Breastfeeding Tips & Breast Pump Guide | Lactation Connection

     Many moms are automatically freezing their breast milk each time they pump and retrieving frozen milk from their stockpile to feed the baby.  While this is ok for the mom who gives an occasional bottle, working moms should be giving freshly expressed milk whenever possible.       Before we list these factors, let us be clear than breast milk, fresh or frozen is immeasurably better for your infant nutritionally than formula; but to use the best at it's very best, we are explaining the changes that happen to frozen breast milk.       1.  Levels of pH are effected by freezing which in turn effects lipase which aids in digestion.  Lipase levels vary from woman to woman, so if you notice a soapy smell or metallic taste to your frozen breast milk, it may be especially relevant to you to give freshly expressed breast milk.      2.  Bactericidal capacity of stored refrigerate...

It is always a good idea to have a stockpile of breastmilk in the freezer.  You never know when you might have a medical procedure come up or your hubby may want to wisk you away for a romantic weekend.  Sometimes it is a daunting task to get a significant amount of breastmilk stored, so here are some tips: 1.  Pump Efficiently:  Purchase an effective breast pump.  Pumping with a bad breast pump will make any mom want to throw in the towel.  You don't have to spend $300 on a pump, but budgeting a months worth of what you would have spent on formula and getting the basic model of the Ameda Purely Yours is just the ticket at less than $150 or the Spectra S2 Breast Pump for under $200. 2.  Start Early:  Don't confuse the advice that says that you should not give your baby a bottle for 6 weeks to mean don't pump for the first six weeks.  The former is to avoid nipple confusion.  If you begin pumping in the early weeks, you will have more ...