Kip's Picks: Bottle Feeding/Pumping

Sharing my favorite things related to bottle feeding, pumping, and all the cleaning related to those two activities! As usual, not sponsored or affiliate links. Just things we use and like.

Kip has been bottle-fed since birth. We do nurse as well but that was a journey, read more about that saga here and here and here. But, now that I'm back at work four days a week, Kip gets mainly bottles. We are seven months into the baby feeding duties and we've learned A LOT along the way. Basically, when I look back on the time before Kip was born. We knew nothing. Legit zero. I thought I knew how to feed a baby but I was dead wrong. Truly, it's been the biggest learning curve for me when it came to new motherhood. But now that I'm "experienced" (HA!) here are some things we've found and loved.

The thing about bottle feeding is there is A LOT of clean-up. With exclusive direct nursing there is no clean-up except spit-up. With pumping or formula you have all the bottles and/or all the pump parts. You are supposed to wash everything daily, sanitize often, and air dry. It's a huge production. You can wash things in the dishwasher but I don't really trust our dishwasher and it was out of commission for over a month this fall and then replaced with a less efficient machine. We really only run it once every few days so it's just easier for us to hand wash the bottles. We tackle all of the cleaning with a simple set-up and system:

At home: 

All feeding bottles are prepared the night before. We use the Avent bottles and they are fine. Kip likes them and that's it, nothing special. The bottles are prepared with the fresh milk I have pumped and stored in the fridge. Four, 5-5.5 oz bottles every day.

After a feed the bottle is disassembled and rinsed in HOT water. We have a cheap pink bucket that they gave me at the hospital and that is where all the baby bottle and pump stuff goes to be washed. We keep all that separate from the sink and our regular use dishes. I read a horror story about a baby who got a horrendous infection an died from bacteria found in the family kitchen sink. Therefore, Kip's stuff never sits in the sink. All of it goes in the bottle bucket by the kitchen sink. After a bottle or two (he takes four in a day) Mandy or Dan will wash the bottle and parts in hot water with the Babyganics dish soap. I love all the Babyganics products we've tried and have used this soap from day one. This soap has no fragrance and it suds up really well and leaves no residue. We just got the Munchkin sponge bottle brush a couple of months ago and I love it because it fits perfectly in bottles, works well for scrubbing the sides of the bottle, and the butt end comes out and has a special nipple "brush" that is used to clean the inside of the nipple. After the bottle and parts are washed, they get rinsed in water and sanitized in the Munchkin Latch microwave sanitizing bag (not pictured). It takes 2 oz of water and 3 minutes to sanitize. Everything then gets put on the OXO Tot Bottle Drying Rack and left to dry. After everything dries, the bottles get filled for the next day or stored for the next use.

It is not necessary to sanitize bottles every day but we started off doing that and now it's just a habit. 

At work:

 

During the week I pump three times a day at work: 9 am, 2 pm, and 5 pm. I'm trying to merge those last two pumps into one pump at 3 pm but it's taking some time. I also pump at 9:30 pm at home before bed. I can't go more than 10 hours between pumps so even though Kip sleeps from 6 pm - 6 am, I need to pump. Anyways, I pump into Medela 5 oz storage bottles or into the cheap-y Parent's Choice or Evenflo 9 oz bottles you can get at any drug store. Since I don't pump into the bottles we use to feed, I don't really care about the quality of those pump bottles. I'll pump into anything. My pumped milk goes into the fridge and I put my parts in a Tupperware container that also sits in the fridge between pumps (that's an exclusive pumper trick and time saver). At the end of the day I wash my pump parts and leave them to dry by the sink in the pump room on my little travel sized On-the-Go OXO Tot drying rack. This little rack is great because the brush stores neatly in the rack and it folds up for easy travel. It's the perfect size for all my pump parts. At the end of the week I bring my parts home and they get sanitized like the bottles.

I transport all my pumped milk from the day in a large insulated lunch tote that I got at TJMaxx. I use two of the Medela bottle ice packs and lug it all home on the Subway. It weighs like 10 pounds. Woof. The bottles then go in the fridge until I'm ready to prep the feed bottles for the next day.

At the end of the day I do my last pump at 9:30 pm. Afterwards, I prepare the feed bottles for the next day, wash the pump bottles, and any leftover milk get stored to freeze. I tried the Medela bags, the Parent's Choice bags, and the Lansinoh bags. Above and beyond, I prefer the Lansinoh milk storage bags. They are cheap on Amazon (100 for $10) and they have never leaked on me. I like the reinforced edges and how they store flat with little bulk. Most of the freezer stash gets donated to a local mom and her little baby boy. I keep about 200-300 oz on reserve for us just in case we need it.

After I typed this all out, I'm exhausted. It's a lot of work and a lot of milk and soapy water. Now that Kip has started on some solid foods, we've entered new whole new world of baby feeding. Gulp.