What's In My Pumping Bag

After being a working and pumping mama for a few months, I wanted to share what is in my pump bag. I've tried lots of different things and here's what has worked out well for me.

Simple Wishes Hands Free Pumping Bra

This bra is what makes pumping bearable sometimes. The bottles are held up by the bra and I have my hands free to do breast compressions to help extract more milk (technique described here) or use my phone to look at pictures of my baby or surf the net/catch up on social media, etc.

Sarah Wells Pumparoo Wet/Dry Bag

You'll need something to carry your pump parts around in, and you could use a gallon ziploc bag like I did for months, or you can use something like this which is a bit more discreet. If your pump room has a dedicated fridge, it's not so bad to use the clear ziploc bag, but if you have to store your pumping accessories in a shared fridge, this bag will probably get less questions from your coworkers (although I fully support discussing with your coworkers if you're comfortable!).  Personally, I was too shy to discuss lactation with my male coworkers, so I preferred to be discreet about it.

This bag is washable and one great thing about it is it includes this flap shown below to act as a clean surface to set down all your pump parts.

Medela Cooler Bag

You'll need something to transport your milk home from work. If you buy a Medela pump at retail, I believe all of the electric ones include this handy cooler bag.  However, if you've received your pump via insurance, many of them don't include the accessories.  This one is one that I'd buy because I thought it was super useful.  The set includes 4 bottles and lids and an ice pack and it all fits neatly inside the cooler bag.  I have my name in the little exterior pocket so that I can identify which one is mine in the shared fridge at work.  I put all of my expressed milk inside the bag, which goes in the fridge. This way I don't need to worry about getting my milk mixed up with the other ladies' milk bottles at work.

Pashmina scarf or wrap

Since I undress to pump, I get a little chilly during the 10-20 minutes I'm pumping so I like to have something to wrap around my shoulders. This one from Nordstrom was a gift from my husband and it is so soft and light, but warm too.  I love it!