If I have a cup of coffee, when does the caffeine enter my milk and how long before it's gone?
	How can I get my baby to feed from a bottle again?
	Milk supply has dwindled since returning to work, help!
	Having nipple pain, but don't think it's thrush - what could it be?
	Baby sleeps through the night, and I wake up engorged!
	Baby is fussy, colicky and not a very good nurser - will he outgrow this?
	Nursing a baby with Down Syndrome
	Does my exclusively breastfed baby need water or other fluids?
	Are there any over-the-counter decongestants that are safe for nursing moms?
	Should I buy a used breastpump?

If I have a cup of coffee, when does the caffeine
enter my milk and how long before it's gone?

How long does it take for what you eat to affect your breastmilk?  For instance, if I have a cup of caffeinated coffee in the morning, when will the caffeine enter my milk and how long before it is gone?





Hi Alison,

It is impossible to make a general statement about how long specific foods take to enter your breastmilk.  It varies with each individual food, and each mother absorbs, metabolizes and excretes substances at different levels.

This is true of caffeine as well, but it has been studied so thoroughly that we have more information about it than we do about some other substances. Generally speaking, caffeine will peak in your milk about an hour after ingestion.  Its half life (the time it takes for one half of it to completely leave your milk) varies from 80 hours in a newborn to about 2 1/2 hours in a six month old.  It takes four or five half-lives for a drug to be completely eliminated, so caffeine stays in the baby's system for quite a long time.  As with all drugs, newborns and preemies take longer to eliminate caffeine from their body than older babies because their digestive systems are less mature.

The good news is that although caffeine gets into your milk quickly and takes a long time to excrete, it rarely causes problems for breastfed babies.  Most studies have found the levels in newborns to be very small, and often undetectable.  Each cup of coffee contains about 100-150 mg of caffeine.  The amount of caffeine in five cups of coffee per day (less than 750 ml) has not been shown to cause problems for most mothers and babies. Mothers who consume 8 or 9 cups a day, or more than 750 ml have sometimes noticed that their babies are fussy and don't sleep well. If you think your baby is sensitive to caffeine, try cutting down over the course of a week by substituting caffeine free beverages for what you usually drink.  Abrupt withdrawal from caffeine can cause headaches.

Caffeine in moderation rarely causes any problem for babies, but be more conservative if your baby is a newborn or is premature.  If you are trying to limit your caffeine intake, remember that it can also be found in tea, soda, and certain medications such as pain relievers, stimulants, and weight control aids.

How can I get my baby to feed from a bottle again?

I am breastfeeding and my husband tries to give Katelyn a bottle every day or so of pumped breast milk.  She has always done fine going back and forth between the bottle and the breast.  My husband has been extremely busy at work recently and has not been as consistent with feeding her.  The past two days she has cried and not wanted to feed from a bottle. This is a problem because I return to work two weeks from today and my husband will be at home with Katelyn and will need to feed her the breast milk from a bottle. Any suggestions?





Hi Kristen,

Your experience illustrates the importance of continuing to offer a bottle on a regular basis once it has been introduced.  It doesn't have to be every day, but if you let more than a few days go by, you may have to start from scratch with getting her to take it because older babies can get very set in their ways.

Here are some tips to use whether introducing bottles for the first time, or re-introducing them to a baby who's on a "bottle strike":

-Try offering the bottle when your baby isn't starving.  This may seem illogical, but when a baby is frantically hungry, she is going to be in no mood to try something new.  She just wants to nurse.

- Your baby associates your smell and touch with nursing, and may insist on the real thing if you try to give her a bottle.  You may have to leave the room entirely in order for the effort to be successful.

- Many babies associate the cradle hold (where they are cuddled against the breast) with nursing, and will refuse to accept the bottle as a substitute if held in this position.  Although some babies will accept a bottle more readily in the cradle hold, most will do better if you prop them up on your knees or in an infant seat, and make eye contact while feeding them.

