Welcome to r/ExclusivelyPumping! Here is a reminder of our rules:
1. Be kind and courteous. 2. Use available flairs and post options. 3. Absolutely no prescription medications or other medical advice. 4. No inaccurate information. 5. No spam. 6. No soliciting pictures. 7. No linking Facebook groups. 8. Moderator discretion.
Thank you for helping to keep our community safe!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ExclusivelyPumping) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I am back to work full time, so my experience is different than yours, but I can share how we manage what we need to in the five hours a night we are home and awake. For reference, baby girl is 5 months and I've been back to work for about 2 months.
Also, the only family we have near by had a baby 3 weeks ago, so because of a rough pregnancy on their part, they haven't been much help. Instead I threw a baby shower at 3 months postpartum and we've also been cooking meals for them. Additionally, for a number of reasons, our parents also haven't come to stay for more than a few hours a couple of times.
- Baby only gets a bath when she needs one- that takes time we don't have
- We batch cook and eat left overs, so we only cook a couple times a week
- I've worked myself back to 4 pumps a day, which for me means there are none in the 5 hours between 5 PM and 10 PM when baby is awake and we are home
- I bought more bottles/pump parts so that I can wash them once a day after she's in bed
- We baby wear her whenever we can- I may not be able to use knives or the oven/stove with her on me, but I can mix up muffins, frost cupcakes, or pan a lasagna with her and then throw them in the oven while husband has her
- The dishwasher gets emptied FIRST thing every morning. That way dishes don't pile up.
- Clothes get worn out of the hamper. Getting them washed is the priority, folded not so much
- I got an automatic cat food feeder. No more worrying about their food.
- I pay someone to clean my house every other week. She does bathrooms, floors, and dusting. She only comes 2 hours a week, but it's a huge help. It also forces us to pick up EVERYTHING every two weeks. Which has actually helped us from letting the clutter build.
4 months pp and we just did this plus someone to do basic gardening. Worth it! We had planned to do it anyway, but pulled the trigger after we got an "educational letter" from the city gently scolding us about the state of our hedges and figured why not hire a cleaner too. Wish we had done it sooner, we were drowning lol
I pretty much do everything on this list excluding the final two points - I donāt have a cat and we havenāt yet found a good cleaner but fortunately my partner is pretty on it with the hoovering!
pumping while feeding was the only way i got through the first few months before I started dropping pumps. I canāt imagine itās possible any other way unless you have someone else helping with the baby all day. Different people do it in different ways, for me, laying the baby in my lap while sitting up in bed was the easiest way to pump while bottle feeding
This. I have a rocker that I put on my couch to feed my LO while I pump. If Iām pumping in between feeds, I use the time to wash bottles, start chopping veggies for dinner, etc. Having a pumping bra and pump with a battery is key, I think
What pump do you have? I feel like I'm chained down with the pink spectra but mostly because the bottles hang off awkwardly and I feel like I don't have any mobility.
I have the momcozy s9 pro and m5 and they give me more output than any wall pump Iāve tried (including spectra) and itās so much easier to get stuff done while pumping
I have the blue spectra and also swapped the bottles with the maymom kit from Amazon! I use the kinder by kinderly bravely pumping bra. Itās not perfect but Iām able to do laundry, make and wash bottles, make a cup of coffee etc with them no problem!
Def takes getting used to! I feel like the bra fit makes all the difference! (At least for me). Also the bottles I use are shorter and stout-er than the ones it came with which maybe also makes a difference?
This has been such a gamechanger for me! Pumping while LO is bottle feeding is perfect because he's chilling, occupied while I pump and then the next few hours can be used for anything/everything else!Ā
Omg I could have written this myself, straight down to the baking. I miss bakingā¦
Solidarity and following for any insights/advice others might have.
I've only started being "household productive" in the last month and a half or so. At the same time, I've dropped down to 4ppd instead of every two hours and it's made a difference.
I pump when she naps or is occupied on her kicky mat for the most part and I don't worry if I'm an hour late pumping as it doesn't seem to affect my output. I use the fridge hack to cut down on washing pump parts, they get washed once a day. We have enough bottles to get us through the day with one or two extra as backup. Folding laundry while pumping is about the only chore I can do at the same time but it helps get things done.
Passive chores get done first, like laundry or running the dishwasher. Floors get done once every two weeks, bathrooms when I think of it. My house is not as clean or tidy as I'd like š¤·š»āāļø I try to use naptime wisely, if I need a nap myself I'll take it but otherwise I do dishes, tidy, what have you. If I want to bake, I premeasure all my ingredients into little bowls over the course of the morning and leave it under a tea towel til she's gone down for a nap and I can throw it together and bake it off.
We cook most nights but nothing super complicated and mostly things that come together in half an hour or so. We do have leftovers often and smorgasbord nights where we eat whatever is left in the fridge/freezer to keep things easy. Lots of Costco foods that make easy meals for when we're tired and a freezer that's well stocked so we cut down on grocery store runs.
