Breast pumps

This is not a sponsored post. The below opinions and comparisons are made based on my own experience and it is not related to any advertising campaign and I am absolutely not against any companies/products mentioned below.

There are many types of breast pump of different brands available in the market ranging from below a hundred to few hundred, and I would say it is worth to invest in a good breast pump.

I have used both Avent Isis and Medela Harmony pump before, both are manual pump and both are good. But if you want me to choose one that I prefer more, it’d be the Medela Harmony and here are my reasons:

1)Medela Harmony has let-down mode that simulates baby’s initial rapid suckling to initiate faster milk flow later when we switch to expression mode.
2)It has soft, flexible breast shield that massages the breast & areola. I find that Avent Isis breast shield is not as comfy.
3)Easier assembly and cleaning — fewer parts than other manual pumps including the Avent Isis (I think it has 9 parts)
4)Compatible with most standard baby bottles, so you can attach bottle of any size to collect the milk. Unlike the Avent Isis which we can only attach with the wide neck storage bottle.

No. 4 is essential to me because the Avent Isis comes with a 4oz wide neck storage bottle but I pump 7oz each time, so I have to stop pumping when the bottle is full, pour out the milk to another bottle and continue pumping, it’s really a hassle especially when I pump in the office. I know I can buy a bigger Avent bottle but it is pricey and how many I need to buy right? With Medela Harmony, I just attached any standard bottle (any brand) of 8oz size and I can pump without any “interruption”.

I prefer a manual pump than electric pump, though the electric ones could pump in a shorter time and won’t tired our hands, but I still prefer to do it in manual way, where I get to control the pace myself, I feel more humanly touch. :-)

Milk supply - Part 2

So of you might have heard or tried on this recipe, which is said to be able to boost up our milk supply. Well I've tried it a couple of times and it helps. This soupd is also good to consume during confinement too.

Papaya Soup with Pork Ribs 青木瓜排骨汤

Green Papaya 青木瓜
Pork Ribs* 排骨
Red Dates 红枣
Kei Zi 杞子

Method:
1. Wash the exterior of the green papaya clean, remove seed but leave the skin intact. Cut into pieces.
2. Boil the pork ribs, together with green papaya pieces red dates & kei zi for about 2 hours and it's ready to be served.
3. You may add a little salt to taste if you desired.

Note:
It must be green papaya.
The papaya skin must remain intact for cooking this soup.
* For those who doesn't consume pork, can replace with fish bone or chicken carcass.

Milk supply - Part 1

I've talked to many mums and I realised that one of the major concern for nursing mums would be on milk supply. Some won't have the milk flow during the first few days or week, esp. the first time mum. It's often frustrated and upset when no matter how hard we try to pump, we can only get very little milk, I was in the situation before and hence I do feel the pain.

I'm lucky that my milk flow was established starting the 2nd week and I managed to breastfeed my son for 8 months and now still breastfeeding my daughter who is turning 5 months old next week.

The most important thing to maintain the milk flow is to let baby latch on whenever possible, it helps to stimulate our body to produce more milk. Try to pump on regular basis if can't feed direct, in order to maintain the supply. Apart from that, make sure we drink enough fluid, be it water or soup.

Read here and here for more details on how to increase/maintain milk supply.