The Problem Isn’t the Pump, It’s You.
The title is not harsh, it’s the truth. Pumps usually do what they say they will do. If they say it is portable, it’s portable. If they say it has app controls, it has app controls. “But why then, Jessica, are you blaming the user and not the pump as the title suggests?” Because that’s where most people’s pump research seems to stop - the features that are big and bold and used in the social media marketing campaign. Opening up your new and shiny pump is like Christmas Day…rip open all of the packaging and immediately turn it on and use it. But time and time again, proper pump education and research was thrown out the window, and the preparation and due diligence you should have done for a product that is literally primarily or partially responsible for feeding for your baby is ignored.
A mere decade ago, you had one option for planning to breastfeed your baby - a 45 minute hospital lactation class with demo dolls and a really kind lady who meant well. If you were lucky, maybe she showed you an industrial pump or hand pump, but the details that were vital to your future success weren’t available because they weren’t known yet. Now we know. Now we do better. Now you do better.
The 5 Things You Should Have Done Before You Bought Your Pump, Turned it On, or Used It:
Determine your Breastfeeding Goals and Needs
Just like those obnoxious levels smoking and drinking questions on health intake forms - do you dabble in pumping or are you a hard core pumping war machine? Are you going to be at work pumping or chasing 3 under 3 at home?
Research
True and legitimate research. Don’t just Google the “good reviews” for a product. Google the bad ones. Find the 3 star reviews to see why someone as only averagely satisfied with their pump. Was it the pump that was bad? Or their expectations? Our blog series has fair reviews for many pumps, and we even run a pumping support and education Facebook group.
Social Media - and I don’t mean influencers who are paid to rave about a pump - find actual lactation consultants who specialize in pumping who do in-depth research and work with pumping parents on a regular basis.
Take a Pumping Class - Flange Sizing Basics is our FREE introductory On-Demand™ video course, followed by Intro to Breastfeeding and Crash Course in Pumping for a very small fee. These are available 24/7 and allow you to learn from the comfort of wherever, and also help you to start formulating questions and concerns you might wish to talk to your lactation consultant about when you meet.
Measure Your Nipples
We cannot stress this enough. Most of the clients that I see are coming to me to fix their nipple damage which could have been prevented had they been properly measured and sized. With the onslaught of free and downloadable nipple rulers, if you are one of the 60% who manage to measure correctly, great! But, what does a measurement translate to when deciding what flange size and inserts you might need when some pumps use exact sizing and some use standard sizing? It also means 40% of parents aren’t measuring correctly. Visit my research page on flange sizing here to see the data.
Budget
Good pumps come at all price points - just because a pump is $100 does not mean it is a bad pump because it is cheaper than the $499 pump. There’s a current trend among new parents where they buy a lot of pumps - and I mean a lot. Most clients I see often own 3+ pumps. That is their personal choice, but pumps aren’t a one-time purchase. They have on-going maintenance and replacement part costs (which we have calculators for). Bags can be expensive and hard to find at times in the supply chain.
The impact owning multiple pumps means that the parent who purchased them needed to do all of the research and measurements for each and every one - but that is time consuming and doesn’t often happen. So it may not be that their pump was bad, but the fact that they have so many pumps and didn’t devote the time and energy to learning the pump and adjusting to it left them bored or frustrated - it’s the effect instant and fast information flow.
Professional Lactation Consultation
Prenatal lactation consultations exist for a reason. There is so much you can learn before your baby comes that will infinitely make your life easier when they do. The “wait and see method” of lactation preparation is where despair and frustration gather on Friday nights. Not only can you be sized before baby is born, but you can also discuss pumps, goals, expectations, concerns, health conditions that can impact breastfeeding, and more. Oh, and we also support and help formula feeding parents, too!
A breastfed baby eats 10-12 times a day for their first few weeks - that means whether directly nursing or pumping, baby or pump needs to be a your breast 10-12 times a day to establish a milk supply.
Failure to prepare and plan is the not the pump’s fault, it’s yours. Dig deeper than the glittery ads and enticing coupon codes, and try to find the pump that will meet your needs, that will be easy for you to learn and understand, and that is affordable for your family.
