My latest content is up at the Dollywood Insiders blog. See the excerpt below and then head over to read & see the rest!!!
When my little girls were babies, I always worried about outings because of the uncertainty of where I could nurse, change diapers or just escape the noise and stimulation.
There’s no need to worry about that at Dollywood’s Splash Country.
See the rest over at the Dollywood Insiders blog!
Last week there was story floating around social media about Alyssa Milano, who was traveling through Heathrow Airport when their security staff confiscated the breast milk she had pumped and stored to bring home to her baby who wasn’t traveling with her at the time.
The story made its way public when Milano tweeted about it. Curious, I headed to her timeline to see what I could learn. While I was encouraged to see how many mommas could totally relate to how devastating it would be to see all that liquid gold tossed in the trash, I was saddened by quite a few as well.
Sure there were some who had a bit of a point that she could have made sure to know that Heathrow Airport has a policy to not allow breast milk past a certain threshold (the same as any other liquid) to go through security without a child present. This is a rule that I find to be asinine and completely bass ackwards, by the way, and hope this incident may lead to some discussion and revision of said rule.
But the one recurring theme that really touched a nerve were the many that indicated it was “JUST milk” and she could make more so there was really no harm done.
What this says to me is that many in the general public have NO IDEA what it takes to pump breast milk for your babies.
Boobs are not taps that turn on and off. They do not flow freely just because you have a bottle to fill.
With Brooke, I pumped 2-3x/day until her first birthday. At no point was she exclusively breastfed. Even with pumping that often, I couldn’t pump enough to meet her needs every day. We had no issues nursing mornings, nights & weekends but the pump just couldn’t get the same output that direct nursing could. I remember feeling completely defeated by that experience.
With Leah, I was ready. I wasn’t going to fall prey to the same Booby Traps that got me last time. I focused on establishing a good supply before I went to work and built up a pretty decent freezer stash. But still, at around the 6 month mark, I cried as I hooked up the boobs that once had an oversupply to the pump and saw the daily output dwindle more and more. I drank more water, took fenugreek & blessed thistle that upset my stomach and made me vomit, did breast compressions, increased my pumping sessions to 5 times a day. What finally worked was buying domperidone from an internet pharmacy overseas. I’ve worked hard to still be pumping enough to send breast milk to daycare with Leah every day at almost 22 months.
I’m in many mom/child related Facebook groups and one is specifically for “Working Pumping Mommas”. It breaks my heart to read the posts of all the mommas who, like me, see our supply drop because we’re meant to feed babies, not machines and our bodies don’t respond to them like babies. We forego sleep, time with our families, break times and deal with companies & coworkers that don’t support us, caregivers who are either uninformed or uninterested and insist on overfeeding our babies….
So no, you can’t always “just make more”. To suggest that completely disregards the time, effort and sacrifice that so many pumping mammas are willing to invest in order to provide our children with the best we can possibly give them.
Pumping isn’t fun. But if you’re a working mom who wants to feed her baby breast milk, you just gotta suck it up and do it. (Pun intended a little) And if you’re an exclusively pumping mama, let me just say right now that I think you are a ROCK.STAR!!!! That level of commitment amazes me!!
For lots of pumping mamas, Baby’s first birthday is our ultimate goal. At that point, whole milk can enter the picture, solid food provides a lot of the nutritional needs and we still have mornings, nights and weekends to provide breast milk straight from the tap.
A couple days ago, I was chatting with a coworker via IM and she was teasing me because it had taken me awhile to respond to her initial message. I had been in the Mother’s Room pumping and had told her so. Her response was “You’re still doing that?” and it got me to thinking the generally accepted idea that even if you keep nursing past one year, pumping always ends at the first birthday.
With Brooke, who was always fed a mix of formula and breast milk, I opted to stop pumping shortly after her first birthday. I replaced formula with whole milk and the amount of breast milk I was able to offer just didn’t make a big enough dent to be worth it.
However, when Leah turned 1 in June, I didn’t feel a need to stop pumping. And today, at 15 months and counting, I’m still pumping and don’t really have an ending time in mind. Here’s why:
This has always somewhat of a mantra for me when it comes to parenting and approaching milestones. Whether it is breastfeeding, potty training, moving out of rear-facing or harnessed car seats, I don’t feel a need to rush it. What we’ve got going right now is working so I don’t see the benefit of changing things.
I’m sure Keith would love to stop washing bottles at night and it would probably be slightly easier for daycare but other than that, there’s no real hardship associated with continued pumping that prompts me to stop.
If I wasn’t working, I imagine we’d have one or two nursing sessions during the day in addition to the morning and nighttime ones we currently share. My view is that pumping and sending expressed milk to daycare was a substitute for nursing while we were apart during her first year and nothing fundamentally changed about that after her first birthday. Breast milk is still extremely beneficial for toddlers and I am happy to do what I can to get that nutrition to her every day.
I recognize that I’m very blessed to have the pumping situation that I do. My company has designated “Mother’s Rooms” in every location I’ve ever been in. It is equipped with counter, sink, mini-fridge and chair. One of the Houston offices I worked in was super tricked out with a radio, table full of magazines and even a foot warmer/massager. My managers have never batted an eye at my need to be away from my desk to pump.
So that time for me is an opportunity to step away from my computer and enjoy some Mama-Time. I read or watch Hulu on the Kindle, catch up on social media, jot down lists or even just close my eyes and mediate to the lovely hum of the pump.
I worked very hard to get to this point and still be nursing and pumping at 15 months. When my output rapidly decreased at around the 6 or 7 month mark, I tried everything – adding pumping sessions (up to 5x/day), fenugreek, blessed thistle, oatmeal, more water and when none of those worked, I eventually started taking domperidone which helped immensely. In fact, I am still taking the domperidone to maintain the supply I have now.
So I realize that it’s not always easy to “just keep going” and hope that any mamas who have the desire to keep going are able for as long as they wish.
Did you pump breast milk for your child(ren)? When did you stop? What was your experience like?