-You don't have to substitute a bottle-feeding for an entire nursing.  In the beginning, have dad try giving an ounce or two in the evening while your supply is lowest and you are the most in need of a break.  Leave the room.  Take a hot bath.  Hope that it works.

-Some babies will take the bottle more readily if you move rhythmically while walking, swaying, rocking and/or talking to them to distract them.

- Try feeding her when she is half asleep.

-Try different nipples.  Some babies prefer a slow flow nipple, some a faster flow.  In general, orthodontic nipples tend to have a slower flow, which may be an advantage in a newborn, but a disadvantage in an older, more impatient baby.

-Make sure the nipple isn't cold when you offer it.  Many babies couldn't care less if the milk you give them is cold (and it doesn't cause digestive problems - that's an old wife's tale) but they don't like the feel of a cold rubber nipple in their mouth.  Run it under warm water before you offer it.

- Some babies with discerning tastes will refuse to take milk in a bottle, but will accept apple juice. It's almost as though they know that milk is supposed to come from breasts, and they won't take it any other way.  Breastmilk is quite a bit sweeter than formula - I have heard a toddler describe it as tasting like 'melted ice cream.' If you can overcome your squeamishness, taste it sometime. It really does taste better than cow's milk or formula.  Most babies will take breastmilk more readily than they will take formula, but if you have a baby who is really picky, try offering a little bit of apple juice.  If you can get her to take a few sips, try mixing milk with the juice a teaspoon at a time until you have more milk than juice.  I'm not talking about a lot of juice, because babies under six months shouldn't really have juice because it's sweet and they tend to suck it down quickly.  It's not a good idea to fill them up on empty calories, but we're talking about a very small amount here - maybe 1/2 to 1 ounce, and only until she accepts the bottle.

-When offering the bottle, tickle the baby's lips gently with the nipple until she opens her mouth and explores the nipple.  Don't try to force the nipple in her mouth.

- If your baby is older than a month or two when you offer the bottle, and she refuses it completely, try cup feeding. Many older babies bypass the bottle completely during separations from mom and do well with the cup.  As long as they are nursing most of the time, their sucking needs will be met.

I wish you luck.  Since you have a couple of weeks to work on this, I'm sure you'll have her taking the milk from your husband one way or the other before you return to work.

Milk supply has dwindled since returning to work, help!

: I returned to work (as a physician) two weeks ago and found my milk supply dwindle to almost nothing.  In a matter of two days, I went from pumping 4- 6 ounces to 1 - 2 ounces/pumping session.  It's incredibly discouraging!  I've worked so hard to increase my supply before returning, because I was nervous I wouldn't be able to pump enough for him, but I didn't realize that stress can contribute this much to a poor supply!  Can it really?  I drink a lot of fluids, try to pump twice during the day at work (my hours are from around 8 - 6) and when home, try to breastfeed him as much as he wants.  Should I pump for volume at work, or more frequently?  Which would help my supply more?  Any other hints/ suggestions?  Help!





Hi Tamara,

It is very common for mothers who return to work to find that their milk supply decreases, although the drop is not always as dramatic as the one you experienced.  The first question I would ask is what kind of pump are you using?  There is a huge difference in the results you get with a manual or small electric/battery type pump and a high quality double pump like the Lactina, Pump In Style, or Purely Yours.  If you are going to be pumping regularly, or if time is an important consideration, you really need to be double pumping with a larger, more efficient professional or hospital grade pump.  Double pumping is an important feature.  Not only does it cut your pumping time in half (from 20-30 minutes with single pumping) to 10-15 minutes or less, but your prolaction levels are higher when you double pump, so you actually produce more milk in less time.  Assuming that you are using a good double pump, let's talk about what else you can do to boost your production.

