Busy Moms Unite! Top Breastfeeding and Pumping Tips You Need!

Breastfeeding is rewarding but so hard! For moms who want to continue to breastfeed and pump when their maternity leave ends or for moms staying at home with multiple little ones, including a new baby, having to pump every 3-4 hours or keeping up with a newborn’s frequent feeds while also caring for the older siblings is a daunting challenge.

Breastfeeding and Pumping Tips for Busy Moms

I can still remember how naive I was about breastfeeding before I gave birth to my firstborn. “Breastfeeding will come so naturally,” I thought and imagined how I would bond with my daughter as I effortlessly nursed her on demand. Ah, blissful ignorance…

The reality: I struggled to get her latch right, and my milk took about a week to come in, and when it finally did, my supply was really low. In the meantime, we had started supplementing my daughter with formula through a bottle because I felt she wasn’t getting enough. Of course, she got accustomed to the easy flow and quick results of the bottle, so no wonder she acted frustrated when she had to work at getting milk from me.

But after working hard with a lactation support group on getting her latch right, pumping after her feeds to increase demand, paying attention to my meals and hydration, and working on my emotions and anxiety, I was finally able to build my milk supply and give my daughter 100% breastmilk.

In this article, I will share more about the key tips I learned that I’ve found most helpful in my journey with breastfeeding and pumping for my babies.

Caveat

First, I would note here that the following tips for boosting milk supply will not work for all women. About 2% of lactating women are diagnosed with a condition called IGT (Insufficient Glandular Tissue), which means you physically cannot produce all the milk your baby will need; and, while you can still nurse, you will need to supplement with formula and/or expressed milk.

There are other reasons too women might have low supply (e.g. C-section without labor, traumatic birth, other medical reasons); but, for the majority of breastfeeding women, we do have the ability to pick up our supply with some proven methods.

Boosting Milk Supply

In the first couple weeks postpartum, your milk supply is mainly driven by hormones, but as those hormones taper off, the key driver will be “supply and demand.” There are things you need to check for and want to do early on, though, to help your body with milk production.

Good Latch

You want to ensure your baby has a good latch and get a lactation consultant to help. Also, the lactation consultant should rule out “tongue-tie” if your baby does not seem to be latching well.

Supply and demand

You want to establish a good supply-and-demand cycle and ensure your newborn’s needs are met. Aim for feeds every 2-3 hours.

You can also encourage those milk-making hormones with frequent skin-to-skin contact with your baby, and what’s sweeter than baby snuggles to boost one’s mood anyhow?

Breastfeeding Diet and Supplements 

There are herbal supplements that are recommended to help boost milk supply. They are typically quite expensive; and, personally, I didn’t notice much, if any, difference when I tried lactation herbals for 6 weeks with my firstborn. My mother-in-law even kindly made me some lactation tea with fenugreek, but fenugreek seemed to have the opposite effect on me!

What was helpful for me, however, was picking up the pace on my water and carb intake! Your body uses a lot of water and invests a lot of energy in milk production. Experts say you should have 400 extra calories daily while nursing, especially in those first 6 months postpartum.

Honestly, I don’t know any busy moms who take the time to count calories (I never have), but I’ve simply paid close attention to my body’s hunger cues and have kept loads of snacks around besides being sure to have nutrient-rich foods at mealtimes. Oats, flaxseed, and brewer’s yeast have been really helpful to me in getting the key nutrients the body needs for milk production.

Likewise, it’s also so important to stay hydrated with water or other beverages equally hydrating (coffee doesn’t help, sorry). I feel thirsty almost all the time when lactating, so I carry a water bottle with me wherever I go. Electrolytes added to water or coconut water beverages have helped, too.

Dieticians will recommend that nursing mothers drink about 16 cups of water per day. That’s a lot to keep up with, so be sure to always have water on hand, especially when you’re sitting down to nurse!

Pumping techniques

So one of the best ways to boost milk supply is by increasing demand with regular pumping sessions, but just how is a busy Mama supposed to find time to pump? If you’re out in the workforce and need to pump to express milk once maternity leave is up, your employer is legally bound to give you breaks to pump. But what about the moms who stay at home with multiple children, including the baby, and the self-employed mom on top of that?

Wearable Breast Pump

What was most helpful to me when I was still working outside the home after my firstborn, and also when I left the nursing profession to stay at home with 2 kids, was using a [easyazon_link identifier=”B0CNGJMQDD” locale=”US” tag=”chapbrea05-20″]wearable pump[/easyazon_link]. Using it to pump on-the-go around the house, caring for the kids, and accomplishing chores while also pumping, was wonderful.

It was great to wear even at work if I wanted to pump extra without having to take another break, and it wasn’t visible under my clothing. I bought a [easyazon_link identifier=”B07SD921NV” locale=”US” tag=”chapbrea05-20″]Freemie[/easyazon_link] brand wearable pump, but there are quite a few brands out there now. They are expensive, but I bought mine second-hand. As much as I’ve benefited from it, truly, it was worth every penny.

Pump parts care

Here’s another tip. If you pump multiple times a day, do you really need to wash your pump parts after every session? Absolutely not! Just store your pump parts in the fridge in a zip-loc bag; this way, any residual milk in the pump bottle will not spoil, and you don’t have to take the extra time to wash each part every 3-4 hours or as often as you want to pump. Then, at the end of the day or the next day, if you’re up early in the morning, make scrubbing your pump bottles one of your first tasks.

Breast care

With all the pumping, though, be sure you are using a lubricant and caring for your nipples well. There are plenty of “[easyazon_link identifier=”B000JVCBBG” locale=”US” tag=”chapbrea05-20″]nipple butter[/easyazon_link]” salves in the market, but you can also use a dab of coconut oil to moisturize and lubricate. When cleansing, be sure to use gentle soaps that won’t over-dry.

In Conclusion

Motherhood is exhausting, especially in that first year when you’re enduring sleepless nights with the newborn and working hard at establishing/maintaining your supply for those mamas who choose to and are able to nurse the baby. However, with these tips I’ve shared, and once a good rhythm is established for your baby’s feeds, pumping, and all the other duties that motherhood brings, I’ve found that mothering and working outside the home (or remotely) can be manageable.

I hope these tips are helpful to you, the reader, if you have not tried them before. If you have tried them, did they work for you? Are there other tricks regarding lactation you’ve learned that have helped you in your journey of motherhood? Let us know in the comments. Knowledge is powerful; by sharing knowledge, we mamas can all help each other.  

About the Author:
My name is Sarah Gruhn. I’m a wife and mother to three littles (currently ages 5, 3, and 1). I worked actively as a nurse for about 15 years; but, in 2021, I left full-time nursing to become a full-time stay-at-home mother, homemaker, and home educator. I now also work from home as a freelance writer for Data Annotation.

Writing is something that has long interested me though previously in a more hobbyist capacity. I’m now entering the freelance writing world while also seeking to educate myself and others with this blog through research and sharing mutually learned experiences.

Besides writing, my other interests include reading, food, baking, rock climbing, hiking, nature exploration, health, and movies. My goal with this blog will be to focus predominately on home education, food, health, and parenting. My prayer is to bless others and seek to glorify God in all that I do.

Blog: irrigatingadesert.com | Facebook | Instagram