Hi, I'm Jackie Gibon. I still struggle with acne that started in my teen years despite sitting firmly in mid-adulthood. Complicating medical conditions, including polycystic ovarian syndrome, make it difficult to overcome acne outbreaks that occur as hormones flare. Thanks to my strong interest in skincare routines, I have gleaned information that helps keep my skin in good shape otherwise. I just need help when my hormone levels run amok. Thankfully, I can rely on my dermatologist to provide adequate acne treatments that bring my skin back into line. I hope to share my experiences with these treatments with you through this site. I will talk about acne treatments, skincare routines and products you can use to control outbreaks. Please feel free to drop by anytime. Thanks for visiting.
New motherhood brings a steep learning curve. You're learning how to care for a newborn, get by on little sleep, recover from delivery, and adapt to your changing body. One of the steepest learning curves is breastfeeding and pumping breastmilk. While pumping breastmilk is not essential for breastfeeding success, it can be very helpful for increasing your supply and getting some milk to set aside for bottle feeding if you need to go back to work or leave your baby with a sitter. Here are some tips and tricks that help you master getting as much milk as possible from a pumping session.
1. Pump while feeding.
When your baby latches, you will feel your milk "let down" in both breasts as a natural response to baby's sucking. Since your baby can only drink from one breast at a time, you can use a hand pump on the other breast while your baby feeds. You will have an easier time extracting milk because your baby has already triggered the flow. This way, you'll be able to collect the milk flowing from the other breast instead of ending up with a soaked shirt or full breast pad.
2. Pump in the morning.
Some women have so much milk when they begin breastfeeding that they can't imagine ever having trouble pumping when they need to. However, while some women will always have excess, usually your supply of milk will even out to be no more or no less than what baby needs, making pumping more challenging. As your supply starts to even out, you'll need to plan pumping around the same time of day to get the most out of it. Usually, since your baby is sleeping more hours at night, you'll wake up feeling engorged and have plenty of milk for both the baby and the pump. Pump first, and then let your baby feed. Babies are more efficient at milk extraction than pumps are, so they'll usually always be able to get something out of the nipple even when the pump seems to have emptied the breast.
3. Give your pump a hand.
Finally, you can let your pump do all the work, but it won't be as quick or as effective. Instead, after latching your pump to the nipple, use you hand to work with the pumping motion to squeeze more milk through the ducts to the pump. This helps you to get more milk more quickly, but it is also healthy for the breast tissue. Massaging your breast as you pump can help prevent painful clogged ducts and mastitis infections.
Share29 June 2016