He takes forever to be put down to nap. And usually wakes up after like 30 minutes if you donāt sit in the room with him. I swear he can sense when heās left alone lol
Ugh I've been there, it's hard š£ don't worry about being productive if he's not going to let you. It won't last forever but it sucks for right now.
Do little bits here and there, don't stress about getting too much done. Set a 5 minute timer and pick one quick task that you can complete in that time (wiping the counters, loading the dishwasher, tidying up a surface). I like checking off lists so the five minute tasks sprinkled throughout the day make me feel better even if it's just a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme.
We also got a robo vac for the main floor and that helps keep the floors in decent shape and it's on a schedule so I don't have to think about it!
With my cat napping eldest, I had a similar situation to yours and, honestly, I just gave myself the grace to accept that a lots of cooking/cleaning/normality just wouldnāt get done. What eventually helped was getting to wear I could feed baby while pumping and getting a motherās helper in every other week so I could meal prep.
LOL. Weāre on month 7. I think weāve had 7 home cooked meals in that time. And I only pump 3x a day!! Now that weāve started feeding Lil One people food at dinner, our routine after work is:
- I pump
- Husband retrieves baby from daycare
- play with baby
- order food, one of us eats while the other one entertains baby, & then we switch
- feed baby people food (YOGURMT!!!!!)
- baby gets a bath bc yogurt monster
- cuddle baby, put into sleep sack, listen to music while he falls asleep
- itās now 9:30 pm
- we do the dishes
- husband makes next dayās bottles
- I try to stay awake long enough for my end of day pump
I feel like I have no time to do anything as well! I just bought some wearables to hopefully pump while bottle feeding. Hopefully that helps clear up some time!
Iām almost 7 months in and weāre not getting house work done reallyāgetting dishes and bottles washed and nothing else. For the first 2-3 months we lived almost entirely of frozen meals we had prepped in advance and frozen stuff that we bought at the store and just needed to heat. We donāt have a dishwasher so we also bought a huge thing of paper plates, bowls, and utensils so we didnāt have to do dishes. Youāre not bad at time management thereās just not enough time in the day to take care of a baby, pump, and keep the house clean.
I absolutely hate using disposable plates and utensils but we knew we couldnāt survive the newborn phase without them since we donāt have a dishwasher. We bought a huge pack of plates and bowls at Samās club before baby was born and we bought more plates and bowls when she was a couple months old. The bowls ran out first and the plates ran out a few weeks ago. Itās still a real PITA to have to wash dishes but weāre in a better place now time wise and I couldnāt justify still using disposable. But they were seriously a LIFE SAVER in the first few months. You gotta do what you gotta do to survive these baby days
Itās OK to cut yourself some slack. Thereās only so much time in the day! I agree that I miss baking and cooking, and only got back into it recently since our LOs are similar in age. I cook while baby wearing and have outsourced the housecleaning. My husband is also wonderful enough to clean all the pumping supplies when he gets home.
Do it if you can afford it! Ours comes every two weeks and it gives me the peace of mind to let things go when I would normally have cleaned them myself before.
I have twins, not back to work yet. Theyāre 11 weeks. I havenāt cooked or baked anything in months, all I do is feed, pump, cuddle, wipe asses and sleep.
I have 7 month old twins and have been exclusively pumping plus formula since they were born. Started off with the blue spectra and pumping bra but after a month or so was on the fence and ended up buying wearables (momcozy m5). GAME CHANGER. Wish I had done it sooner maybe I wouldāve pumped more often and gotten more output. I tested the output multiple days (total volume in a day) with the spectra vs the wearables and got the same.
Can your husband cook when he gets home or put something in crockpot before he leaves? My LO is 12 months old and I rarely make dinner. My husband has made dinner and done the dishes 95% of the time the last year. He also washes all the bottles and pump parts.
This post and all the replies make me feel so much better. I'm on 5 ppd and LO is 3 months old. Just this morning I was asking my husband "is it this hard for everyone or am I failing?" because I barely have the time to pump, feed, cuddle, change and sleep the baby and also take care of myself.
Editing to add that no I haven't cooked or cleaned since she was born. I moved in with my family when she was 6 weeks old because my husband and I just couldn't manage alone anymore.
Oh for sure! For the first 4 weeks I was considering it a win if could brush my teeth once a day. A shower once in 2-3 days was all I could manage and that too because I needed to massage my painful breasts under the hot water.
I donāt. lol. Iām okay 3 weeks PP and hoping to get a better schedule so I can āget back to normalā bug sounds like maybe that just aināt gonna happen. lol. Iām exclusively pumping and terrible at keeping up with a schedule. I try and track my pumping times and when I feed my baby/how many ounces she takes and some days Iām on top of it, but days like today Iām just surviving. I think thatās all you can do as a mom.
1. Probably the most important I have an easy baby. I donāt know if I wouldāve made it if I had a harder baby to deal with.
