Breastpumping Tips & Routine

For anyone about to embark on pumping, here are my biggest tips:

1. Get a hands-free bra. 
It's the only way to go. It looks ridiculous, but pumping is ridiculous. Without it, it's hard to even hold the cups in place and turn the machine on at the same time. Worth every single penny.

2. Buy two sets of parts
If you are going to pump multiple times a day, it will be immensely helpful to have an extra set of parts to swap in when one set is dirty. Part-washing is one of the biggest time-sucks of the process. Which brings me to...

3. Minimize pump part washing with refrigeration or steam bags
The reason you need to wash your parts after every use is to avoid bacteria growth. You know what stops bacteria from growing? Cold. So after one use, put your parts in a gallon ziplock back and stick 'em in the fridge. Use them the next time.
What else kills bacteria? Heat. Use steam bags to wash and sterilize. They're fast (3 minutes in the microwave) and make everything hot and clean.

4. Olive Oil
If you have to pump multiple times a day, use a drop of olive oil to lubricate the shields. I keep a tiny tupperware with 1/2" of OO in a small ziplock in my pump bag. Before each pump, I just dip a clean finger in there and smear it around in the neck of each shield. It's a lifesaver. Once I tried it, I could never go back.

5. Napkins
Fold up a wad of napkins to keep in the pump bag. They're great for wiping up afterward, or for the occasional spill or drip. Replenish as needed.

6. Tiny changes save big time in the long run
To try to motivate myself at the beginning, I would use the stopwatch on my phone to time myself setting up to pump, and packing up afterward. It was a little race against myself. At first, it would take me more than 5 minutes to get everything assembled, plugged in, connected, and ready to go. By now, I'm down to less than 2 minutes. That's 3 minutes per session, over 500 sessions - 25 HOURS of time saved. Little things that help:

• Keep the tubes and power cord plugged in if you can. (The Medela Pump-in-Style bag I use let me gently coil the tubes and tuck them in the little mesh pouch next to the pump connections, and the power brick could tuck into the bag without detaching.
• Don't haul the pump around if you can leave it in one place. I left mine in the nursing room at work - dropped it off in the morning, picked it up at night.
• Using tip #3 above, be smart about part storage and avoid washing after every use
• When taking the pump out of the house, pre-assemble the parts you will need. That way you will be sure you're not forgetting any pieces!

So putting it all together, here's my pumping routine. I pump 4 times a day, once when I wake up, twice at work, and once just before bed. (Approximately 7am, 12:30pm, 5:00pm, and 9:30pm)
Session 1 - 7am
Pull the parts out of the dishwasher. Assemble both sets, swipe 'em with olive oil. Bag one set in a gallon ziplock for work. Bring another gallon ziplock with me, along with two extra empty bottles. The pump is still set up next to the couch in the same place it was from last night. Sit down, and pump. When finished, screw the parts onto empty bottles and stash the parts + bottles in the clean ziplock. Place in fridge, ready to go for after work. Cap the full bottles and put in fridge. Unplug the pump and pack up the clean bagged parts to take to work.
Session 2 - 12:30pm
I had already dropped the pump off in the nursing room when I arrived at working in the morning, so all I have to do is go there. Unzip, plug into the wall, pull out pre-lubricated parts, hook up, and go. Whip out the cell phone for an episode of something good on Netflix :)  Afterward, I would wipe down the parts with a clean napkin and olive oil them and screw them on to clean bottles for the afternoon session. I don't know that doing this at this point in my day really saved that much time, but it was nice to come down to the nursing room in the afternoon and do less setup work. Stash full bottles in the fridge. Back to work.
Session 3 - 5:00pm
I hated pumping at the end of the day when I would have much rather been finishing up work or going home to my boy. But the practicality of the situation won out - if I went home, I would still have to pump, so I couldn't hang out with the baby. And since the pump was already packed and ready to go at work, I was actually faster to do it there with no distractions. So, a repeat of what happened in session 2.
Session 4 - As late as possible (usually around 9:30pm)
One last pump to empty before bed. Use the parts that were in the fridge from Session 1. Put all the parts in the dishwasher to run overnight.