All about exclusive pumping

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Prefer to read? here is the transcript of the episode: All about exclusive pumping

In this Episode Sanchita and I take our viewers through our breastfeeding journey, one interesting thing that we both have in common is that we exclusively pumped rather than nursing. We cover topics that will give you insights into the right way of pumping, how to store your breast milk and helpful methods like power pumping. This episode is a must-watch/ read for any mum who is starting her breastfeeding journey 

 

Rinie (00:24)

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Modern Indian Parent podcast. I'm Rinie Gupta. I'm a pediatric sleep consultant.

 

Sanchita  (00:49)

And I'm Sanchita Daswani, a pediatric nutrition consultant. And this is the podcast where we are redefining parenting in Indian families.

 

Rinie (00:58)

Every week we bring you episodes that will help you -own your modern parenting choices even if Nani and Dadi don't agree with them.

 

And today's episode is really special because we're taking a truly modern Indian parent take on a important aspect of your baby's life, which is breastfeeding.

 

Now one thing that Sanchita and I both did is that instead of nursing our babies we did exclusive pumping which is that we breastfed without actually nursing and this is what we're going to share with you today. We're going to talk about our experiences, why did we choose to exclusively pump, how did we go about it, everything from our pumping schedules to how did we boost our milk supply

 

So stay tuned if you're somebody who's thinking about doing exclusive pumping to get the benefits of breast milk to your baby without having to nurse because you're facing any kind of issue with it.

 

Sanchita (01:47)

Rinie I want to know more about how did you come to the decision to exclusively pump? Like, did you actually try nursing for a bit?

 

Rinie (01:55)

Okay, so after my daughter was born, firstly she was born in the middle of the Covid lockdown, right? There was a really strict lockdown in And you know, the stay in the hospital was already very isolating when we came back. My mum couldn't be here. My mother -in -law couldn't be here. And honestly, as a first time mum, I just wasn't aware enough that I should have had a lactation consultant, on board. So what happened is that we did face a fair amount of issues with latching because honestly I just didn't know how to do it. Like we couldn't figure it out in the hospital because the nurses weren't particularly helpful and even after we got home we were just so overwhelmed by everything that I couldn't figure out how to nurse and latch my baby directly. So in the meanwhile, just to get my supply to come in, I started pumping very regularly. And that is kind of what the nurse at the hospital told me to do as well. It's like, while you're figuring out how to latch, start pumping. So at least your milk comes in, even if your baby isn't latching really well.

 

Now the amazing thing was when I did start pumping by day two I started getting a fair amount of milk like I started getting the colostrum by day three it was transitional milk by day four day five I had a lot of milk coming in. When I saw that and not only does it allow me to get a lot of milk to come in, anybody is able to feed my baby. At first we were using this cup, that medicine cup, and then we used the spoon for feeding for a bit. But then eventually we transitioned to a bottle. And then I was like, okay, this system is sort of working well for me. I continued to keep trying to latch her, but it just didn't work.

 

So that's kind of like how I chose to do exclusive pumping what about you Sanch like what was your journey with exclusive pumping?

 

Sanchita (03:38)

 

Yeah, so with my kids, they were in the NICU for a month. So basically when I got home, I was I couldn't even hold my kids for the first five days. So there was no option of nursing right away. So they said, OK, look, you're going to start producing some milk. So just pump.

 

So automatically I had to start doing it. So what I would do is every day I would just start pumping and then I'd have to put the milk, whatever I would get in these containers, label it twin one, twin two, take it to the hospital and they would start offering it to the twins. when I finally got to hold them and try and latch on, remember there two of them.

 

I even bought the twinsy pillow, which a lot of twin moms use to actually nurse both the babies at the same time. I did try it and I just got frustrated because they weren't latching and I was like, do I, like, how is this direction and what do you do? And I remember reading the book by Gina Ford because she has a book on the feeding schedule. She has one for twins. And honestly, after reading that, I was like, I can't do this because it was literally like,

 

You hold one, you feed on each breast, then you get the other one and you feed and literally in 20 it's time for the next feed. So for me, realistically, nursing did not make sense. I just already we're feeding so often. I'm sure you felt that in the beginning, that was our priority. And then imagine doing it twice and then all over again. So from the beginning, Pumping I think is better. I do want to give them breast milk, but it was just such an

 

easier option for me to do and you know what the nursing aspect of it I know a lot of moms really like that whole experience I don't know if it was just so overwhelming for me but I didn't feel that connection you know how they say you get that connection when you're nursing and I hate to say it but I didn't feel that connection

 

So that experience, I wasn't feeling happy. it was quite a easy decision to just move to exclusive pumping.