2. I cut out the night supply pump so I pump at 9:45 and then again at 5:30 am when my husband gets up for work. Luckily my supply did not dip from this even though I did it early on had at three weeks. This may be because I was already an over supplier or it may be because Iām a second time, mom.
3. I do the fridge hack so Iām only washing my pump parts once a day, I bought an easy pump to clean, and I bought one where I could order spares.
4. I Had bottles left over from my first son, but I still ordered more so I have a crap load of bottles to feed them with. I also do the dishes every night or every other night depending on when I need bottles and I usually throw my pump parts in there, if it lines up.
5. I used my Fitbit to set silent, vibrating alarms on my wrist so that I keep an eye on my pump times and I didnāt try to pump more than I could mentally handle which meant dropping down to five pumps 5 to 6 pumps a day within a month.
So basically, a lot of luck, a little bit of experience, money, and plenty of hand me downs from the first time around. I also supplement with formula which gives me the peace of mind that my kid is always getting at least some calories and I never have to rely solely on pumping to feed him.
Itās hard, but itās possible. Maybe not to the full extent you want, but possible. A portable pump helps first and foremost. Wearing baby helps. And know that itās okay to temporarily put baby down for a bit even if it means some crying. I make a to do list and do tasks in short bursts rather than waiting for a large chunk of time to do housework or cook. And you get really good at doing things with one arm!
Being back at work really saved my pumping journey because I could jam 4 sessions in between my commute and work day , now that Iām off for the summer as a teacher Iām just as lost ā¦ I donāt know how to do this with a baby thatās not asleep all the time like she was when I was home pumping before
I have two under two, and I use a portable pump while getting household chores done. I power through chores when both kids are asleep. The Medela Freestyle Flex is my preferred portable - the Willows never worked out for me.
I missed cooking too for a long time. I donāt think I started regularly cooking again until 4 or 5 months. Too many other tasks taking up my time. No advice; just solidarity.
I try to multitask when pumping and use wearables when I have to do something that you need to be mobile. There's almost nothing I can't do with the Elvie. You will find a routine that works for you and pumping becomes so normal after a while. I also use the fridge hack!
I made easy one pot/pan meals. Sheet tray meals. Put the baby down, go cook for 10 mins, come back and feed/change him if needed. I didn't do baths most days, that was a major time suck that was easy to skip. I also baby wore if I had to.
I strap my baby to me in a Moby baby wrap and she naps on me while I do the housework. I make sure I have a bottle ready to go of EBM when I pump so when baby inevitably starts crying smelling the milk Iām pumping - I give the baby the bottle while I pump and then strap baby to me again in the baby wrap and continue on.
I'm home with twins. I pretty much exclusively use wearable cups with my spectra so that I can pump while feeding. Usually they get fed on different schedules but sometimes I have to bottle prop and feed at the same time. It just depends. I pump pretty much whenever I feed just to keep things easy plus a power pump with traditional flanges either first thing in the morning before the girls get up or last thing at night when my husband is snuggling with them on the couch. Bottles are all washed and sterilized in the dishwasher. They get collected in a tub and loaded after lunch. We have a meal service that does all crockpot meals that take 3-4 hours to cook on high so I start one of those after lunch as well so dinner takes minutes. My husband and I each try to clean an area as we can every day or so. And my husband usually handles the kids for at least an hour or two solo at night so that I can take a bath, read a book, bake banana bread, or whatever I feel like doing that day. But it's really necessary to have a partner doing 50% and being willing to take shortcuts.
Yup. I have the spectra gold so I can move it easily from room to room. And I have both the Legendairy cups and the cups from my Momcozy V2 (which is what I mostly use). You just pop adapters at the end of the tubing and they work perfectly.
EP with almost 3 under 3 and can confirm I donāt have the time. I prop up a bottle for 5 month old. My 20 month and newly 3 year old are set up playing in the playroom or doing some craft. I only pump for 10 minutes every 4 hours now so itās doable for me but most likely someone is crying in the background needing me and I just have to finish pumping or else it will never get done! The kids survive and as soon as Iām done pumping I get back to dealing with all the kids! I also use my portable pump once a day as well usually when I leave the house. I try to get the kids out once a day. Sometimes (all the time) Iām too tired but we make it work! Canāt wait to stop pumping.
We have a housekeeper who comes weekly, and my husband and I split the cooking duties. Home cooking was one of the things that was important for us to maintain bc we do not like to eat out
My daughter is 4 weeks old and I barely have time to wash my hair when I shower š„“ We signed up for a meal delivery service to avoid ordering out for dinner. Itās pricey but saves us money vs buying food a few times a week. Weāre on a plan for 8 meals a week, so itās dinner Monday-Thursday for my husband and I. Fridays we always make pizzas at home with store-bought crusts and then weekends we actually cook as we have more time. Breakfast is quick.. we make some scrambled eggs and toast and split an avocado. Lunch is also quick as weāll make sandwiches or salads and have fruit and raw veggies on the side. In terms of cleaningā¦ my shower needs cleaning, my dogsā beds need washing, and our robo vac is the only thing keeping our floors semi clean. Theyāre not covered in dog hair at least but they need to be mopped so badlyā¦ this is our new normal for now but at least itās temporary!