First, there is no pump on the market at any price that is as good at removing milk as a healthy baby who is nursing well. When you're at home, you tend to do little "snack" nursings throughout the day, and when you're at work, you're on a schedule and only empty your breasts at specific intervals, usually several hours apart, so you don't get the same stimulation.  If you are separated from your baby from 8-6, that's a ten hour stretch.  Pumping twice during that time means that your breasts are only getting emptied every five hours.  If your baby is sleeping a long stretch at night (over four hours), then chances are good that you are only emptying your breasts 5 or 6 times a day.  If you nurse in the morning, pump twice at work, nurse when you get home, again at bedtime, and once during the night, that's only six times in 24 hours.  For a young baby who isn't receiving any solid foods, it is hard to maintain an adequate supply unless the breasts are being stimulated eight times or more in 24 hours.  That isn't true for every mother, but it is for most.  If at all possible, try to get in an extra pumping session at work.  Pumping for ten minutes three times a day will do more to build your supply than pumping for twenty minutes twice a day.

Try to relax while you are pumping.  There is a tendency to stare at the bottles and tense up while you're thinking "Oh my gosh - I've been pumping for five minutes and only have an ounce! I'll never be able to pump enough!"  Putting this kind of pressure on yourself only makes you tense and keeps your milk from letting down fully.  If you've been pumping for several minutes and only a trickle or drops are coming out, stop pumping.  Try stretching, deep breathing, getting a drink of water, massaging your breast, listening to soft music, or anything at all that helps you relax.  Then try pumping again.  If your milk doesn't let down, you can sit there all day and not get much out, even if the milk is in there.  It's very important to try to relax, and breaking the pumping session up into smaller increments may help accomplish this.

Here are some more tips for increasing your supply:
- Pump after feedings for five minutes, or on the other side when your baby takes one breast at a feedings (your supply will be more plentiful in the mornings).

-Take care of yourself.  Try to eat well and drink enough fluids. You don't need to force fluids-just drink to thirst.  If you are drinking enough to keep your urine clear, and you aren't constipated, then you're probably getting plenty.  Your diet doesn't have to be perfect, but you do need to eat enough to keep yourself from being tired all the time.  It is easy to get so overwhelmed with baby care and work that you forget to eat and drink enough.

-There are certain food supplements as well as prescription medications that may increase your milk supply.  Many herbal supplements have been used for many years to increase milk production, with the most popular being Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, and Red Raspberry.  Brewers Yeast (containing B vitamins) is another commonly recommended treatment for low milk supply.  I usually recommend that mothers try Fenugreek capsules (2-3 capsules taken 3 times daily) along with Blessed Thistle tablets (same dosage).  You many want to add BrewersYeast tablets (3 tablets taken with meals, 3 times per day) and Red Raspberry tea or capsules several times each day.  I know that seems like a lot of capsules to take, but if you don't want to take them all, the Fenugreek seems to be the most effective.  Prescription medications such as Reglan and Domperidone are usually reserved for moms with medical concerns such as babies who aren't gaining weight well, and not for mothers who have normal supplies which drop when they return to work.

-If you have tried everything that you can to increase your supply and are still unable to produce enough during the workday for your baby to have only breastmilk the next day, you may decide to combine breastmilk and formula feedings.  Many working mothers find that this option is less stressful for them, and it is important to remember that any amount of breastmilk provides important benefits, and you can still nurse when you are together.  Maintaining a milk supply for a baby when you are separated for many hours a day is always challenging and seldom easy.  It's a real labor of love, and provides many advantages for both of you, so it's definitely worth the effort.

Having nipple pain, but don't think it's thrush -
what could it be?

I have been experiencing nipple pain (on both sides but it is worse on the right side) for a few weeks now and actually have a small sore on the tip of my right nipple.  I have previously had thrush on my nipples that caused a similar pain, that was easily cured by application of liquid nystatin for 2-3 days.  I have tried using nystatin this time also but it does not seem to make a dent in the problem.  (Yes I was sure to use it on my baby's mouth also, along with acidopholous for both of us 3-4 times daily.)  I have come to the conclusion that this time it isn't thrush, but I am at a loss for what it could be, and it is EXTREMELY painful at times.  Is there something else I am not thinking of, or have you ever heard of a really resistant case of thrush?  I don't know what to do about this, and I plan on nursing for a couple more years so I need a solution...any suggestions? Thank you,

Tracie

P.S. Nothing has changed in the way he latches on, and he has had his teeth for several months and they've never bothered me before, so I don't think that is the problem, however I do have small tooth shaped calluses at the edge of my areola.