 

Rinie (05:31)

that makes so much sense to me. And trust me, Sanchita you're not alone in feeling this way because I think right after we have babies, and I felt this way too, I think there is that element of postpartum anxiety and even postpartum depression that kicks in. And some of us don't even realize that we have it. And one of the signs definitely could be that you don't enjoy the whole nursing experience, Like you know the benefits of nursing, but then it's not necessary that it will translate into you genuinely enjoying them being at the breast for like throughout the day because the babies in the newborn stage they nurse a lot right and they nurse so often with two babies I mean like you said like every 20 minutes you would have a baby oyour breast and that would be 24 hours a day I think that definitely would have been a big challenge for you. I'll tell you from my experience of working with clients as well many of my clients have chosen to exclusively pump not just because it was that they couldn't figure it out how to nurse or they had twins but it could be generally the baby couldn't nurse. There were restrictions with tongue ties or lip ties or or the mom's nipples weren't the most ideal for nursing

 

These moms, they really, really, really tried to nurse and they used to keep latching, keep latching and it got very frustrating for them. And then people used to tell them that, you know what, just give formula. And while there's nothing wrong with formula, right? Like I think both of us are true believers of that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with formula. But I think these moms really wanted to give breast milk for as long as they could, however much, how much ever they could. And that's why for them, exclusively pumping turned out to be a great like midway nursing and bottle feeding. And that's what I like. you know, I think feeding, there is a certain dichotomy to it, They think either you're breastfeeding or you're bottle feeding. And then when they think about bottle feeding, they only think of formula. But there is this very lovely midway that families can have where they're still giving breast milk. And the babies enjoy the benefits of breast milk while still there is that convenience and the ease of bottle feeding as well.

 

Sanchita  (07:33)

 

Yeah, I think one of the pros of exclusive pumping for me was I was able to know how much they're having and I was able to kind of create a little bit of a schedule because I know when you're nursing, you really do a bit more of on demand. Of course, you can create a schedule, but with exclusive pumping, I was like, writing it down, how many ml. I like that structure that exclusive pumping was giving me. And keeping track of both. So then when I'd go to the doctor, it was very clear and easy for me, and especially because they were born premature.

 

One of the biggest cons for me was the amount of stuff that you needed, Compared to nursing, nursing is just like you have a shawl, you're good to go. And I remember when I went home and I suddenly had to pump and I could feel like my chest, my breasts were getting very hard. And I was crying and I was calling my husband's cousin, like, what do I do?

 

Like because there's so many parts to the breast pump and I was like, I don't know what to do, how to do this. And I didn't sterilize anything yet because it was an emergency C -section. So, and I was in pain. So for me, that was one of the cons.

 

Rinie (08:42)

 

You know that stuff like it's not cheap like I feel the amount of money that we spend on I bought two breast pumps like I had one of those like big breast pumps or hospital grade kind I had a wearable breast pump you have to buy all the bottles then you have to replace the valves the tubing you might need to get separate flanges like there is a fair bit of money that goes into this not to mention the breast milk storage bags because they're like one -time use bags and you have to like kind of stock up on those. So I think definitely like it wasn't cheap and they're my god and if you remember the washing there was so much washing that needed to be done.

 

Sanchita  (09:20)

Yeah, the sterilizing. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Rinie (09:25)

I needed like a double the size of a sterilizer because there was like the bottles plus the pump parts everything was going in but you know like something that I figured out much later on which I wish I had figured out early is that you actually don't need to sterilize after every cycle I know like we are a bit paranoid

 

And we feel we need to sterilize after every cycle but you don't actually need to and that is something like a lactation consultant shared with me just like last year when I was talking to one of them and I said are you kidding me? Like I spend so much time sterilizing and another hack that I got to know to kind of reduce the washing was that you actually don't even need to wash the pump parts after every pump and again I wish I had known this when I was exclusively pumping is that let's say it's middle of the night right like you've woken up at 3 a to pump the last thing you want to do after pumping is to like go into the kitchen and start washing and sterilizing what you can do is literally put the pump parts in a ziplock bag and put it in the fridge and done and really

 

Sanchita  (10:22)

Yeah, that's what I did. Exactly. That's what I did. Yeah. yeah, I had the bottle and it was connected to the part and then the flange and then basically I'd pump and then I put that whole thing in the Ziploc I would empty the milk, you know, into a container and then close it back and keep that whole setup. Just put it in the fridge and then use it because even if there's milk left over in there, it's still safe and okay to use for a while, right?

