As a new mother, I learned how to be creative when pumping on the go with my first-born. Since I struggled with breastfeeding my first born, so I had to pump a lot at home and on the go. I figured many moms could relate to my experiences to I wanted to share.
Zen and the Art of Pumping in the Car
Since my daughter had a tough time breastfeeding, I was glued to the couch nursing and pumping. When I wanted to do things outside the house, I would also pump in the car on the way to whatever we were doing. At the time, we lived in a condo complex with a small parking lot, so there wasn’t any privacy for setting up to pump. Instead, I would drive a little bit and find an empty parking lot hidden by trees or buildings. Then I would strip down and get the pump set up. I put on a cardigan to keep warm and a nursing apron over my chest in case I got pulled over. (Thank goodness I never did!) After I finished pumping, I would then look for another empty parking lot to take everything apart.
Pumping at Work
When I went back to work, I had an hour commute so I continued to pump while driving as well as during the work day. I was first given a spare room to pump in. After a few weeks, the room needed to be used for something else. I had to pump in the office where I worked, which had glass doors. I had to put a big sheet over the glass for privacy. Unfortunately, the door was so high that I needed a taller co-worker to hang it up for me.
Eventually they installed blinds on the glass windows, which made pumping at work much easier. Then I ended up getting a new job with a shorter commute. That company even had a designated pumping room for pumping mothers, which was amazing!
Here’s a list of places I found privacy for pumping on the go:
- An abandoned ambulance company
- An abandoned hotel
- A elementary school parking lot (during the summer)
- A far corner of a Wal-Mart parking lot
- A private road leading to a military base that was hardly used
- Behind a storage facility
- The far corner of a highway rest area
- A spa bathroom (after getting a much-needed massage)!
So if you are a new mom and pumping on the go for the first time, know that you are not alone. If you see a mom in a secluded section of a parking lot, she is probably pumping and wants privacy. Pumping in private can be hard to obtain, but it’s also a lot of work and very isolating. Give pumping moms credit and acknowledge how hard it is.