Hi Tracie,

Chances are very good that what you are experiencing is indeed a resistant case of yeast. Yeast infections are extremely difficult to clear up, and it usually takes several weeks of treatment to eradicate it completely.  It's kind of like taking an antibiotic for a bacterial infection: you feel better within a day or two of taking the drug, but if you don't continue taking it for the full course of treatment, you kill off the weaker bacteria and the stronger bacteria survive and come back to cause problems later.  The same thing is true of yeast.

I would be very surprised if using nystatin for a few days had cleared up your infection.  For one thing, nystatin often doesn't work well because so many resistant strains of yeasts have developed over the past few years.  For another, it usually takes at least a couple of weeks of treatment with any antifungal agent to completely clear up the infection.

The fact that you are experiencing so much pain and have sores on your nipples makes me think that you are still dealing with the yeast, because there just aren't many things that can cause those symptoms when you're nursing an older baby.  It's unlikely that teething would cause this kind of soreness.

You need to treat yeast aggressively or it can drag on for months and months.  There is a lot of good information on treating yeast on Breastfeeding.com, including a Q&A session on this topic that I did last month.  I also have an article on my website all about yeast, with lots of references that you can share with your doctor as you work out a treatment plan. I hope that you will follow up on this promptly because without proper treatment, the yeast will continue to grow and probably will eventually invade your milk ducts, if that hasn't happened already.  It's much easier to treat when it's confined to the surface of the nipple, so try to act quickly to prevent intra-ductal yeast from becoming a problem.

Baby sleeps through the night, and I wake up engorged!

My baby sleeps through the night. About 10 hours.  I wake up engorged every morning.  This has been happening for quite a while.  Will my milk ever adjust to this or could this be just normal for me? I can't seem to find information on this.  Your help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!





Hi Jennifer,
Most moms would love to have your problem!  Having a whole 10 hour sleep stretch is such a luxury, and quite unusual for a breastfed baby.  I'm not surprised that you're having trouble with engorgement, though.  Most babies start sleeping through the night by gradually going longer stretches, say from 2-3 hours to 4-5 hours and then up to 6-8 hours over a period of months.  The human body is amazing adaptable, and if the transition is made gradually, your breasts respond to the lack of stimulation by making less milk, so you experience less fullness.

I don't know how long your baby has been sleeping this long at night, or how long it took to get to this point. Your body should adjust with time, but it's impossible to say how long that will take because every mother is so different.  Just as some moms leak a lot and some hardly at all, some will experience more engorgement and fullness than others.

There is really no way to prevent the engorgement or make it go away faster.  Other than the fact that you're uncomfortable, the concern would be that the engorgement could lead to plugged ducts and/or mastitis.  If that were going to happen, it probably would have occurred by now.

If you feel that you are developing plugged ducts, it would be a good idea to apply heat and express some milk to relieve the pressure and unclog the ducts.  I wouldn't do that unless you were really sore, though, because when you remove the milk, you're sending your body the signal to make more.

Your body should adjust with time, but you may be one of those moms who always experiences some degree of fullness when you go long stretches without nursing.  Nearly all mothers find that the longer they nurse, the softer their breasts feel and the longer they can go without becoming engorged.  I hope that things settle down for you soon.

Baby is fussy, colicky and not a very good nurser -
will he outgrow this?

Now at 14 weeks Dillon is still not the best at breastfeeding, and I am about to give up and go for bottlefeeding. My intentions were to breastfeed for six months.  We had a rough start from the beginning, and he still isn't the best at it, and he is a bit of a fussy/colicky baby.  Will he outgrow this, and I should just stick with it? Any advice would be great.  At times he even cries as loud and ferocious as he can when I lay him in my arms to breastfeed.  His dad then has to calm him down before I can continue and sometimes that doesn't work.  Help!





