Comments on: Breastfeeding & Pumping FAQ

By: Kieren's Mama

Kieren's Mama — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:51:56 +0000

Hey again Liza… on the secret ingredients found in baby food… Since Kieren is allergic to milk, I also read the list of ingredients on the baby food containers. I have found that a good percentage of baby foods actually have milk in them… along with sugar, added starch, corn syrup, etc… so I have to check before I buy them. The plain foods (ie. peas & bananas) usually aren’t a problem, but the strawberry banana, baby mac & cheese, rice cereal & applesauce, or “Hawaiian Delight”… mixed stuff like that, is what you’ve gotta look out for.

By: Liza

Liza — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 03:33:09 +0000

Andrea, great catch! Thanks, yes, I meant the Avent Isis manual. AND CONGRATULATIONS!!! BTW, I hear that you’re in a show too. (And if you want DC local reviews or ‘hey, what do these pumps really look like anyway’ info, I *strongly* suspect that there are people here who might help!)

Bree, thanks for the encouragement and the instructions! You and Jen recommended very similar packing. (Jen did hers by email.)

By: Bree

Bree — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 02:33:33 +0000

Just so you know, you don’t have to pump and dump. I just got back from a 2 day trip away from my 12 week old on Friday 10/6.

FYI: pumping during a conference is a pain — hard to be on time for sessions when the pumping takes longer than the breaks.

I stayed at a Marriott, and they gave me a frig for free b/c I’m a Rewards member. I stored milk in Lansinoh bags, and brought a long a stash of gallon Ziplocs, and a slim freezerpack — the Enfamil one I got from the hospital in the diaper bag they gave me.

On the trip home, I packed up my milk at 6pm. Put all 8 bags (48 oz), plus the freezer pack, in a gallon Ziploc, wrapped it 3x in the (complimentary) newspaper sheets. Put that in another gallon Ziploc. Packed the whole Ziploc package in the inside front flap of my suitcase, cushioned by the towel and cloth diaper I carry for washing pump parts and catching milk drips in my lap. Went to the airport. Checked suitcase. 9:00 Flight delayed until 10:45. Got home at 12:13 am and whipped open the suitcase. Milk was still extremely cold, and freezer pack was still mostly frozen. Not a single leak. I would not try this with any other bag than Lansinoh — much thicker/sturdier than the Gerber, Medela and First Years bags I have used.

So it lasted 6+ hours with no problems. I froze it all as soon as I got home.

HTH and Swift Pumping,
Bree

By: Andrea

Andrea — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 19:23:24 +0000

Still loving your blog and your updates on Noah. As an impending mom myself (yeah, that’s news – tell Jill!) I’m eagerly awaiting your pump reviews. You mentioned loving the Ameda Isis manual and I can’t find it — could it be marketed under Avent Isis? That one I can find… and it’s time to start building that registry.

By: Lizzie

Lizzie — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 21:23:49 +0000

Henry IS freakin’ awesome

By: Lizzy

Lizzy — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 20:49:27 +0000

Great post, Liza.
I wish I had this kind of information and support when I was nursing for the first time. I think that I just really wasn’t prepared for nursing to be THAT difficult, you know? I guess no matter how many times my mommy-friends told me that nursing was hard, I just couldn’t truly comprehend it.
And it’s such an emotionally charged thing. It’s near-impossible to separate the nursing from the personal. Like if your baby doesn’t latch well, it’s not your fault. Or if your baby isn’t gaining weight, it’s not because of anything you’re doing wrong. I had a really hard time with separating the logistics from the intense personal sense of failure.
And I was formula-fed–I think I turned out okay. And Henry is now exclusively formula-fed, and he’s freakin’ awesome. If I do say so myself!

By: Liza

Liza — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 18:27:51 +0000

Heh. I tried to give up coffee while I was pregnant.

At one point, I’d gotten down to 2 cups of tea/day, but for most of it, 2 cups of coffee, occasionally 3.

And speaking of judgment, the Starbucks MANAGER tried to make me change my order to decaf once, around month 8. I was so surprised that I actually thought I was misunderstanding him at first.

By: Lizzie

Lizzie — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:49:52 +0000

Jean: Good point! No matter what we do, we’re always doing something wrong in somebody’s eyes. As long as my son is healthy and happy and fed and warm and LOVED, I think we will be fine the way we’re doing things.

and Liza… I drank coffee throughout my pregnancy.. just 1 cup a day.. but still.

heh slackermommy *snicker* you are SO not a slacker.

By: Liza

Liza — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:13:40 +0000

Jean, you make a very good point. Someone is always going to be there to criticize or question whatever choices we make as parents.

Lizzie, I feel ya on the “what else would I feed him?” question. Like I said, we supplement with formula. And since I am a slackermommy, Noah gets to nurse even if I’ve had a drink and I never did give up caffine.

So there’s always something to worry about.

By: Jean

Jean — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 03:13:12 +0000

One advantage, later on, is that having gone through the engorgement and early nursing is that mammograms are no big deal. I know a lot of women complain about the pain but it’s nothing in comparison.

I agree, Lizzie, too. Another problem is not just judgements you’ll get on breastfeeding but it’s for the rest of the child’s life. Why are you nursing in public, that’s gross; why are you giving him a bottle; you didn’t circumcise, eww, that’s archaic; why did you circumcise, that’s just wrong; are you working, you should be home; are you staying home, you should be working; you haven’t started solids yet; why haven’t you started solids yet?; isn’t your child doing xxx now, sign him up; she’s not doing piano yet, oh…

But somehow they all grow up just fine…well, except certain members of Congress…