 

Rinie (10:50)

I think that would have definitely saved me a lot of washing, is I think was one of the bigger cons of exclusively pumping. But you know, what you mentioned about the predictability, like knowing exactly how much a baby is drinking. The other kind of predictability I also enjoy was knowing when I have to pump.

 

I had a full on like pumping routine and I had communicated to my husband and to my nanny and I was like listen this is the time that I need to be pumping so the rest of you like you kind of need to carve out this like half an hour I remember it used to be six in the morning, then nine, then 12, then three, then six again. And then I would pump again at like 10 PM, three AM, and then six in the morning again. Like that was kind of my pumping schedule. And I kept to the schedule for a good three months. And that kind of really helped me not only get a great milk supply, but also make it very predictable for me. I like the fact that, you know, when it's like six, AM, I know it's my time to sit down, watch an episode of Friends and just relax.

 

Sanchita (11:52)

Yeah, that's exactly what I did. I remember I would just lock myself in the room and I'm like, see you guys in 20 minutes, because that's how long it would take me to pump. And then I would just sit, watch 20 minutes of Friends, and then I'd be good to go. I had enough milk, but I didn't have that much extra because I was doing for two.

 

I'd always have like a few feeds extra. So I just planned it in that way. So even just being a few feeds ahead helped me in case they suddenly needed an extra feed or so.

 

Rinie (12:21)

Yeah, yeah, absolutely and I'll tell you a very underrated advantage of exclusively pumping and having that schedule is that occasionally I could enjoy a glass of wine because you know, they say that after you have a drink like if it's like one drink you need to wait for two hours before you can feed. The thing is because I was pumping what I used to do was like you know I had that 6 p pump right so I would just do my pumping at 6 and then I would sit down with a glass of wine at 6 30 with my husband even if it was just for like 10 15 minutes it was just that peaceful time I would be like you know what my next pump is at 9 o 'clock this will be out of my system by then I was very assured like I checked with my pediatrician I checked with the lactation consultant at that point they said it's okay like I wouldn't say every day but like you know on a Friday night when you're just chilling and you want to have a drink with your husband or with your friends like that was a great way for me to manage that

 

Sanchita  (12:51)

 

Exactly, yeah. No, I would do the same. And even when you're talking about how it gave us time, like I remember even at night, there were people who were able to help me and just bottle feed, you know, so that it wasn't like I was pumping and then like, you know, trying to feed because it is a lot at the nights can get a bit tricky, right?

 

Rinie (13:30)

 

I actually kind of liked the fact that I could share the load of the night time. at least partially where somebody could take over with a bottle. I think that felt really good. Which pump did you use?

 

Sanchita  (13:33)

 

Yeah. So I use the Medela Symphony. So it's a hospital -grade pump because I remember in the beginning I had the regular Medela portable one and you know I felt it was taking forever like 45 minutes and I didn't feel I was getting enough milk so and then you know like my breasts were getting very sore very quickly. So then my friend was like, just get this hospital grade. It's life changing. So like I went there and then they help you figure out the parts and you know, it was like a machine next to my bed and that noise still haunts me sometimes, you know, because it has that very strong noise. But it was, my God, it was like the best thing ever. Like it was so quick. And within 20 minutes I was done. So I used that and you can rent it.

 

And which one did you use? You said you had a few, right?

 

Rinie (14:30)

I had two pumps. the one I used like it's supposed to be it's called an hospital -grade pump but I don't think it's as powerful as a Medela symphony But the one I had at home was a spectra S2

 

 Like I think with the spectra you just literally have to just sit there. You can't walk around too much. You can't be in the kitchen. You can't go for a walk or something. So then I invested in a wearable pump. So it's the kind that literally just inserts right into your bra. It looks weird. It looks like you've got coconuts on your chest. it's doing its job while you could be playing with the baby. You could be cooking. You know, you can go for a walk literally if you don't mind

 

I think the one, the wearable pump that I got, it was a Chinese brand called YouHa I read pretty like good reviews about it. It was very easily available in Singapore. I think the top most like wearable brand, pump brand worldwide is Elvie, but that costs like $700.

