> A woman, such as Fio's client, in the difficult position of trying to
> tend a baby while regularly pumping, might be able to at least be able
> to do a few simple tasks -- a game of patty-cake maybe.

I did know about the Medela Hands free kit, and have recommended it to
another mom who definately wants to keep going longer, and who is on her
first baby (i.e. the father can occupy the baby more easily this way on
a 1-to-1 basis).  However, this mom was on to baby #2, the older one
would of course want to play with his father too, and when she was alone
that made 2 babies to take care of.  As she "weaned" from the pump when
the youngest was only 2 months, I don't think that games of patty cake
or whatever would have helped her much caring for the baby...probably
what he would have wanted was to be *held* pretty much constantly...and
the few breaks not holding him might be to play with his older brother.
I doubt that the hands-free medela set lets one cradle-hold a "newborn"
in a snuggly-close position while pumping.  :-(

I honestly think that moms who decide to exclusively pump have a heck of
a hard job of it, and I think that often they do double the work:
washing pump parts *and* bottles, staying hooked up to a pump and *then*
feeding baby from the bottle.  Most moms don't decide to do this for the
fun of it...and if some of them decide not to feed human milk to their
babies because it is "too time consuming", I can seriously understand
that problem in the case of an exclusive pumper (it's not a job I'd like
to do!  :-()...though most of the above does not apply to the mom who
nurses mostly exclusively like myself (I can count on my 2 hands the
number of times I've pumped in order to be away from my daughter.):
nursing is of course so much *easier* than washing bottles and mixing
formula.  Right now I'm pumping milk to donate, and I must say I think
it's grueling, a horrible task, and I'm only doing it once a day!  My
daughter is 12 months old (big #1 coming up tuesday!), much more able to
"occupy herself" with toys, much less "cling-y" (wanting to be cuddled)
than a new baby...and there are STILL times when I'm pumping & she
decides NOW is when she wants to cuddle & nurse to sleep...yet I've got
to store the milk in the freezer & wash the pump at some point (perhaps
while she naps, at least that can wait).

On a plus note, and rather aside the topic I've found a great
time-saver.  I put my milk into playtex nursers with disposable bags
(once frozen, the bags come out of the support, get closed up & put
inside another zip-loc freezer bag).  I have found that although one
might not think so on first view, that the Avent Isis pump is very
compatible with playtex nursers (if anyone can't figure out how & wants
to know, ask me & I'll explain in more detail).  This means that at
least I no longer have to pump into the 4-oz Avent bottle and then
transfer (pour) into the playtex nurser & bags...I can pump directly
into the nurser bags.

NB I have no financial interest in these companies (Avent or Playtex).
I bought the Playtex to store MM when I was still hand-expressing and
then got the Avent (and subsequently another Avent!) as a present.

Fio.

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