Hi Holly,

It sounds like you are really frustrated with this whole nursing thing, and I don't blame you.  It seems so unfair that something so natural can be so complicated at the same time.  Having a fussy, colicky, unhappy baby is one of the most frustrating things a new mother can experience.  When your baby is unhappy or in pain, you just want to make it better. Sometimes nothing you do seems to work, even when you've done all the "right" things:  nursing, rocking, diapering, walking, patting, singing, etc.

After hundreds of years, nobody really knows exactly what causes colic or how to cure it.  All we know is that some normal, healthy babies will cry inconsolably for several hours a day while passing gas, and nothing the parents do seems to help.  The typical colicky baby is gaining weight appropriately.  If he isn't, then he may be crying not because of colic, but because he's hungry, and the issue of how to increase milk supply or establish more effective nursing patterns needs to be addressed.

There is a tendency for parents (and doctors as well) to want to blame breastfeeding whenever something goes wrong - if the baby spits up, is gassy, fusses, has loose stools, etc., then everyone starts going:  "Hmmm. Maybe it's the milk...maybe I ate something that's upsetting his stomach...maybe she's allergic to something in my diet"...and so on. It's human nature to try to find the cause if your baby is not feeling well, because then you can "fix" the problem.  Unfortunately, breastmilk is a convenient scapegoat.
   The facts are this: nothing is as good for babies as human milk.  It is easier to digest than formula, and contains all kinds of protective antibodies that formula just doesn't have.  A baby who is colicky will do better on mother's milk than on formula.
   Sometimes babies just have sensitive digestive systems and it takes a while for them to mature. The thing to keep in mind is that babies who are more sensitive than average need breastmilk even more than the average baby.  Often when mothers switch to formula out of frustration, they trade one set of problems for another.  Yes, the baby may sleep longer stretches, but the downside may be more allergies and ear infections.

There are two things that I would recommend in your situation: find a Lactation Consultant or La Leche League Leader in your area who can help you assess your individual situation.  Maybe your little guy is getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk.  Maybe you have a problem with over or under supply.  It's also possible (but unlikely) that your baby is sensitive to the proteins found in dairy products, and eliminating them from your diet would help. These are issues that can be addressed with assessment and recommendations from a knowledgeable breastfeeding counselor.

The second thing I would recommend is getting hold of a copy of Dr.William Sears's wonderful book "The Fussy Baby."  He talks about "high need" babies and how to cope with them.  He addresses the topic of colic in great detail, and gives lots of helpful suggestions that will make you feel better about your situation.  I hope you will hang in there because I can promise you, it does get easier, and the rewards of nursing your baby are well worth the effort.

Nursing a baby with Down Syndrome

Travis has Down Syndrome.  I understand that breastfeeding is VERY important for him, not just for the superior nourishment, but especially for the muscle development in his face.  How long do I need to nurse him for optimal help in this area?

Hi Sarah,

How wonderful that you are nursing Travis!  Breastfeeding is one of the very best things that you can do for him.  You're absolutely right in stating that nursing is very important for babies with Down Syndrome. These special babies are more prone to intestinal and respiratory infections, obesity, and cardiac problems.  Nursing provides protection against illnesses, lower risk of obesity, extra stimulation from skin to skin contact, increased stimulation or orofacial muscles maximizing language development, and optimal brain development due to fatty acids found in human milk but not in formula.

Since you have made it through the early months of nursing, you have already overcome many of the challenges that often accompany breastfeeding a baby with Down Syndrome, such as low muscle tone, fatigue, and flatter than average tongues. Now that nursing is well established, the question arises of just how long you need to nurse in order to maximize the many benefits of breastfeeding.

If you nurse for 9 months, you will be helping him through one of the most important developmental periods of his young life.  Babies between 6 and 9 months go through so many  changes - sitting up, teething, starting solids, crawling, pulling up, and more.  Even though an older baby is eating solid foods, breastmilk is still the most important part of his diet, and continues to provide him with important immunities at a time when he is crawling around and putting EVERYTHING in his mouth, including yucky, germy stuff.