Yeah, I think for like a pump that I'm trying to use only twice a day I do not want to spend so much money on a wearable pump So then that's the combination of pumps that I used I went through a pretty extensive like research process for finding the pump as well and I tell you like the main things that I saw it should be a close system pump In my spectra like between the flange and the tube there was this like you know there's this like barrier in the middle

 

The back flow protector prevents the milk from going back into the tube because those tubes are really hard to clean. So that is one thing that you have to look out for. The other one is that it should have a bunch of suction settings because you will need different ones and you will need to be able to customize it to yourself. And the third thing is try to find something that is battery operated. Don't get a plug in the wall kind of pump because then you're literally stuck to a place where there has to be a power outlet.

 

As much as possible get something that is battery operated whether it's big or small you can decide but getting a battery operated one with a good decent battery backup is important

 

Sanchita (16:34)

 

one thing from my experience I would tell parents is that get everything and just before you deliver just kind of understand how it works because as I told you I was freaking out that night because I didn't understand this is a flange, is a valve, this is a wire,

 

So I wish I had just kind of known the basics. So it's always good to familiarize yourself with it beforehand. It really helps.

 

So Rinie when it came to the pumping experience, did you have any pain or what was your experience with it?

 

Rinie (17:05)

 

I think the first time I started pumping, at least the first week, the word to describe it was weird. Like, the sensation of your breast being pulled into this flange while you're pumping and there's milk shooting out of it and you look at it and you feel it you're just like, this feels really weird. Like, I didn't even know that my body was capable of it. It was actually the time that I discovered that milk doesn't come from one hole. my God, that was like, did you know this?

 

The nipple it's kind of like a shower head like there are multiple holes that the milk is coming out of and I was like what my body my body can do this so I think it wasn't I wouldn't say it was painful but it was just a very weird sensation sensation over time when I kind of got acclimatized to the suction setting that I wanted for the massage mode as well as for the suction mode where I kind of realized like this is what I'm comfortable with then it started getting quite easy like it became BAU like I didn't even realize half the time when I was pumping I was like quite busy doing other things and stuff and it just kind of went on in the background. How was it? What did you find it painful?

 

Sanchita (18:11)

So I think because in the beginning I was trying to figure out the settings. So as you mentioned, you know, there's different settings in terms of the speed, And obviously as a first time mom, you don't really know what's happening. So I think because of that, I did get a bit of mastitis. That's what it's called, right? So I have to call a lactation consultant to come and see me. And I remember it was the most painful thing. It was more painful than even giving birth because then you take an epidural at that point because literally she's like massaging your breasts and trying to like, you know, get all those blocked milk sections out. And it was so painful. I remember I screaming at the top of my lungs. I had to call her twice because she was like, you know what, your flange is not correct. The speed you're doing it at is not correct.

 

So I actually kind of wish I knew how to figure that out before. So I didn't have to deal with those two moments of that. But I think a lot of moms go through that, right? Where they get mastitis, where they get the blocked ducts because of exclusive pumps.

 

Rinie (19:11)

Yes, Sanchita you're right. Like getting mastitis and blocked ducts is absolutely possible even if you're exclusively pumping. Imagine like if you're nursing and your baby has a poor latch and is not able to transfer milk properly, then that's what can give you a blocked duct right? The same thing that can happen for pumping if your flange doesn't fit you properly. So if you're a mom who's listening to this episode, we don't want you to face the same issues we did. So listen up. So when it comes to the flange, it comes in different sizes. could be it's usually it's 18 mm, 20 mm, 22 mm, 24 mm, 26

 

These are the standard mm sizes available and what that flange basically measures in mm is the size of your nipple, not the areola, just the nipple and you literally need to take a ruler and measure it. Now the funny thing is that most pumps come with a standard 24 mm flange and what I was reading about is that 24 mm flange is typically too big for most women. So most of the time, like if you're buying a pump, you must measure it and get the flange in your size that is compatible with your pump in advance because if you use the wrong flange size then the same thing like if you're using something that's too big too much of your nipple will be pulled in and then that's going to cause like pain and if you're using something that is too small then again it's just the nipple that gets pulled in not the areola and again that's going to cause pain and not enough output of the milk that leads to all these issues so please get the flange size evaluated

 

There could be other issues with your pump settings, whether or not you're the massage mode correctly or the suction mode correctly, the duration of your pumps. So these are things that you could figure out with a bit of trial and error. I think that's what I did. I did a bit of trial and error for you. You had a lactation consultant come in and help you. I think just choose the right path, but make sure that you're getting the information that you need to make sure that you don't have like a uncomfortable experience. It shouldn't be painful. It could feel weird, but it shouldn't feel painful.