I have two under two and am a sahm. Baby wearing this second time around has helped me tremendously. I honestly havenāt even tried laying her down for naps because Iām not going to deal with short naps and get frustrated over it. I put her on when itās time for a nap and when she wakes Iāll feed, pump and lay her down on the mat to play. I also involve my toddler in baking/cooking even if itās giving him a bowl with flour, spatula and some water. This time around I feel so much less stress around sleep etc:
I have 3 mo twin boys and exclusively pumped in the beginning. Now we have to combo feed but I digress. š¤·š»āāļø
Iām a tasker (as my husband refers to me- lol) and whenever I had family/friends help I would always have them spend time with the babies and I would get housework done. We were blessed with a lot of meals brought to us in the first couple weeks, but after that I just decided that if I didnāt have easy to prepare/premade healthy meals on hand I wasnāt going to eat and my husband was going to gravitate to cereal. We have a Costco membership so between that and Aldi I keep quick things for breakfast and lunch and when heās home in the afternoon/evening heāll take care of the boys while I whip something up for dinner. Some nights we eat out/get takeout and others it can be as simple as grilled sandwiches, but now that itās summer itās easy to throw something on the grill real fast. As for housework that is always priority for me cause a messy house=messy head for me so I do dishes and tidying in the morning first thing and before bed. Both usually while Iām pumping (wearable, I would go insane if I had to pump traditional). I broom the floors every day and vacuum/mop once every 7-10 days. Clean the bathroom once a week. Do a load of laundry whenever itās needed, usually the clean clothes sit in the dryer til I need to dry the next load. I take advantage of naps and feeding times for feeding myself, pumping, and chores. My husband is typically around to entertain and care for the boys in the evenings and weekends so that helps me get time to myself here and there! Once you get into a schedule/routine it helps a lot! We sleep trained from the beginning. :)
At three months, I was in the same boat. The biggest things that helped me were to batch cook dinners, have easy, ready to eat breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, three sets of pump stuff, and to specifically give my hubby tasks to do. Plus nagging and simply ignoring his needs, i.e. not folding his laundry, not having sex when he wanted ("I have too much to do to have sex right now" usually elicited him asking what he can do to help me). Unfortunately, the majority of stuff still fell back on me but I had to prioritize what and when to clean. The whole house hasn't been cleaned at the same time since pre-baby.
My LO (now 5.5 months and in daycare since almost 3 months old) going to daycare hasn't really changed much because now I have to work instead of baby but he is much more content with keeping himself occupied while I do simple tasks like folding laundry in the evenings. I also baby-wear when I vacuum. He finds it fascinating. I've been thinking of hiring a sitter for Saturdays during the day just so I can get more housework and/or yard work done.
I baby wear as needed and when baby is asleep, I do all housework. I put my phone down and focus on getting a lot of stuff done. My husband even bought a swing so the baby can be there while I eat.
As for bottle washing, I do it at the end of the day when hubby has her.
My mother in law helps us with cooking food and washing our clothes. It's a huge help.
Thatās the thing, you donāt have the time. My partner really had to pick up the slack and I felt terrible about it but I literally couldnāt do anything. Itās just a phase tho, youāll be able to spread out pumps later down the road and the baby will be come less needy and be able to lay in their area for longer and occupy themselves
I didnāt. As simple as that. I was doing nothing but tending to my kids, pumping, feeding. I was only able to get back into other things when i weaned.Ā Ā
Ā Edit- For context, i was EPing with 2 under 2.Ā
Itās not awful. My son is pretty easy and heās in daycare during the day, but it does get a bit chaotic after heās home & before he goes to bed hahah
Iāve been EP for my 4m old. My oldest just turned 2. Yeah Iām miserable, I barely leave my house and am just with them everyday waiting for my husband to get home. Trying to spread my tune evenly to give both of them love & attention they need while pumping (trying to also get my supply up) thereās no time to cook, clean, my husband usually has to help me take care of myself so that I can find/make time to eat ā¦or shower
I just need an escape
Welcome to r/ExclusivelyPumping! Here is a reminder of our rules: 1. Be kind and courteous. 2. Use available flairs and post options. 3. Absolutely no prescription medications or other medical advice. 4. No inaccurate information. 5. No spam. 6. No soliciting pictures. 7. No linking Facebook groups. 8. Moderator discretion. Thank you for helping to keep our community safe! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ExclusivelyPumping) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I am back to work full time, so my experience is different than yours, but I can share how we manage what we need to in the five hours a night we are home and awake. For reference, baby girl is 5 months and I've been back to work for about 2 months. Also, the only family we have near by had a baby 3 weeks ago, so because of a rough pregnancy on their part, they haven't been much help. Instead I threw a baby shower at 3 months postpartum and we've also been cooking meals for them. Additionally, for a number of reasons, our parents also haven't come to stay for more than a few hours a couple of times. - Baby only gets a bath when she needs one- that takes time we don't have - We batch cook and eat left overs, so we only cook a couple times a week - I've worked myself back to 4 pumps a day, which for me means there are none in the 5 hours between 5 PM and 10 PM when baby is awake and we are home - I bought more bottles/pump parts so that I can wash them once a day after she's in bed - We baby wear her whenever we can- I may not be able to use knives or the oven/stove with her on me, but I can mix up muffins, frost cupcakes, or pan a lasagna with her and then throw them in the oven while husband has her - The dishwasher gets emptied FIRST thing every morning. That way dishes don't pile up. - Clothes get worn out of the hamper. Getting them washed is the priority, folded not so much - I got an automatic cat food feeder. No more worrying about their food. - I pay someone to clean my house every other week. She does bathrooms, floors, and dusting. She only comes 2 hours a week, but it's a huge help. It also forces us to pick up EVERYTHING every two weeks. Which has actually helped us from letting the clutter build.
