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I initially started pumping when LO was maybe a couple days old or so, as my nipples were torn to shreds from BF. In order to give them a 'break' and ensure LO was getting enough milk, I had to express it. We panic-bought a Medela Swing pump, which has been a wonderful investment. We had a variety of bottles and nipples and he was happy with any of them when he was very small, but now at 7 months he's a bit more selective!

I normally only pump if I know I'm going to be away from LO for more than about 2 hours. I used to have a tiny stash of milk but I kept overestimating the amount that LO would need while I was away, so I'd end up defrosting a lot more than he actually needed! I can't stress how awful it feels to see breastmilk go to waste! If your LO takes pumped milk more regularly than mine does, the amount they need will probably be easier for you to discern and you'll be able to minimize waste. Or you could try freezing it in small amounts to begin with.

Anyway, if I need to pump, I'll do it in the morning when it's easiest to get lots out. However, if I can't do it in the morning, I might feed LO from the same breast twice in a row so more milk builds up in the other one, meaning that it'll be easier to pump out a good quantity.

It's great that you are doing all this research early! I really wish I had. Breastfeeding can be very physically and emotionally demanding to begin with, but it's worth persevering. I wish someone had told me that!! Good luck

I sah and pumped occasionally to build a stash so I could be away for a few hours here and there.

My basic routine was once in a while, like once or twice a week, after her morning feeding, during her first nap, I would take a hot shower then pump immediately, since the warm water is supposed to help output. Most of the time I would just freeze it, unless I was going to be away in the day or so. I mostly froze in whatever amount I pumped, which was usually between 2.5-3.5 oz. (label the bag with oz and date).

I never built up a huge stash this way, but I was able to have enough that if I was going out for an evening, I didn't need to worry.

I was not careful about making sure she stayed comfortable with a bottle and we had a bottle strike at one point, which was really stressful, but we tried a bunch of different things and figured it out.

And I got a medela double electric for free from my insurance. Worked great. The Pisa is better in that it has a battery pack, which would have been helpful occasionally, but wasn't worth paying extra for me and the amount that I pumped.

It really seemed a lot more daunting to me before I actually did it, but I also didn't have much pressure on it- I was always with her so I wasn't too worried about a stash, and I was lucky to never have real damage to my nipples in the beginning.