 

Sanchita (21:11)

Yeah. And remember that also for me, I don't know if this happened to you, but like I started with one size and then like your breast size kind of changes also. So I remember I had to switch to another flange. So just keep an eye out if at certain points you feel like you're not getting the right amount of milk or so. Just reassess the sizing because I did switch it like once or twice between sizes as well during the process.

 

Rinie (21:38)

I mean I'm sure that can happen your breast change like the physiology changes during the course of breastfeeding so why can't it happen while pumping as well.

 

Sanchita (21:47)

so Rinie I wanted to ask you because you were mentioning about how you had oversupply because for me I had like an extra supply for maybe a day or two. So I just kind of keep it in the fridge and you know go ahead with that. Now Rini since you had an oversupply how did you manage storing the breast milk?

 

Rinie (22:04)

 

Okay, so I think firstly, like because of my regular pumping schedule, I worked myself into an oversupply because I was pumping seven to eight times a day, 30 minutes at a time. It was also because of the fact that my baby actually didn't eat that much. Like she was definitely on the lower end of how much babies tend to eat. She still is, like she doesn't eat like a lot. So I think that's where I was like, my God, I have so much milk. Like there was this one time in which the entire like half of the top shelf of my fridge was lined with breast milk bottles

 

I'm like, okay, I need to figure out a way to kind of do this better. So then I started reading about the fact, can the left and right breast be mixed? The answer is yes. Can you mix milk from different pumping sessions? The answer is yes. Can you mix the milk from day and night and there's some new research that shows that the night milk has more melatonin and the day milk has more cortisol but while it may be true the amount of melatonin and cortisol in that milk doesn't make that much of a difference so yes you can mix your day and night milk as well right if you want to be really strict about it sure keep night milk and feed it at night and day milk and keep it in the day but I just stopped caring about all of that and then eventually

 

I switched to a pitcher method, where literally I had a pitcher, like a glass pitcher and I just started pooling all the milk together and then we started preparing bottles with that for the day and then whatever extra milk I had we used to put it in these freezer bags and I clearly remember I started with the freezer bags from Pigeon

 

they were leaking. So then I switched to the freezer bags from Lansinoh and those turned out to be much better and then we used to, I used to freeze four ounces at a time because that's how little milk my baby used to eat per feed.

 

So actually it is better to kind of freeze four ounce at a time because then when you defrost it, you can't keep it for that long. And you don't want to waste the breast milk. So that's what we did. Like the day to day feeds, the milk went into the pitcher and then the excess breast milk at the end of the day or the end of two days, depending on when I was free to do the freezing, I used to label the bags, put four ounce at a time, put them flat in

 

freezer like on top of the ice cube box put it flat let it freeze and then I started adding it to like this basket I had created in the freezer but I think for a mom who may not know like how long can you keep the milk for because that is something that moms are normally concerned about right like how long can I keep this milk for that I have just pumped so there are some guidelines from the CDC that I

 

love to share with anybody who's listening to this episode. The first one is if you have just pumped the breast milk please know that it has antimicrobial properties in it so you actually can keep it at the counter top like basically outside for up to four hours but just a word of caution this four hour room temperature guideline applies if your room is 25 degrees if it's winter

 

sure you can keep it for four or five hours on the counter nothing will happen to the milk but if it's hot then just put in the fridge so that's with fresh breast milk now in the fridge it can stay up to four days so you can actually store breast milk in a pitcher in a bottle in a bag in a cup however ever you want to store it keep a sterilized like bottle or a cup

 

store breast milk in that up to four days at the back of the refrigerator like not in the door. I used to store it in the door until I read that the temperature change at the door is just too much every time you open and close the fridge so you want to store it all the way to the back of the fridge and then when it comes to the freezer then you can store breast milk up to six months in the freezer

 

and up to 12 months if you have a deep freezer. I don't know how cold a deep freezer is, probably less than minus 4 degrees because our freezers are usually at minus 4, like 0 to minus 4 degrees. So that is the guideline that I followed. But Sanch I'll tell you there was a catch in this. Because at one point, I had a good 4 to 5 liters of breast milk in the freezer.