If you nurse for a year or more, he will receive health benefits that last a lifetime.  Long-term nursing protects against ulcerative colitis, diabetes, asthma, Crohn's disease, obesity, and high cholesterol in adulthood.  Babies who are breastfed for a year or more are less likely to need speech therapy or braces later in life.

There are many benefits of extended breastfeeding.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends nursing for at least the first year of your baby's life.

-Your baby continues to get the immunological advantages of human milk, during a time when he is increasingly exposed to infection.  Breastfed toddlers are healthier overall.

-When he is upset, hurt, frightened, or sick, you have a built in way to comfort him.  Often a sick child will accept breastmilk when he refuses other foods.

-Many of the medical benefits of breastfeeding (lower cancer risk in mother and baby, for example) are dose related - in other words, the longer you breastfeed, the greater the protective effects.

-Human milk offers protection for the child who is allergic.

-Mothering a toddler is challenging enough - nursing makes the job of caring for and comforting him easier.  There is no better way to ease a temper tantrum, or put a cranky child to sleep than by nursing.

- Nursing provides closeness, security, and stability during a period of rapid growth and development.

- Letting your baby set the pace for weaning spares you the unpleasant task of weaning him before he is ready.  It is important to remember that all children wean eventually.  Nursing an older baby is totally different from nursing a newborn. Forget those 45 minute nursing sessions.  Toddlers climb in your lap when they fall and bump their knee, nurse for a couple of minutes, and they're done.  They will have longer sessions (usually bedtime or nap-time), but they're way too busy exploring their world to spend too much time nursing.  They also don't nurse as often - maybe every four to five hours, rather than every two to three.  Because of this difference in nursing patterns, you are not nearly as tied down with an older nursing baby as you are with a newborn.  There's another phenomenon that comes into play here.  When you look at your one or 2 or 3 year old, he will still be your baby.  It doesn't matter if he has skinned knees and peanut butter smeared on his mouth, he is still a tiny little person with lots of growing up to do.

If anyone tries to tell you that you should wean Travis at a certain age, ask them why.  Chances are they will be hard pressed to come up with any answers based on empirical evidence.  There are many practical reasons for nursing toddlers, and very few (if any) legitimate reasons to wean before your little one is ready. Especially when your baby has Down Syndrome, there is no reason to rush weaning, and lots of good reasons to continue until he outgrows the need.

Does my exclusively breastfed baby need water or
other fluids?

I have been exclusively breastfeeding and wonder if I should be giving my daughter any water or pedialyte type drinks.





Hi Lisa,

Breastfed babies do not need any supplemental water. Breastmilk contains lots of water, and since there are lower levels of salt and minerals in human milk compared to formula, nursing babies don't need extra water even in very hot and dry environments.  Because of the differences between breastmilk and formula, babies who are formula fed do need extra water, but not babies who are exclusively nursing.  This is hard for people who are used to formula fed babies (like most of our mothers and mothers in laws) to accept, but it's true.

There are two situations where supplemental feedings of water or Pedialyte are often erroneously recommended.  One is when a newborn is jaundiced.  Doctors used to believe that giving jaundiced babies water would "flush out" the bilirubin.  We now know that giving water has the opposite effect.  Jaundiced babies need to stool frequently, and giving water supplements can fill them up with empty calories so that they don't nurse as well and the bilirubin levels can actually rise instead of fall.

The other situation in which health care providers often recommend supplementing with water or Pedialyte is when babies have diarrhea or are vomiting. Often the first thing that mothers are told to do when a baby has an upset stomach is to take the baby off milk products.  What not everyone realizes is that unlike formula, breastmilk is not a "milk product." Breastmilk is digested quickly, so even if a baby is vomiting or has diarrhea, some of the nutrients will be absorbed before he vomits or stools.