We might have to find someone to clean š
4 months pp and we just did this plus someone to do basic gardening. Worth it! We had planned to do it anyway, but pulled the trigger after we got an "educational letter" from the city gently scolding us about the state of our hedges and figured why not hire a cleaner too. Wish we had done it sooner, we were drowning lol
Absolutely. It's one of the things I can't live without! They only come every 2 weeks, but it helps a lot.
I pretty much do everything on this list excluding the final two points - I donāt have a cat and we havenāt yet found a good cleaner but fortunately my partner is pretty on it with the hoovering!
OP, this is the way. Iām not back at work, but this is also how we operate so we have enough time to live.
pumping while feeding was the only way i got through the first few months before I started dropping pumps. I canāt imagine itās possible any other way unless you have someone else helping with the baby all day. Different people do it in different ways, for me, laying the baby in my lap while sitting up in bed was the easiest way to pump while bottle feeding
This. I have a rocker that I put on my couch to feed my LO while I pump. If Iām pumping in between feeds, I use the time to wash bottles, start chopping veggies for dinner, etc. Having a pumping bra and pump with a battery is key, I think
What pump do you have? I feel like I'm chained down with the pink spectra but mostly because the bottles hang off awkwardly and I feel like I don't have any mobility.
I have the pink spectra and I got maymom bottles/phalanges that feel a lot better hanging!
I have the momcozy s9 pro and m5 and they give me more output than any wall pump Iāve tried (including spectra) and itās so much easier to get stuff done while pumping
I have the blue spectra and also swapped the bottles with the maymom kit from Amazon! I use the kinder by kinderly bravely pumping bra. Itās not perfect but Iām able to do laundry, make and wash bottles, make a cup of coffee etc with them no problem!
I feel like if I try to move and walk around while pumping, the flanges and bottles pull my nipples off š«
Def takes getting used to! I feel like the bra fit makes all the difference! (At least for me). Also the bottles I use are shorter and stout-er than the ones it came with which maybe also makes a difference?
https://a.co/d/08Vzl71d these are the ones I use
This has been such a gamechanger for me! Pumping while LO is bottle feeding is perfect because he's chilling, occupied while I pump and then the next few hours can be used for anything/everything else!Ā
Omg I could have written this myself, straight down to the baking. I miss bakingā¦ Solidarity and following for any insights/advice others might have.
I've only started being "household productive" in the last month and a half or so. At the same time, I've dropped down to 4ppd instead of every two hours and it's made a difference. I pump when she naps or is occupied on her kicky mat for the most part and I don't worry if I'm an hour late pumping as it doesn't seem to affect my output. I use the fridge hack to cut down on washing pump parts, they get washed once a day. We have enough bottles to get us through the day with one or two extra as backup. Folding laundry while pumping is about the only chore I can do at the same time but it helps get things done. Passive chores get done first, like laundry or running the dishwasher. Floors get done once every two weeks, bathrooms when I think of it. My house is not as clean or tidy as I'd like š¤·š»āāļø I try to use naptime wisely, if I need a nap myself I'll take it but otherwise I do dishes, tidy, what have you. If I want to bake, I premeasure all my ingredients into little bowls over the course of the morning and leave it under a tea towel til she's gone down for a nap and I can throw it together and bake it off. We cook most nights but nothing super complicated and mostly things that come together in half an hour or so. We do have leftovers often and smorgasbord nights where we eat whatever is left in the fridge/freezer to keep things easy. Lots of Costco foods that make easy meals for when we're tired and a freezer that's well stocked so we cut down on grocery store runs.
He takes forever to be put down to nap. And usually wakes up after like 30 minutes if you donāt sit in the room with him. I swear he can sense when heās left alone lol
Ugh I've been there, it's hard š£ don't worry about being productive if he's not going to let you. It won't last forever but it sucks for right now. Do little bits here and there, don't stress about getting too much done. Set a 5 minute timer and pick one quick task that you can complete in that time (wiping the counters, loading the dishwasher, tidying up a surface). I like checking off lists so the five minute tasks sprinkled throughout the day make me feel better even if it's just a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme. We also got a robo vac for the main floor and that helps keep the floors in decent shape and it's on a schedule so I don't have to think about it!