 

Sanchita (25:47)

 

Okay.

 

Rinie (26:11)

top shelf my freezer was just taken up with breast milk bags and that was the time I sort of decided that I think I'm gonna start dropping pumping sessions because I didn't need that much milk anymore I already had a bit of a stash created so then I started dropping it from seven sessions to six, six to five to four when I came down to four sessions I finally started using like one bag a day which is just one feed a day from my freezer stash and that's when I got a reality check. Did you

 

that breast milk can change taste if it's frozen.

 

Sanchita (26:45)

So did you notice, you felt she noticed that?

 

Rinie (26:48)

my baby actually had a tough time drinking my freezer stash which I had worked so hard to build. I read about this much later is that there is this enzyme called lipase so a lipase is basically an enzyme that breaks down fat.

 

Some mothers, the milk they produce has a very high lipase activity. That enzyme is a little too active. And the way it breaks down the fat, it actually gives the milk a bit of a metallic soapy taste. And I did taste it and I was like, my God, the breast milk used to taste so sweet when it was fresh and now it tastes a bit soapy.

 

and my baby was sensitive to it. In the end we still gave her the frozen breast milk by mixing it with fresh so we kind of used to prepare like a feed of a bit of fresh a bit of frozen and we used that frozen breast milk but then later on I discovered that there is a way of reducing that so again this is to mums who are watching this episode. Firstly you want to test out freezing one bag of your breast milk and then defrosting it and then checking what is it like does the taste change or does it stay the same or similar?

 

If it stays the same, you're good to go. If the breast milk taste changes for you, that means you have a very high lipase activity, you need to what is called scalding your breast milk. I wish again I had known this, then I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble of trying to use the freezer stash. So how the scalding of the breast milk works is literally you have to take a clean pan, preferably like stainless steel.

 

Sanchita  (27:53)

 

Yeah.

 

Rinie (28:15)

heat it up like a fairly like medium heat kind of a thing. Put your breast milk in it as long as it's still and has like a slight boil to it so it's switched off.

 

You don't want to boil the milk, like you don't want to get it to a rolling boil. But what you want to do is you want to heat up the breast milk to a certain level. I can't remember the exact temperature, but I used to measure the temperature later on as well. And then switch it off and let it cool down. And then you refrigerate it. So what that does is that it kills that lipase enzyme in it and kind of lowers the activity so that when you do go ahead and freeze it, it doesn't change the taste.

 

Sanchita (28:51)

so you mean first you don't put it directly in the freezer. You have to keep it in the fridge first or you can also just put it directly in the freezer once this process is done.

 

Rinie (29:02)

Okay, so if you are scalding the breast milk, then it's better to first cool it to room temperature outside, then put it in the fridge, then put it in the freezer. I think when you do this, it kind of like reduces the temperature gradient that the milk has to go through. Actually, anyways, they say that even if you're putting freshly pumped breast milk without scalding, if you're putting it in the freezer, you ideally still should put it in the fridge first.

 

let it come to a fridge temperature which is about 4 degrees and then put it in the freezer instead of putting directly in the freezer. So like these are also things that I learned.

 

Sanchita (29:30)

So tell me.

 

So if for example I have breast milk in the fridge and it's been four days, right? Because you said for four days it can be in the fridge. Now it's been four days but I have that milk. It's okay to transfer that to the freezer then, right? That's what you were saying you were doing as well. Okay, got it.

 

Rinie (29:53)

Yes, you can. Yeah, you can extend the life of that milk for like six months by putting it in the freezer.

 

Sanchita (29:59)

And what if I, yeah, so if I prepare six ounces for a baby, okay? So I took it out of the fridge, I warmed it up, I gave the baby six ounces. Now the baby has left two ounces. Do you have any tips of what moms can do with that? if it's already been in the fridge, is there anything we can do with it? Once you've reheated it.

 

Rinie (30:18)

Okay, so the thing with leftover breast milk is that first of all, any mom who has had leftover breast milk, it stings their heart. They're like, my God, I worked so hard for it. Please drink it. It's liquid gold, literally, right? the CDC guideline over here, it says that if there is an unfinished bottle of breast milk, then you need to re -offer it within two hours.

 

Sanchita (30:27)

Exactly.

