Question About Working/Pumping

Ivorytower2

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone had any advice on this topic- I'm going back to work in a month, but I work from home. In going to start introducing one bottle a day so LO gets used to it. Because I work from home and I will have in home childcare, I have the option to breastfeed during the day (have the sitter bring me the baby to breastfeed and then take her back when she is done). I'm wondering if this would be a better option than giving her a bottle at each of her feeds? Or maybe I should do a mix of BF-ing during the day and rotating having the sitter give her a bottle sometimes?

I want to bf as much as possible, but I don't want to confuse LO or start bad habits.

Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

mommatotwo2

I'd probably nurse her instead of pump. Either way you will need to take breaks about every 3 hours to empty your breasts one way or another. You will want to work breaks and expectations out ahead of time with your boss, because while you could pump and work, feeding while working could be a little more challenging.

Peanutz21

when i returned to work my typical schedule worked out so that i would nurse LO usually once in the morning, she would get 2-3 bottles at daycare then at home with me depending on timing would nurse 1-2 more times

if i had the option of having LO brought to me at work to nurse i would TOTALLY take it. pumping can be the pits sometimes  - the pumping set up, the clean up, the bottle prep, etc. 

thats just my own opinion though - it depends on how flexible your work from home schedule is - do you have the time to nurse LO on demand?

i would prefer to nurse over bottle any day...!

Ivorytower2

Thanks for the responses! @Peanutz21‌ did your LO have any trouble going back and forth from breast to bottle? Did it cause any difficulties BFing?

surpriseaddition

I was teaching at a school only 5 minutes from my house, and my husband took some time off when I first started teaching again (when LO was 6 months). I was pumping at work, but sometimes he would bring me lunch and bring LO to me to nurse. To be honest with you, I don't think I'd want to do that all the time. The reason is because of the time commitment. At work, I could use my double electric pump, and be done with everything within 15 minutes. However, when LO came to see me, she normally took at least 30 minutes to nurse each time. The pumping was way faster and if it's during your normal working time, that may be easier. You can also use a hands free nursing bra, and then continue working while pumping, where the nursing would be much more difficult (unless you just dial into conference calls frequently or something like that).  My LOs had no issue going back and forth between bottle and breast. Most working women don't have the option to nurse while working, so lots of babies eat both ways. You just want to make sure you have slow flow nipples so LO really needs to work hard to get the milk and make sure your caregiver paces the bottle with frequent breaks and burping so LO doesn't begin to prefer the faster feeding method of a bottle. GL on returning to work!  You can try the nursing, or maybe do one feeding that way, and the other a bottle.  I'd experiment and see what is the best fit.

jenn43

My LO came to work with me for a couple months.  I brought bottles for him.  If he was ready to eat and I had time to nurse him we did that.  If our "breaks" didn't overlap I pumped and he got a bottle.  It actually worked pretty well, and LO didn't get confused at all.  My only advice would be to make sure LO gets at least one bottle a day so he doesn't forget how- I've heard of some babies refusing a bottle if they haven't had it for awhile.  We did one bottle on the weekend days until LO was about 3 months old.  Now he only nurses on the weekends, and seems to be switching back and forth without a problem.

mommatotwo2

I forgot to mention, for 9 months my LO was bottle fed expressed milk ten hours a day and five days a week and had no problems going back to breast when we were together. We are still successfully nursing at 17.5 months.

Ivorytower2

Thanks all. This is really helpful. @theresat858‌ by bad habits I think I just meant would it be bad to get in the habit of breastfeeding her during work hours in case I suddenly had to go out of town or had a meeting and she had to take a bottle- like would she refuse the bottle becAuse she was used to getting the breast at that particular time of day. This is all really new to me, but It seems like most of you haven't had any trouble going back and forth from breast to bottle so that puts my mind at ease a lot. I love breastfeeding her and I'd be so sad if she only want to take a bottle once she started- especially because she's only going to be two months old when I go back to work.

mommatotwo2

I remember feeling just how you are. The thought of a bottle when you've been nursing is a tough transition, for mom especially. Even if you do decide to pump, I'd minimally take at least one time a workday to nurse.

Jaysway08

I had a very different experience from everyone else on this post. DD refused a bottle after about 3 months because we weren't good about making sure she got one every day. After I went back to work, she would only drink an ounce or two of my pumped milk at daycare and then cluster fed all night while we coslept.

So I guess I would say to keep your plan for early and regular bottle feeds until you know what kind of kid she is, bottle- or boob- lover, or just easygoing either way.

Peanutz21

Ivorytower2 said:

Thanks for the responses! @Peanutz21‌ did your LO have any trouble going back and forth from breast to bottle? Did it cause any difficulties BFing?

we started with 1 bottle a day early on, about 2 wks.  there were a few bumps here and there but for the most part LO does ok with going in between.