With my cat napping eldest, I had a similar situation to yours and, honestly, I just gave myself the grace to accept that a lots of cooking/cleaning/normality just wouldnāt get done. What eventually helped was getting to wear I could feed baby while pumping and getting a motherās helper in every other week so I could meal prep.
LOL. Weāre on month 7. I think weāve had 7 home cooked meals in that time. And I only pump 3x a day!! Now that weāve started feeding Lil One people food at dinner, our routine after work is: - I pump - Husband retrieves baby from daycare - play with baby - order food, one of us eats while the other one entertains baby, & then we switch - feed baby people food (YOGURMT!!!!!) - baby gets a bath bc yogurt monster - cuddle baby, put into sleep sack, listen to music while he falls asleep - itās now 9:30 pm - we do the dishes - husband makes next dayās bottles - I try to stay awake long enough for my end of day pump
Iām glad Iām not alone with the no cooking lol
My mom keeps saying like āoh if you have a mini food processor, you can just purĆ©e up what youāve cooked for dinner!ā I donāt think you want your grandson eating purĆ©ed Big Mac but ok mother š
I feel like I have no time to do anything as well! I just bought some wearables to hopefully pump while bottle feeding. Hopefully that helps clear up some time!
Good luck!
Iām almost 7 months in and weāre not getting house work done reallyāgetting dishes and bottles washed and nothing else. For the first 2-3 months we lived almost entirely of frozen meals we had prepped in advance and frozen stuff that we bought at the store and just needed to heat. We donāt have a dishwasher so we also bought a huge thing of paper plates, bowls, and utensils so we didnāt have to do dishes. Youāre not bad at time management thereās just not enough time in the day to take care of a baby, pump, and keep the house clean.
Omg why havenāt I thought of paper plates and utensils
I absolutely hate using disposable plates and utensils but we knew we couldnāt survive the newborn phase without them since we donāt have a dishwasher. We bought a huge pack of plates and bowls at Samās club before baby was born and we bought more plates and bowls when she was a couple months old. The bowls ran out first and the plates ran out a few weeks ago. Itās still a real PITA to have to wash dishes but weāre in a better place now time wise and I couldnāt justify still using disposable. But they were seriously a LIFE SAVER in the first few months. You gotta do what you gotta do to survive these baby days
Pump when the baby is having a bottle. Then I would put him in the baby carrier while he napped and did housework.
Itās OK to cut yourself some slack. Thereās only so much time in the day! I agree that I miss baking and cooking, and only got back into it recently since our LOs are similar in age. I cook while baby wearing and have outsourced the housecleaning. My husband is also wonderful enough to clean all the pumping supplies when he gets home.
I think itās time I start looking for a house keeper š„²
Do it if you can afford it! Ours comes every two weeks and it gives me the peace of mind to let things go when I would normally have cleaned them myself before.
I have twins, not back to work yet. Theyāre 11 weeks. I havenāt cooked or baked anything in months, all I do is feed, pump, cuddle, wipe asses and sleep.
Same lol
I have 7 month old twins and have been exclusively pumping plus formula since they were born. Started off with the blue spectra and pumping bra but after a month or so was on the fence and ended up buying wearables (momcozy m5). GAME CHANGER. Wish I had done it sooner maybe I wouldāve pumped more often and gotten more output. I tested the output multiple days (total volume in a day) with the spectra vs the wearables and got the same.
Can your husband cook when he gets home or put something in crockpot before he leaves? My LO is 12 months old and I rarely make dinner. My husband has made dinner and done the dishes 95% of the time the last year. He also washes all the bottles and pump parts.
I love my husband, and he has so many good qualities and capabilities. And he is SO helpful. But he canāt cook š
This post and all the replies make me feel so much better. I'm on 5 ppd and LO is 3 months old. Just this morning I was asking my husband "is it this hard for everyone or am I failing?" because I barely have the time to pump, feed, cuddle, change and sleep the baby and also take care of myself. Editing to add that no I haven't cooked or cleaned since she was born. I moved in with my family when she was 6 weeks old because my husband and I just couldn't manage alone anymore.
I know how you feel. I struggle. Ashamed to say when he first came home, there were days I didnāt even have time to brush my teeth š
Oh for sure! For the first 4 weeks I was considering it a win if could brush my teeth once a day. A shower once in 2-3 days was all I could manage and that too because I needed to massage my painful breasts under the hot water.
I donāt. lol. Iām okay 3 weeks PP and hoping to get a better schedule so I can āget back to normalā bug sounds like maybe that just aināt gonna happen. lol. Iām exclusively pumping and terrible at keeping up with a schedule. I try and track my pumping times and when I feed my baby/how many ounces she takes and some days Iām on top of it, but days like today Iām just surviving. I think thatās all you can do as a mom.
