medela Archives - Going Dad

Happy Father’s Day to all of you awesome dads out there! These two girls make me a happy father/husband every day!

Yep, I’m one proud and lucky guy, and I’m elated to be celebrating this day for the first time! Avery also turns 7 months old today; she’s past the half year mark!

I finally get to find out what my wife has been keeping me from in our front room for the past month. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you soon.

Besides having two beautiful girls in my life, I’m proud of the fact that Going Mom chooses to only breastfeed Avery and will never consider formula. I understand some situations where it’s not possible, but just giving up isn’t a good reason or fair to babies.

No doubt, breastfeeding, from what I’ve seen and heard, is no walk in the park and has many hurdles to get past, but it’s not impossible. Going Mom is one of many mothers who deal with the #boobissues on a daily basis, and I do my best to support her however I can.

In honor of Father’s Day, Medela shared with me that they have collaborated with Kuroji Patrick, one of Medela’s 2013 Breastfeeding Hall of Excellence inductees, to create a list of tips for dads to get and stay involved with the breastfeeding journey.

We take pride in raising our daughter with the best nutrition from Mother Nature, and I hope this list will held dads support their partners and be an advocate for breastfeeding.

Daddies and Breastfeeding: Ways to Stay Involved

Before the Baby Comes

Be supportive of your partner’s decision to breastfeed by understanding the benefits of breastmilk.

Help your partner find information on what breastpump your insurance will cover. The Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to provide equipment and support with no co-pay, but the actual pump provided will vary from company to company.

Join your partner in preparing for the experience of breastfeeding by taking a course that will provide you both with the information you’ll need to know.

Seek out other fathers who have supported their partners while Breastfeeding to gain real world advice.

At the Hospital

At the hospital, be an advocate for your partner. Make sure the staff knows that she wants to breastfeed and that formula should not be given to the baby without consent.

Find the lactation consultant if mom is struggling. Many hospitals have one on staff, and early intervention and support from a professional is crucial, particularly for first-time moms.

Ask the hospital staff about local breastfeeding support groups for after your family goes home. Peer encouragement is helpful, and it’s an excuse for mom and baby to get out of the house.

At Home

In addition to making sure your partner has what she needs while she heals from childbirth, you can help the breastfeeding transition to home by making sure she is comfortable while nursing—by bringing her pillows, foot rest, water, etc.
It doesn’t sound glamorous, but diaper changes are a great way for you to get involved in baby care. In addition to giving your partner a break, it’s a chance for you and your baby to start practicing conversation skills by making eye contact, cooing noises and engaging your baby with changing facial expressions.
If your partner starts pumping, you’ll have a chance to bond with your baby over a bottle and give your partner a break. You can further help your partner by washing and sterilizing pump parts and bottles.
Be your partner’s biggest cheerleader. Breastfeeding can be frustrating and difficult in the beginning, but you can provide moral support by acknowledging the difficulty of nursing and offering to find a professional to help, such as lactation consultant (which should be covered by your insurance). And remind your partner of why she wanted to breastfeed in the first place!

I have been utilizing tips like these since Avery’s birth and know I have a stronger bond with my daughter and wife as a result. The benefits of breastfeeding are powerful and I’d hope any parent would want only the best for their children.

Medela’s online education course, Breastfeeding University, costs a reasonable $25 and offers you priceless information, but they have agreed to allow me to offer 3 readers free access codes to the course! This would be perfect for the expecting couple to complete together or any couple looking to add to their breastfeeding knowledge database.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below telling me about your experience or plans with breastfeeding. I will randomly select 3 commenters to receive access codes to use to take the course for free. Contest ends next Friday, June 20th.

This giveaway has ended, but don’t worry, I’ll have plenty of other opportunities to win great prizes in the future!

Thanks to everyone who read and commented on this post, it’s something I am deeply passionate about. The three winners are Maggie, Ashley, and Stacy. Congrats and I have sent an e-mail for your code!

Hope everyone has a great day! Treat the dad in your life extra nice today! 🙂

Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this post and all views are strictly my own.

Can you think of something that has an up and a down side?

Recently, Avery hit a growth spurt and was going through bottles just like her diapers! This is the up side as I was worried she wasn’t eating enough to facilitate growth. But the down side was how quickly the dirty bottles collected in the sink.

Luckily, Medela sent us their Quick Clean™ products for review at the same time.

