometimes one more session snuck in there for comfort!

If you’re experiencing engorgement, pumping some milk before a feed may even make it easier to feed your baby because the result is that your nipples and breasts are not as full and hard, which both make it more difficult for your baby to latch. If you’re just interested in pumping to build a freezer supply, I would recommend between feeds at key times of the day (see question 1!).

 

(4) “What are your best tips for engorgement?”

Ah, engorgement. SO painful but SO temporary in the grand scheme of things. Here are my tips:

• Remind yourself that this pain, discomfort and inconvenience is only temporary. You will work through it and your body will regulate enough for you to be more comfortable!
• Don’t be afraid to pump. After having my first baby, I felt scared to pump too much based on information from the hospital lactation consultant + my own reading. It made me afraid that if I pumped too much I would actually play into the engorgement cycle and make it worse. I didn’t feel as scared about this my second time around and now realize that pumping for comfort has not interfered with my milk supply regulation within my body. It’s helped me manage the pain + collect extra ounces to freeze.
• Hand express. Hand expressing before beginning a feed will help soften the tissue to make it a little easier for baby to latch.
• While you express milk, massaging the tissue to keep the milk moving will help prevent clogged ducts and resulting complications. My engorged breasts literally reach up to my collarbone and into my arm pits, so making sure to massage to help express was incredibly important to ensure I would empty and not back up / become infected.
• Heat and ice. Use heat before a feed and ice after to help with comfort.
• Manage the pain!
• The right bra.
• Soften your nipple. This is new that I learned this time, thanks to my friend Rachele (so lucky for me to have an LC on demand, I know). Massage AWAY from your nipple before a feed to soften up before trying to let baby latch. Baby will then latch easier and have a generally easier time latching.

 

(5) “How did you get that much milk so quickly? I never had that much!”

 See engorgement question. Rather than try to suffer though, I pumped to be able to save the milk and myself from crying about the pain. Also, I want to note again that I am not an over producer, by any means. I have always been able to keep up with the demand of my babies + collect a little extra. Though, you’ll note from reading the details of my breastfeeding story with Maven that my supply drastically diminished at about 6 months and I attribute that to mostly pumping during the week at work + she was no longer night feeding + stress from my full time job.

So, in terms of getting milk quickly right now, it’s because of pumping through engorgement and also hand expressing to collect milk + for relief in order to manage the pain. I also believe in pumping early on in the morning when your supply is the greatest in order to get a head start on your freezer stash, especially if you plan to return to work.

I also want to make a note here to not compare your supply to anyone else’s. It may seem like I collected so much milk so quickly, but I currently have a friend (hey Amy!) who is collecting nearly 10x as much milk as I am and had her baby just two days after me. Our bodies are different, our experiences are different and it’s important to always keep that in mind. One person’s challenges may be “envied” per say, but truly, we all have our own journey to navigate through. So, my advice is to focus on what YOU are experiencing and what milk YOU are producing but most certainly reach out to other mamas for advice + support.

 

(6) “Did you try the Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter? How did you like it?”

Yes! This had such a raving response after I posted it in my Instagram Stories and I have to say it has lived up to what everyone said it would be. It was almost night and day when I started using it, but at that point, the cracks had also began healing a bit on their own. Having not had cracked nipples before, I only used some lanolin cream here and there if I had any sore nipples and didn’t notice a huge difference + didn’t really like the consistency of the product. The Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter is so different, and though I’ve only had it for a handful of days, I would already confidently recommend it to others.

If you have a cracked nipple or any nipple issues, you could also try the Lansinoh Soothe Gel Pads. My wonderful on demand LC dropped these off ON MY DOORSTEP! (So grateful!) They felt wonderful at first. Caution here is that you are not able to use them if the crack is an open wound.

Another suggestion I have is to use bamboo nursing pads. These were most comfortable as I was working through nipple pain.

Related: 10 Must Haves for Nursing Moms

(7) “Any recommendations on how to boost your milk supply?”

Due to my diminished supply with Maven and my dip in supply while Sylvie was weaning, I tried a LOT of different things to boost my milk supply. Here are a few of my recommendations (though there are SO many options out there!):

• Mother’s Milk Tea
• Fenugreek
• Dark Beer (Note: I REALLY don’t like beer, but would drink one in the evening well in advance of bedtime feed and did notice a difference in my late in the day supply.)
• Oats (MILKFUL lactation bars are great, and Oat Mama’s are too.)
• Add in extra pumping sessions to increase the demand on your body (or better yet, if you can get your babe to nurse more, that is so valuable!).
• Honestly, staying hydrated, reducing stress, getting enough rest and taking care of your body are all entirely important components of keeping a good supply. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself, mama!

 

(8) “How do you build your supply, breastfeed and juggle a newborn, postpartum healing and toddlers?!”

I totally get it. There’s a fear in juggling it all. What I want to say is YOU CAN DO IT. Maybe you can’t fathom how it will all work out, but somehow + in some way it does. So take it one step at a time: build your supply by adding in a pumping session here or there. Make sure you do it at a time when your toddlers are entertained. As I suggested above, during breakfast or early morning play time and don’t feel bad if you have to use some additional incentive (i.e. television) to get a 15 minute chunk of time to pump. You’ll fall into a rhythm with feeding your little one and your toddlers will adjust to the fact that you are mostly unavailable during that time. I like to give my toddlers “jobs” so they can be helpers during that time when I’m sitting and feeding. For example, I ask my three year old to go get my water bottle or get a diaper out and ready for us, etc. We also play Simon Says or iSpy or play music so they can sing and dance during feeds to keep them occupied. I don’t have to do this all the time (especially since my husband is still home on paternity leave), but my girls still want me – particularly when I’m feeding of course – so I try to make it a fun / inclusive experience. Believe me, there will be some adjustment though.

As for postpartum healing – listen to your body. Take the time to go to the bathroom and maybe even lock the door *gasp* to take care of your postpartum needs. Make sure you prioritize feeding yourself, staying hydrated and don’t over do it. Easier said than done when you have other little ones at home running around to keep up with, but do your very best.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help. And if someone offers to help, accept it. This is a big transition for everyone and when it feels like you are constantly breastfeeding and/or pumping, certainly an extra set of hands helping or meals being delivered will lighten your load.

 

(9) “Tips for pumping?”

So many…but I’ll just share a few.

• Make it enjoyable. I wrote this post “practical pumping pastimes” over on pumpspotting’s boob diaries that may give you some good ideas!
• Find easy ways to clean your supplies that won’t make it feel like a burden on you. (EX: Steam clean bags, dishwasher.) Also, have a few sets of supplies so you don’t have to wash after every use.
• Get in a routine of storing and freezing milk so you don’t get behind and end up with a refrigerator full of milk that NEEDS to be transferred to the freezer or it will go bad.
• Set up shop before you begin pumping. Have water on hand, your phone within reach a cover if you need it, etc.

 

I hope this post was helpful to you! As I mentioned, I tried to pick a sampling of the submitted questions to give a good overview, but if missed anything, drop your questions in the comments below and I’ll be sure to get back to you! And a few words of encouragement to leave you with: it will get easier, you will adjust, you CAN do this!

Keep up the good work, milk makers!

 

XO

*Featured image by Hello Little! when my sweet Maven was 6 months old.