If a baby is able to take anything at all by mouth, it should be breastmilk.  Nursing babies will often nurse for comfort when they are sick, even when they don't have much appetite for anything else.  Human milk also contains nutrients and antibodies that Pedialyte doesn't.  If he is too ill to tolerate feedings of human milk, then he probably needs to be in a hospital receiving IV fluids.  Otherwise, the best treatment is to continue nursing and keeping him hydrated that way.

Are there any over-the-counter decongestants
safe for nursing moms?

Are there any over- the-counter decongestants that are safe to take while breastfeeding that will not inhibit milk production or affect my twins by passing through the milk?





Hi Denise,

This is a good time of year to address the issue of OTC medications for congestion because we are just officially entering the beginning of cold and flu season.

It is very difficult to make general recommendations about medications, but based on the information I received from The Lactation Study Center in Rochester, New York, and Thomas Hale's book Clinical Therapy in Nursing Mothers, I can tell you this:  Most decongestants penetrate milk poorly and can safely be used in nursing mothers.  Many of the older antihistamines are sedating, so use of the newer non-sedating antihistamines (such as Claritin) are preferred in nursing mothers. Antihistamines can also dry up your milk supply, especially if used for long periods of time (more than the course of an average cold), so if possible, you want to try to stick with decongestants like Sudafed or Actifed which contain pseudoephedrine, because the levels in breast milk are very low.

The ingredient in OTC cold medications that has been in the news recently and has been pulled off the shelves in most pharmacies due to harmful side effects is phenylpropanolamine, which is most commonly found in combination cold medications which contain multiple ingredients such as fever reducer, decongestant, and antihistamine. It's also found in diet medications such as Dexatrim and Acutrim.

As a general rule, it is best to avoid multiple ingredient, long acting medications like 12 hour formulas or multi-symptom cold medications.  Most decongestants that are taken nasally (like Nasalcrom and Gastrocrom) are not systemically absorbed by the infant or that mother, and are virtually nontoxic.

Should I buy a used breastpump?

I am considering buying a used breast pump from my boss.  I have read that this isn't necessarily a good idea because they cannot be fully sterilized, but if I know that the previous user is healthy, should I worry about it? The savings are substantial.





Hi Marie,

This is a tough question because there are so many differing opinions on this topic. The official recommendation is that mothers should not share pumps because they are personal care items and there is a theoretical risk of transmission of viruses through cross contamination.

A lot depends on the type of pump you are considering purchasing.  Some pumps, like Medela's Classic and Lactina pumps and Ameda's Elite and Purely Yours pumps are "closed systems."  This means that there is no way for milk to back up inside the motor.  All rental type pumps are closed systems and are designed to be used by multiple users.  Other pumps, like Medela's Pump In Style, are not "closed," and since they contain internal diaphragms that can't be sterilized, the possibility of cross contamination exists.

I have to emphasize that the risk is hypothetical and theoretical, meaning that (to my knowledge) there has NEVER been a case where any viral or bacterial infection has occurred as a result of using someone else's breast pump.  Representatives of both major breast pump manufacturers verified this as well.  Companies that sell products that impact on health in any way tend to be very liability oriented, and err on the side of caution.  Because we know that certain viruses such as HIV, CMV, and HTLV-1 have been found in human milk, the concern is that these viruses could somehow work their way inside the pump, then find their way back through the tubing, into the bottles, and then infect the baby who drinks the milk.  This is a very unlikely scenario, but I suppose it is theoretically possible.  The FDA does too, and they have stated that breast pumps are single user, personal care items and as such should not be shared or sold.

Sharing or selling a breast pump often voids the warranty, and because it is a single user product, you can't just take it to a consignment store and sell it.  In spite of these restrictions, countless mothers have sold and shared their pumps over the years, usually to friends or family members.

As a Lactation Consultant and breast pump retailer, I can't tell you that it is a good idea to buy a used pump, but if you do decide to purchase one, I would suggest buying it from someone you know, rather than a stranger.  I would also advise you to purchase a new pumping kit.  This includes tubing, breastshield assemblies, and any parts that actually touch the milk.



 

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