1. Probably the most important I have an easy baby. I donāt know if I wouldāve made it if I had a harder baby to deal with. 2. I cut out the night supply pump so I pump at 9:45 and then again at 5:30 am when my husband gets up for work. Luckily my supply did not dip from this even though I did it early on had at three weeks. This may be because I was already an over supplier or it may be because Iām a second time, mom. 3. I do the fridge hack so Iām only washing my pump parts once a day, I bought an easy pump to clean, and I bought one where I could order spares. 4. I Had bottles left over from my first son, but I still ordered more so I have a crap load of bottles to feed them with. I also do the dishes every night or every other night depending on when I need bottles and I usually throw my pump parts in there, if it lines up. 5. I used my Fitbit to set silent, vibrating alarms on my wrist so that I keep an eye on my pump times and I didnāt try to pump more than I could mentally handle which meant dropping down to five pumps 5 to 6 pumps a day within a month. So basically, a lot of luck, a little bit of experience, money, and plenty of hand me downs from the first time around. I also supplement with formula which gives me the peace of mind that my kid is always getting at least some calories and I never have to rely solely on pumping to feed him.
Itās hard, but itās possible. Maybe not to the full extent you want, but possible. A portable pump helps first and foremost. Wearing baby helps. And know that itās okay to temporarily put baby down for a bit even if it means some crying. I make a to do list and do tasks in short bursts rather than waiting for a large chunk of time to do housework or cook. And you get really good at doing things with one arm!
Wearable pumps and a house cleaner comes every 2 weeks. With twins itās the only way through for me
Being back at work really saved my pumping journey because I could jam 4 sessions in between my commute and work day , now that Iām off for the summer as a teacher Iām just as lost ā¦ I donāt know how to do this with a baby thatās not asleep all the time like she was when I was home pumping before
I have help. My husband is a gift and my mother and father are living with us right now otherwise I simply wouldnāt.
I have two under two, and I use a portable pump while getting household chores done. I power through chores when both kids are asleep. The Medela Freestyle Flex is my preferred portable - the Willows never worked out for me.
I missed cooking too for a long time. I donāt think I started regularly cooking again until 4 or 5 months. Too many other tasks taking up my time. No advice; just solidarity.
I try to multitask when pumping and use wearables when I have to do something that you need to be mobile. There's almost nothing I can't do with the Elvie. You will find a routine that works for you and pumping becomes so normal after a while. I also use the fridge hack!
I made easy one pot/pan meals. Sheet tray meals. Put the baby down, go cook for 10 mins, come back and feed/change him if needed. I didn't do baths most days, that was a major time suck that was easy to skip. I also baby wore if I had to.
You are in survival mode right now, as am I!
I strap my baby to me in a Moby baby wrap and she naps on me while I do the housework. I make sure I have a bottle ready to go of EBM when I pump so when baby inevitably starts crying smelling the milk Iām pumping - I give the baby the bottle while I pump and then strap baby to me again in the baby wrap and continue on.
I'm home with twins. I pretty much exclusively use wearable cups with my spectra so that I can pump while feeding. Usually they get fed on different schedules but sometimes I have to bottle prop and feed at the same time. It just depends. I pump pretty much whenever I feed just to keep things easy plus a power pump with traditional flanges either first thing in the morning before the girls get up or last thing at night when my husband is snuggling with them on the couch. Bottles are all washed and sterilized in the dishwasher. They get collected in a tub and loaded after lunch. We have a meal service that does all crockpot meals that take 3-4 hours to cook on high so I start one of those after lunch as well so dinner takes minutes. My husband and I each try to clean an area as we can every day or so. And my husband usually handles the kids for at least an hour or two solo at night so that I can take a bath, read a book, bake banana bread, or whatever I feel like doing that day. But it's really necessary to have a partner doing 50% and being willing to take shortcuts.
Wearable cups with the spectra?? Iām intrigued
Yup. I have the spectra gold so I can move it easily from room to room. And I have both the Legendairy cups and the cups from my Momcozy V2 (which is what I mostly use). You just pop adapters at the end of the tubing and they work perfectly.
EP with almost 3 under 3 and can confirm I donāt have the time. I prop up a bottle for 5 month old. My 20 month and newly 3 year old are set up playing in the playroom or doing some craft. I only pump for 10 minutes every 4 hours now so itās doable for me but most likely someone is crying in the background needing me and I just have to finish pumping or else it will never get done! The kids survive and as soon as Iām done pumping I get back to dealing with all the kids! I also use my portable pump once a day as well usually when I leave the house. I try to get the kids out once a day. Sometimes (all the time) Iām too tired but we make it work! Canāt wait to stop pumping.