 

Rinie (30:43)

you can keep that bottle in the fridge for those two hours but within two hours of starting that feed you need to get them to finish it. If they don't finish it, then discard the milk. The thing with that guideline is that it's a very conservative guideline.

 

Sanchita (30:47)

Yeah.

 

Rinie (30:55)

When we go back and look at the data, there was some data that was also published by Emily Oster, And what she mentioned from the studies is that if you do keep the milk back in the fridge, you can't keep it for a day.

 

But more than two hours is okay. You probably can feed it in the next feeding because let's say the next feeding is probably about three hours away. You can offer that leftover two ounces over there. Let's say it's much more than that but your baby still not accepting that milk. Then what you can do is what you said earlier. You can add it to their bath water. can, yeah, you can add, put it on their hair.

 

Sanchita (31:24)

Yeah

 

Rinie (31:29)

massage it, you can even put it on your own nipples if it's like cracking, bleeding, hurting, right? you can re -offer it as much as possible. If they don't take it, then no choice, use it elsewhere.

 

Sanchita (31:40)

Can I tell you what I've used it for? So I have gotten calls with people who've had fever and they've taken my breast milk and they put it on their like kids and it's happened like two, three people used it and apparently breast milk can bring down someone's fever. So people have used my breast milk to bring down their fever and it actually worked.

 

Rinie (31:42)

Yeah.

 

Sanchita (32:02)

apparently it's a thing. I was like, okay, sure, I have extra.

 

Rinie (32:03)

Wow

 

on the other hand I did come across a news recently where bodybuilders are buying breast milk on the black market it's like instead of drinking a protein shake they're buying breast milk and they're having that after workouts like what

 

Sanchita (32:14)

They're having a...

 

And now they're selling colostrum as powders, like for people, they're saying it's good for your health and stuff, you know, that first milk that comes out. like not from humans, but from animals and stuff.

 

Rinie (32:27)

I don't know how much... It's an animal colostrum. I was like who the hell is donating their human colostrum like like what is where is this coming from? You know but I can ask you mentioned that you had just enough for your babies right was there ever a time that you were kind of getting worried about your supply and did you do anything to kind of improve your supply while pumping?

 

Sanchita (32:32)

Yeah. No way. Yeah.

 

Yeah, so for me, what really helped was a lot of hydration. I had a lot of the Indian spices, which actually I felt really helped. I use something called sattvaraks, which was a powder I'd added in my oats. So I think the main thing really is to just stay hydrated.

 

to eat nutritious meals and then also have that time to rest and like have a good schedule.

 

But I do feel the supplements and the satavariks and all these spices actually helped because it was just helping my body recover. So it was giving me that energy, that hydration to actually produce them.

 

Rinie (33:25)

I took fenugreek supplements for a bit. Honestly, I don't know how much of it helped but there was this time where I felt like my supply was like dwindling because like the amount of milk I was getting per feed wasn't the same Then again, I came across as something called power pumping

 

Sanchita (33:39)

What's that?

 

Rinie (33:40)

Okay, so power pumping is really interesting and it's a fantastic way of improving your milk supply whether you're exclusively pumping or nursing or you know, whatever it is the combination that you're doing. So what power pumping does is that it kind of mimics, how your baby feeds during the growth spurt or during a cluster feeding session where they feed a bit, rest a bit, feed a bit, rest a bit, feed a bit, rest a bit. So that is what power pumping kind of mimics. So how it works is you sit down to pump and you carve out one hour for

 

Sanchita (33:57)

Yeah, 

 

Rinie (34:09)

this process instead of the typical 20 -30 minutes and what you do is you sit down, you pump for 20 minutes and then you rest for 10 minutes and then you pump for 10 minutes and then you rest for 10 minutes and then you pump for 10 minutes again and that kind of concludes this whole one hour long session. I did this for about a week every day like in my evening pump like that 9 p pump once my kid had gone to sleep already I had about an hour from between 9 and 10 o 'clock I used to do power pumping for about a week and my

 

bought it made the world of a difference to my milk supply because the very next day I could start seeing that like okay yes like the output was back to where it used to be so something anybody can try doesn't matter whether you're exclusively pumping or only partially pumping

 

I hope everybody who is listening today and watching us, I hope you were able to get a good idea of what exclusive pumping is all about the benefits that it can offer you. And if you have any questions, just drop them in the comments below and we'll help you out as two moms who have been through this journey ourselves. So thank you so much for joining in and we'll see you for the next episode.