This page provides you breast milk pumping tips, summarizes reputable advice from sources like the CDC on how to store and prepare pumped breast milk so your baby and you can enjoy the benefits of breastfeeding even when you’re not directly breastfeeding, and provides you links to the essentials you should have.
Breast milk pumping tips
Reasons for pumping
There are a lot of reasons a mom has to pump breast milk rather than breastfeeding. If a baby doesn’t latch on, some moms start pumping while still at the hospital to build up their supply. Other moms start pumping when they return to work so they can continue to feed baby breastmilk longer.
How can you get a pump
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) mandates insurance companies pay for a breast pump as preventative care, so you can get one without a copay. Ask your insurance which pumps they cover, how to apply for it, and when you can apply to get one.
How often should you pump
You should pump as often as you would breastfeed to ensure your supply is built up / maintained properly. If you’re at work and want to pump, the law actually protects you and ensures you have sufficient breaktime to do so, and a space to pump in private.
Store pumped breast milk
Once you pump breast milk, you can either directly feed it to your baby or store it for later use. If your supply is actually higher than baby’s demand, your supply can create quite a storage of breast milk. It’s best to store breast milk in specially designed breast milk bags – they are safe, easy to store and milk can quickly be warmed up in them. Breast milk is perishable though. Make sure to not feed breast milk that exceeds the recommended storage time based on the temperature you store it at at room temperature, in the fridge, or in the freezer.
The CDC provides this guidance for storing breastmilk depending on the storage temperature:
Storage Location of Breast Milk | Freshly Expressed or Pumped | Thawed, Previously Frozen |
Countertop / Room temperature | Up to 4 Hours | 1–2 Hours |
Refrigerator | Up to 4 Days | Up to 1 Day |
Freezer | Within 6 months is best | NEVER refreeze human milk |
Milk left over from a feeding (i.e. the baby did not finish the bottle) should be used within 2 hours after the baby finished feeding.
Prepare stored breast milk
Once breast milk is stored in the fridge or freezer, it can be heated up to a temperature that makes it suitable for baby’s consumption by swirling the bottle or bag of milk in a bowl of warm water. Make sure you keep the bag or bottle closed while you warm it up to avoid contamination. It is also a good idea to thaw frozen breast milk by transferring it to the refrigerator the night before you plan to use it. After you heat breast milk, sprinkle a few drops on the inside of your wrist to make sure it’s not hotter than body temperature.
NEVER warm up breast milk on a stove top or in the microwave!
NEVER re-freeze breast milk once it has been thawed.
Clean breast pump equipment
All new breast pump parts should be sterilized before you use them. The easiest way to do this is to boil all parts. Check your breast pump manufacturer’s recommendation for boiling guidelines and boiling time required. Daily cleaning of your pump equipment such as flanges, valves, membranes, and bottles, can be done by hand or in the dishwasher. The CDC and FDA provide guidance on how to clean your breast pump kit safely:
- The CDC has this 2-page poster on How to keep your breast pump kit clean
- The FDA also has this quick read on how to Clean a breast pump
Clean infant feeding items
The bottles, nipples, rings and caps you use for feeding your infant need to be cleaned after each feeding so that germs don’t contaminate your baby’s milk. The CDC has a good page with instructions on how to safely clean your feeding items either by hand or with a dishwasher. They also explain how to sanitize in case your dishwasher doesn’t have a sanitize setting.
Breast milk pumping essentials
Breast pump
Apart from hospital-grade electrical pump that hospitals provide to pump right away after giving birth, there are three pump types to consider buying. Before ordering, make sure to check with your insurance which one they cover.
Personal electrical pump
Personal electrical pumps are a smaller version of the hospital-grade pumps with powerful suction to maximize breast milk extraction. They are a bit bulky to carry, but best to get that liquid gold.
Portable electrical pump
Portable electrical pumps are battery-powered so you can use them while on the go. They are are smaller, but usually a bit less powerful to extract breast milk.
Manual hand pump
Manual pumps are tedious to extract breast milk since for each suction you actually have to squeeze your hand. These pumps are best to take off the pressure a bit if you overproduce milk.
Breast milk bags
To store pumped breast milk, you should have these special plastic bags that are reinforced, double-sealed and safe for breastmilk. These ones are freezer-safe and stand up in your fridge or freezer.
Nipple cream
Nipple cream soothes sore nipples and prevents them from cracking open after pumping. This one is organic, lanolin-free, unscented and you don’t have to wash it off before the next pumping session.
Nursing pads
Your breasts will likely leak at some point. Nursing pads help save your clothes and possibly prevent an embarrassing moment in front of colleagues or friends.
Pumping bra
Pumping bras are good to hold the flanges while you pump, so you have your hands free. Many are made with nylon, but this one is 93% cotton so it’s breathable for extra comfort.
Bottles and nipples
We recommend using plastic bottles, so they don’t break when they are dropped. This one a great starting bottle that mimics the shape of a breast nipple due to its wide neck shape. It’s also vented to baby doesn’t ingest air causing stomach aches.
Bottle cleaning brush
A cleaning brush helps clean those tight bottles and nipples. This one has a combination of a sponge and bristle to clean the bottles effectively, and a nipple cleaner to get into the tight spots.
Bottle washing soap
Standard dish washing liquids are usually petroleum-based and can leave a thin film of milk residue. Baby bottle soap is specialized to get rid of that milk left over in the bottle or nipple.
Bottle drying counter rack
To dry bottles and nipples you’ll want to lift them off a flat surface so they dry well. Get a drying rack that is big enough for your parts. It should fit your pumping flanges as well as bottles and nipples.
Bottle warmer (optional)
If you prefer a dedicated bottle warmer instead of using a cup or bowl with warm tap water to warm up stored breast milk from the fridge or freezer, this one is a good choice.
Read next:
Getting started with solid foods
When is your baby ready to start solid foods? What foods do you introduce to baby first? How do you home-prepare solid foods? And what do you need to get started?
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