Most mothers can tell you that nothing gets their milk flowing, however, like thinking about their baby or hearing their baby's hunger cry or that special sound they make while rooting for the nipple. I know that for myself, even after my son was finished with breast-feeding, other babies' cries would give me that tingly sensation and sometimes I would even leak milk.
For some moms, a cry alone just won't do it. Those who travel frequently or who have babies in the NICU often carry a picture of their baby to look at while pumping and find that this works.
If you have access to an iPod or other MP3 player, you can use the power of technology to help stimulate your milk ejection reflex. You can use your computer's sound recorder or use a free program available on the Internet (my personal favorite is Audacity and it's available for Macs, Windows and Linux) to catch a few moments of your baby's sounds. Save the file as an MP3 and then transfer to your MP3 player or phone. If you are using a video iPod, you can use iTunes to drag "album artwork" to your file, which could be a picture of your baby. Other programs offer this ability as well.
When you're ready to pump, pop on your headphones and set your file to play in a loop, relax and wait for your milk to start flowing. Don't forget to load up whatever music soothes and relaxes you or maybe special music that you share with your baby for the rest of your pumping session.
More Information:
- Setting up a File is a lot like Creating a Podcast
- Find the Right MP3 Player for You
- More Tips for Pumping Breast Milk
And of course, if you don't have an MP3 player, you can always do it the old fashioned way -- with a portable digital or tape recorder.