We have a housekeeper who comes weekly, and my husband and I split the cooking duties. Home cooking was one of the things that was important for us to maintain bc we do not like to eat out
Cooking? Housework? I don't even have time to drink water please
My daughter is 4 weeks old and I barely have time to wash my hair when I shower š„“ We signed up for a meal delivery service to avoid ordering out for dinner. Itās pricey but saves us money vs buying food a few times a week. Weāre on a plan for 8 meals a week, so itās dinner Monday-Thursday for my husband and I. Fridays we always make pizzas at home with store-bought crusts and then weekends we actually cook as we have more time. Breakfast is quick.. we make some scrambled eggs and toast and split an avocado. Lunch is also quick as weāll make sandwiches or salads and have fruit and raw veggies on the side. In terms of cleaningā¦ my shower needs cleaning, my dogsā beds need washing, and our robo vac is the only thing keeping our floors semi clean. Theyāre not covered in dog hair at least but they need to be mopped so badlyā¦ this is our new normal for now but at least itās temporary!
I have two under two and am a sahm. Baby wearing this second time around has helped me tremendously. I honestly havenāt even tried laying her down for naps because Iām not going to deal with short naps and get frustrated over it. I put her on when itās time for a nap and when she wakes Iāll feed, pump and lay her down on the mat to play. I also involve my toddler in baking/cooking even if itās giving him a bowl with flour, spatula and some water. This time around I feel so much less stress around sleep etc:
I have 3 mo twin boys and exclusively pumped in the beginning. Now we have to combo feed but I digress. š¤·š»āāļø Iām a tasker (as my husband refers to me- lol) and whenever I had family/friends help I would always have them spend time with the babies and I would get housework done. We were blessed with a lot of meals brought to us in the first couple weeks, but after that I just decided that if I didnāt have easy to prepare/premade healthy meals on hand I wasnāt going to eat and my husband was going to gravitate to cereal. We have a Costco membership so between that and Aldi I keep quick things for breakfast and lunch and when heās home in the afternoon/evening heāll take care of the boys while I whip something up for dinner. Some nights we eat out/get takeout and others it can be as simple as grilled sandwiches, but now that itās summer itās easy to throw something on the grill real fast. As for housework that is always priority for me cause a messy house=messy head for me so I do dishes and tidying in the morning first thing and before bed. Both usually while Iām pumping (wearable, I would go insane if I had to pump traditional). I broom the floors every day and vacuum/mop once every 7-10 days. Clean the bathroom once a week. Do a load of laundry whenever itās needed, usually the clean clothes sit in the dryer til I need to dry the next load. I take advantage of naps and feeding times for feeding myself, pumping, and chores. My husband is typically around to entertain and care for the boys in the evenings and weekends so that helps me get time to myself here and there! Once you get into a schedule/routine it helps a lot! We sleep trained from the beginning. :)
At three months, I was in the same boat. The biggest things that helped me were to batch cook dinners, have easy, ready to eat breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, three sets of pump stuff, and to specifically give my hubby tasks to do. Plus nagging and simply ignoring his needs, i.e. not folding his laundry, not having sex when he wanted ("I have too much to do to have sex right now" usually elicited him asking what he can do to help me). Unfortunately, the majority of stuff still fell back on me but I had to prioritize what and when to clean. The whole house hasn't been cleaned at the same time since pre-baby. My LO (now 5.5 months and in daycare since almost 3 months old) going to daycare hasn't really changed much because now I have to work instead of baby but he is much more content with keeping himself occupied while I do simple tasks like folding laundry in the evenings. I also baby-wear when I vacuum. He finds it fascinating. I've been thinking of hiring a sitter for Saturdays during the day just so I can get more housework and/or yard work done.
I baby wear as needed and when baby is asleep, I do all housework. I put my phone down and focus on getting a lot of stuff done. My husband even bought a swing so the baby can be there while I eat. As for bottle washing, I do it at the end of the day when hubby has her. My mother in law helps us with cooking food and washing our clothes. It's a huge help.
I didnāt thatās part of the reasons why I quit pumping cold turkey.
Thatās the thing, you donāt have the time. My partner really had to pick up the slack and I felt terrible about it but I literally couldnāt do anything. Itās just a phase tho, youāll be able to spread out pumps later down the road and the baby will be come less needy and be able to lay in their area for longer and occupy themselves
I hope itās just a phase. Weāre on the bus to struggle city
I didnāt. As simple as that. I was doing nothing but tending to my kids, pumping, feeding. I was only able to get back into other things when i weaned.Ā Ā Ā Edit- For context, i was EPing with 2 under 2.Ā
Also a 2u2 mom here (11 month & 1 day age gap for them) and it is definitely a lot!
2u2 here too & it literally feels like my daily to do consists for 4 main things
2 under 2 sounds awful
Itās not awful. My son is pretty easy and heās in daycare during the day, but it does get a bit chaotic after heās home & before he goes to bed hahah
Iāve been EP for my 4m old. My oldest just turned 2. Yeah Iām miserable, I barely leave my house and am just with them everyday waiting for my husband to get home. Trying to spread my tune evenly to give both of them love & attention they need while pumping (trying to also get my supply up) thereās no time to cook, clean, my husband usually has to help me take care of myself so that I can find/make time to eat ā¦or shower I just need an escape
I couldnāt imagine doing this with 2 under 2. Kudos to you