Care for childChild Development

Learning how to pump and store breast milk can make returning to work easier and less stressful. It does require some work, but if you have a plan, it can be done.

FAQ’s about Breast Milk

(1). When should I start to pump my breasts?

If you will be pumping your breasts, practice for 1 or 2 weeks before you go back to work. You can try pumping just after your baby eats, or you can pump your breasts between feedings. Practicing at home will assist you study how your pump works. During this time, you also can start to gather and store breast milk to be fed to your baby when you return to work.

(2). How much milk will I get when I pump?

You may not get much milk when you first start pumping. After a few days of regular pumping, your breasts will begin to create more milk.

(3). How long should I pump each time?

Pumping your breasts takes about the same time as breastfeeding, but with practice and a good pump, you can pump your breasts in as little as 10 to 15 minutes. While you are at work, try to pump as often as your baby more often than not feeds. To keep up your milk supply, give your baby extra feedings when you are together.

(4). Will there be times that my baby will need more milk?

Yes, your baby will probably want more milk during growth spurts. The best way to increase your milk supply for a increase spurt is to breastfeed or pump more often.

(5). How should I store my breast milk?

Breast milk can be stored in a plastic or glass bottle with a sealable top, or in a sterile, sealable bag. Store your breast milk in amounts that you use every day to avoid wasting it. For example, if your baby eats 4 ounces in a feeding, put 4 ounces of breast milk in the storage container.

(6). Where should I store my breast milk?

Pumped breast milk should be cooled in a refrigerator or other cooler as soon as possible. The milk can also be frozen if you aren’t going to use it right away.

(7). How long can I store my breast milk?

The following are some general breast milk storage guidelines:

(A) At room temperature (less than 77°F) for 4 to 8 hours

(B) At the back of a refrigerator for 3 to 8 days

(C) At the back of a freezer for up to 3 months

(8). The breast milk I have in my refrigerator looks funny. Is something wrong?

Breast milk can vary in color. It can be bluefish, yellowish or brownish. It is also normal for breast milk to separate (the fatty part of the milk goes to the top). Shake the bottle or sealed bag, and the fat will go back into the milk.

(9). How should I thaw frozen breast milk?

Thaw the milk slowly by swirling the container of milk in temperate water or by putting the container in the refrigerator the day before it is to be used. Don’t use hot water to thaw breast milk. Never thaw frozen breast milk in a microwave oven. The milk could get too hot and burn your baby. Microwaving can also destroy valuable proteins in breast milk. Thawed breast milk can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours, but it should not be refrozen.

A bottle-fed baby wants, each day, two and a half ounces of milk mixture for every pound of his own weight. In practice, he may need a little more than this. Your baby’s appetite may serve as an indicator of the amount of milk he needs. The breast-fed baby will simply take better feeds as he needs them and the provide will adjust itself. His weight will show how well he is thriving. The average gain over the first three months is six to eight ounces per week; from three to six months he should gain four to six ounces a week and from six to twelve months, three to four ounces a week. If he is gaining weight steadily, is happy at the end of a feed, sleeps well and has normal motions, you have nothing to be anxious about. If he is underfed, he will fail to gain weight; he may cry between feeds and have frequent small, constipated motions. The normal breast-fed baby’s motions look like fresh mustard. At first, they may occur after every feed, but within a month or so, they become less frequent, perhaps only once or twice a week. This is because breast milk is so with no trouble assimilated that there is very little waste. A bottle-fed baby has paler, more formed motions, more often than not occurring everyday or twice a day.

Some babies do well on a rigid schedule, but babies are not machines and it seems reasonable to aim at a roughly four-hourly timetable. You can modify your schedule to fit the baby’s needs and your own. That is, if he wakes up early and is hungry, feed him. In fact, if he is breast-fed, this is the best way to increase the milk supply. On the other hand, if he sleeps past his feed time, you need not wake him up. Of route, he should not be fed every time he cries. Soon you will come to recognize the cry of hunger; once he settles down, it will almost certainly occur every three or four hours. It seems pointless to leave him screaming when he is hungry – he will only swallow air in addition to be unable to take the feed properly when it comes. The similar applies to night feeds. A baby does not make a distinction night from day. He only knows so as to he is hungry. When he can take enough to satisfy him, he will sleep from end to end the night. In the meantime, you will not spoil him by giving him his feed. It gives him security to know that he will live fed when he is starving.

Round about four months, the baby will be set for his first taste of foods other then milk. These should be introduced very gradually beginning at one feed in the day and allowing several days for the baby to get familiar to one new flavor before giving him another.

Weaning can be at any convenient time. At five to six months, the baby will be learning to drink rather than suck and he can be weaned straight to a cup. You can use boiled fresh milk, full cream dried milk or fade away milk. If you substitute one breast feed a week, the milk supply will mechanically dwindle with the lessening demands on it. Should the breast become overfull at anytime, you can express a little or present the next feed in the early hours.

By six months, the baby will be ready for more diversity in his meals and to trial with chewing. By seven toward eight months, he can go on to three meals a day and by his first birthday, he will be one of the family at meal times and attempting to feed himself.