that liquid gold:info on pumping, storage and indulging in a few cocktails

When you get home from the hospital and have decided to give breast feeding a try, all you can really wrap your head around is getting the hang of feeding your kid. A few weeks or months pass and then other questions arise, like how to pump, how to store, and most importantly can I have a cocktail? Hopefully this answers all your questions!

**there is little research being done regarding breast milk so many of the resources out there are on the conservative side with a lot of guess work, hopefully soon we will have a better understanding of breast milk, it's properties and benefits**

1. Pumping: Unless you are exclusively pumping (props to those mamas),  you don't need to bust out your pump right away, unless you want to stimulate some milk production or are working with a LC to make sure in the future you know how to use it. In the beginning focus on nursing your babe on demand, they are more efficient in milk production than your pump! Once you have gotten the hang of nursing, you can try out the pump.All pumps are different, so make sure you read the manual of your specific model. Bottles and pump parts need to be sterilized the first time, this can be done with boiling water or in the dishwasher, after that only soap and warm water needed.

• If you're pumping multiple sessions in a day, you don't need to wash your parts in between, just put pump parts in the refrigerator(you can put parts in a plastic baggie in the fridge if that's easier). 
• At the end of the day wash the parts with soapy water
• Pumping into bottles or bags? It's a personal preference really, and depends on what you're doing with the milk. If you're freezing, you could pump right into a bag (not all pump models have the attachment). I personally pump into the Medela bottles for more accurate ounce measurement then pour into bags and write the # of ounces on the bags with date.
• If you have a sudden decrease in output when pumping, try and change some of the pump parts. Remember your output when pumping does not correlate to how much milk you're producing. Again, your baby is much more efficient "pump".
• When pumping, the best thing to do is relax and not watch the bottle, it will stop a letdown quickly. Instead do mindless activities or look at pictures of your babe. (I always feel a little creepy pumping and fawning over my baby, but it works :)
• Another technique is manual expression, it takes time and patience but can give you more output http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/HandExpression.html (video does contain breasts and pumping mamas!)

2. Storage of milk:

• Freshly pumped milk can be left out at room temperature for up to 8 hours
• If your babe drinks from the bottle but doesn't finish it, there is not a lot of evidence on the number of hours you can save the milk, anywhere from 1-48+ hours, so obviously there's little research or knowledge. I have put the half used bottle back in the fridge and used 2 days later without issues. The thing is, your milk will smell SOUR if it's bad, and your babe won't drink it. Refrigeration also decreases the bacteria growth in the milk from the babies mouth.
• Milk can be in the refrigerated up to 8 days
• Milk can be in the freezer for up to 12 months, so be sure to put exact date on the bags! (I made this mistake the first month of making a freezer stash). The freezer does not have to be a deep freezer, contradictory to some early articles.
• If you take a frozen bag and thaw, use within 24-48 hours, but again, there's not a lot of research on this. To thaw a bag, you can put in the refrigerator or run bag under hot water (I use hot water, it thaws very quickly), never microwave breast milk.

3. Alcohol and a breast feeding mama: I wish I could give you hard evidence for this, but again, this is understudied and not very know with a lot of mixed sources.

•  Many sources will state drinking alcohol in moderation is fine for a breast feeding mama, and I agree. Abstaining from alcohol for the duration of breast feeding just isn't expected and here's a little of why:
• by the time your body metabolizes alcohol, there's a small amount that can pass through the breast milk, and again, we aren't sure exactly how much or how soon after alcohol is consumed, but it is a fraction of your blood alcohol volume and also dependent on your alcohol consumption.
• Lactation consultants and pediatricians agree that drinking alcohol during breastfeeding can be done if done in moderation
• The current rule of thumb is, if you can drive a car, then you're fine to nurse baby
• If you're such a rockstar mama that you have a little one and are able to get sloshed (I'm jealous), then you can do a few things: you can pump and split the milk to mix later with "non-alcohol" milk, you can use the milk for something other than bottle feeding, or you can wait and sober up and nurse... whatever you do NEVER DUMP YOUR MILK!
• If you're not comfortable with that, here are some non-food uses for breast milk http://parentingpatch.com/healing-uses-of-breast-milk/
• If you're still paranoid at first then have a drink while you nurse... breast milk is magic, but it's not THAT magical to pass through your body that quickly.
• Some people say that alcohol can increase milk output or at least help with let down. Many people say the yeast in beer is best. I personally find that rum, for whatever reason makes me leak and produce more, no idea why, just have found that correlation.
• In the end you just have to figure out what you're comfortable with
  

4. Bottle feeding a breast fed baby: I find this really important and often not well known. When you breast feed your baby, it's work for that baby to suck milk from your nipple. When you introduce a bottle you want to make sure that the nipple and the way you feed the baby closely mimics breast feeding so that first, your baby won't get used to a faster flow and become discouraged at the breast and second, your babe isn't getting overfed at the bottle.

• Breastfed babies should always drink from a bottle  using a slow flow (level 1) nipple. The nipple levels correlate with age, however if you're still breast feeding, you'll want to stay at a level 1. Again, this will mimic the flow of your breast.
• You or your caregivers should do paced bottle feeding, again this will mimic feeding from the breast and not allow for your baby to get used to a quick meal. This technique also helps caregivers avoid over feeding and blowing through your frozen stash of precious gold.  Here's a great video that explains paced bottle feeding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH4T70OSzGs

A few extras:

• You will meet people who will know someone who knew someone that had their milk dry up because of this or that. In most cases, your milk will change as your baby grows, and you may go through times of over supply or times of low supply, but unless you stop feeding or pumping frequently enough, your supply should not dry up.
• There's never any reason to give your exclusively breast fed infant (less than 6 mo) water. Breast milk is about 88% water and even in hot weather, you do not need to offer a baby water, just nurse more in hot weather..
• There are medications that are safe with breast feeding. The most knowledgeable people are infant risk, they have a hotline where you can call and ask about certain medications and the safety with breast feeding: (p) 806-352-2519
• If your babe doesn't seem to take a bottle of thawed milk, try scalding the milk right after pumping and then freeze it. You can also try mixing part frozen and part fresh.
• People will talk about hind milk and fore milk. This has turned out to be a myth. Your body will adjust how much fat is needed. You will see sometimes you have more fat in your milk and sometimes it will be watery. Either is fine and great for baby, trust your body! Also, breast milk can vary in color. Times it will be white, yellow, grey or blue. If it's pink, most likely you have a cracked nipple, still fine to feed baby.
• If you have a great freezer stash without a need for it, look into donation. Again, never throw out that milk! (unless it's obviously sour)
• I always recommend seeing a lactation consultant in hospital and about a week after you leave the hospital. I recommend this no matter if you think you have no issues with latch, ect, they are very helpful with offering advice, showing you new techniques or more efficient ways to do things.  
• Make sure your pediatrician and any other providers you or baby see are supportive of breast feeding and do not push you to stop or add anything into the bottle (NICU babies and failure to thrive babies can be the exception)
• Lastly, find local groups that encourage breast feeding and offer advice, wisdom and support. This is a learned activity and you don't have to do it alone!

mama's do it all for these fat rolls

Websites with helpful information:
Kellymom: a very informational website, but there are some areas that are yet to be updated
La Leche League
Infant Risk

nurse on mamas. nurse on.