1 Is the more suction the better when breastfeeding?
Many people think that the principle of sucking milk with a breast pump is to suck out milk with negative pressure, just like adults drink water with a straw. If you think so, you are very wrong. Breast pump sucking milk is actually a way of simulating breastfeeding, which stimulates the areola to produce milk and then makes a large amount of milk flow out.
Therefore, the negative pressure suction of the breast pump is not as big as possible. Too much negative pressure will make the mother feel uncomfortable, but will affect the production of breast milk. Just find the maximum comfortable negative pressure when pumping.
2 How to find the maximum comfortable negative pressure?
When the mother is breastfeeding, adjust it upwards from the lowest level of pressure, and when it is adjusted to the level where the mother feels uncomfortable, then adjust it down to the maximum comfortable negative pressure.
Generally, the maximum comfortable negative pressure on one breast is almost the same most of the time, so if it is adjusted once, the mother can directly feel it at this pressure level next time, and make fine adjustments if it feels uncomfortable.
3 The longer you pump, the better？
In order to pursue a large amount of milk, many mothers suck for an hour at a time, making their areolas edema and exhausted. Using a breast pump is not as long as possible. If you suck for too long, it is not easy to stimulate milk formation, and it is easy to cause breast damage.
In most cases, do not pump for more than 15-20 minutes on one breast and 15-20 minutes on both breasts.
If you haven't sucked out a drop of milk after sucking for a few minutes, you can stop pumping at this time, use massage, hand milking, etc. to stimulate the milk formation, and then pump again.
4 Clean and disinfect the breast pump every time you use it.
In order to ensure that the breast pump is clean and hygienic, many mothers will clean and disinfect the breast pump every time after breastfeeding. Many mothers pump breast milk many times a day. It would be too troublesome to clean and disinfect every time. Some mothers will have to give up chasing milk because they have no skills at all.
In fact, the breast pump does not have to be cleaned and disinfected every time. The most recommended method: clean after each use and disinfect once a day.
5 Using someone else's second-hand breast pump?
Except for hospital-grade rental breast pumps that can be used by multiple mothers, it is not recommended to use second-hand breast pumps for home use.