Each day, I have to clean all of the bottles and the breast pump parts Going Mom uses at work. This can be difficult at the end of the day when Avery is demanding attention while I’m preparing dinner, picking up around the house, and Going Mom is just trying to change out of work clothes.

Medela’s Quick Clean™ product line includes:

Quick Clean™ Breastmilk Removal Soap – Great for home use
Quick Clean™ Breastpump & Accessory Wipes – Perfect when on the go
Quick Clean™ Micro-Steam Bags – Great to use at work, when travelling, and at home

Since I’m not the one pumping breastmilk at work, Going Mom made use of the wipes and micro-steam bags while I used the breastmilk removal soap to tackle the mounting bottles at home. With feedback from my wife, I’ll go over each item providing our pros and cons.

Quick Clean™ Breastmilk Removal Soap

Medela’s description:

Quick Clean breastmilk removal soap removes stubborn breastmilk residue up to 3 days old and is clinically tested under physician supervision not to cause skin irritation. No-scrub soap is safe and hypoallergenic with no added fragrance or taste that might discourage baby from breastfeeding.

I had trouble accepting the “no-scrub” part of this soap, but appreciate that it is fragrance free and didn’t irritate my skin. I followed the directions on the bottle and used 3 pumps of soap for every gallon of lukewarm water. I let Kelley’s breast pump parts and all of the components of the bottles soak for 5 minutes and rinsed with water.

Not using the bottle brush saved a lot of time and it felt too good to be true. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true; at least the no-scrub part. After letting everything air dry, the bottles had a haziness that we haven’t seen before and just didn’t seem thoroughly clean.

But don’t wave this off as ineffective, I tried it again along with using the scrubber and everything came out clean; no haze! So maybe the soap cleans without scrubbing, but I don’t like seeing a haze and scrubbing will fix that.

Pros:

Can be used for all breast pump parts, bottles, nipples, and even dishes
Safe and hypoallergenic
No fragrance to irritate skin or alter taste for baby

Cons:

“No-scrub” didn’t work (for me)

Quick Clean™ Breastpump & Accessory Wipes

Medela’s description:

Convenient portable cleaning, no need for soap and water cleaning after each pump session. Hygienic wipes proven safe for cleaning of breastpumps and accessories as well as high chairs, tables, cribs and countertops.

Kelley used these at work after pumping and liked them for the most part, but they left a soapy residue that needed to be rinsed. Also, it is difficult to get into the small areas of some of the parts with the wipes alone. She still prefers to just have me clean everything with the Quick Clean™ Soap when she gets home and that’s fine with me; she’s busy enough as it is!

Since the wipes are good for more than just pump parts, we are having better luck using them at home. Now that we’re starting baby-led weaning with Avery, I have a feeling they will be quite handy for the highchair!

Pros:

Able to use anywhere when on the go
Good for cleaning more than just breast pump accessories like high chairs, countertops, toys, and more
Hygienic

Cons:

Leaves a soapy film that sometimes needs rinsing
Can’t get into the hard to reach places on small parts

Quick Clean™ Micro-Steam™ Bags

Medela’s description:

Disinfect your breastpump breastshields, accessories, breastmilk bottles, nipples, pacifiers and more in about 3 minutes.

Of the three products, these are hands down our favorite! Going Mom uses the bags at work and home to clean and sanitize all breast pump accessories and bottle nipples. We love how quick and efficient the bags are and they are easily transportable.

Pros:

Kills 99.9% of germs and bacteria when used
Simple to use
Great for storing pump parts and keeps you from losing the small pieces
Each bag can be used up to 20 times and even includes checkboxes to make sure you keep an accurate count
Very sturdy and will not easily rip or get punctured

Cons:

None

Overall, we have been happy with Medela’s Quick Clean™ products but love the steam bags the most. The soap is working fine now that I scrub and I honestly feel better about scrubbing dirty accessories anyway. Although the wipes aren’t the best solution for Going Mom when at work, I’m finding they are helpful for quick cleaning around the house.

Have you tried any of Medela’s Quick Clean™ products? If not, do you want to?

Any favorite cleaning solutions that you use?

Thank you, Medela, for allowing me the opportunity to use and review your line of Quick Clean™ products!

Disclosure: Medela provided everything mentioned in this post free of charge but did not compensate me for this post in any way. All thoughts and opinions are strictly my (and my wife’s) own.