Breastfeeding and pumping

Mason112715

I am currently pregnant with #2 and with my first I stayed home for the first year so I pretty much just breastfeed my DS. I would love to do that again however I will have to return to work about 8 weeks after giving birth. I would like to start with only the breast for the first couple weeks but then implement the bottle with pumped milk. All the while still breastfeed when I am with baby. Has anyone had success with this? I am worried baby will stop taking the breast. If you have done this? At how many weeks/days did you start to use the bottle?

EEB88

I did! I think we started using a bottle around 5 weeks? My husband really wanted to feed him and "give me a break." I mainly used tommee tipee and breastflow bottles. They mimic the shape and flow of the breast more than traditional bottles. A little tip to help save milk, only put two ounces per bag. My sitter would warm a 6 ounce bag when my son would only take 3 ounces and toss the rest. And as you will soon find out that milk is liquid gold. He would still take the breast whenever offered.

I wold still have to pack formula because with my job I wasn't able to pump enough for him. I stopped producing at about 11 months.

It's going to be hard but I think you can do it!!

mmk29

I used medela calma nipples from two weeks on because of an illness that prevented me from being able to physically breastfeed but I could pump. They're expensive but he never had an issue switching back and forth so I'll probably use them again.

taylorherrgesell

I just bought the kiinde twist system it lets you pump directly into bags and the bottles that come with it are supposedly very similar to a breast we'll see when it gets here I guess but I've heard nothing but good things

LinMmmm

I was successful with both breastfeeding and pumped bottle feeding and he never had a preference over one or the other. I returned to work part-time after just 5 weeks on leave then full-time at 10 weeks. Once I was certain he had a great latch on the breast I introduced a bottle fairly immediately testing the bottle out. If I remember correctly he was 1-2 weeks old when we did some full feedings with the bottle. I consider myself lucky that he liked the bottles we had, then we went out and bought a ton more. I used Playtex's AventAir at the time but I am unsure if I will use them again because they redesigned them. Good luck, you can do this!

ahowell88

It's totally do-able! I was able to successfully breastfeed for 14 months and I went back to work full time at 6 weeks pp. DS would never take a bottle from me (or even if I was anywhere in the near vicinity)so he only practiced a couple times with DH before I went back to work but he did just fine. We used Dr. Browns and never had a problem with him refusing to nurse or anything. Just make sure not to skip feedings to keep your supply up (or if baby sleeps through a feeding, make sure you pump) and stay hydrated! Like, super hydrated! Lol those two things seemed to be the most important to my production/success. You can do it, mama!

dsty1213

I agree. You can do it. My only addition to the pp is to try pumping for a few days during the day immediately prior to returning to work. The baby is more efficient than the pump so you may have extra supply. When I went back to work with my first, I leaked through my breast pads on the first day back. So embarrassing. With my second, I pumped for the weekend before I went back and my DH fed the baby bottles. The , he got used to the a t of bottles and I didn't leak. So much better!!

dancingsunflowers06

Hi there - both of my kiddos were different in how they took the bottle. As long as you know that each baby will be different and go with the flow, I'm sure it will all work out. Congrats on baby #2, how exciting! Bless you,

mommato2lilmonkeys

wedding crazed

I nursed my son for 14 months after going back to work full-time at 12 weeks. I think with him I didn't start bottle until 6 weeks. My next son would never take a bottle of any kind ever. I waited too long with him. So if you know you have to go back at 8 weeks I'd start at 4 weeks at the latest. I was successful though and never even had to supplement. I have always drank a lot of water though. ANd i had a job where I could really pump the 3 times a day I needed to. It's definitely doable. You can take Fenugreek if you need extra supply help too. Good luck!

MargaretC5

I BF and pumped also. I started pumping once in a while when DS was 6 weeks and he took the bottle with out a problem. We used the regular Medela bottles. I went back to work when DS was 16 weeks old. The pump was actually more efficient for me than my son. Once I started pumping regularly I got a bit of an oversupply, but it was very manageable so I never tried to fix the oversupply. I pumped until DS was 14 months and continued nursing until he was 15 months. I ended up donating over 3,000 oz of BM to other moms with low supply.

snmom

I breastfed both my kids though 5 months, but started giving them bottles once a day after we came home from the hospital. I would do a formula bottle before bed to help hold them over a little longer. They never had any problems switching between breast and bottles. I used the Avent bottles.

agerstner

Anyone a nurse? Did you find pumping and working feasible? Thanks!

Pontot31

agerstner said:

Anyone a nurse? Did you find pumping and working feasible? Thanks!

I have a friend who is an OR nurse and did with both kids. Her hospital had hospital grade pumps for her to use so it made it easier.

Pontot31

I nursed for 2.5 years and pumped for 15 months of that.
It takes a commitment but it was worth it. I've pumped in some crazy places since I'm on the road a lot for work.

My daughter hated the bottle at first. She finally took it the night before I went back to work!
This time I will introduce it a little sooner. I was worried about nipple confusion so I waited until 4 weeks and she hated it. She finally took the most basic bottles- the ones that came with the pump! But I couldn't be in the house and she didn't want to be touched. My husband had to feed her in the rock n play. She didn't want to associate it with nursing at all. All babies are different. It takes some playing around to find what they like if they are picky about the bottle.


Edited because autocorrect hates me.

lyankowi

My baby was a nicu baby so she got a bottle first thing getting her to breastfeed was hard, the only good that came out if it is she took a bottle no problem.

2octobermama

agerstner said:

Anyone a nurse? Did you find pumping and working feasible? Thanks!

It was definitely a challenge, but I was successful with my first. I would pump 1-2 times in a 12 hour shift. I work in a busy ER so it would just depend on the day.

megandchase

I also had success doing this and exclusively pumped and breastfed my son until he was 1. I started bottles when he was a week old. It really helped allowing dh do a middle of the night feeding. We had no problems. We also used a paci. Goodluck!

agerstner

@2octobermama - good to know! I'll be doing 8hr shifts when I return but glad to know it's possible! It's been my biggest concern about going back between 8-10wks.

Pontot31

agerstner said:

@2octobermama - good to know! I'll be doing 8hr shifts when I return but glad to know it's possible! It's been my biggest concern about going back between 8-10wks.

I have a friend who swears by the Freemie pump. It allows you to wear the cups all day to collect leaked milk and allows you to pump while clothed so if you only had 10 minutes you could do it at the nurses station with no one knowing. It might be worth looking into. I'm actually considering it this time around.

agerstner

Hmm thats an interesting pump. Something to possibly consider! The only thing is, I know my pump was still quite noisy even tho listed as "quiet". I doubt it's as secret as they say lol

2octobermama

Pontot31 said:

agerstner said:

@2octobermama - good to know! I'll be doing 8hr shifts when I return but glad to know it's possible! It's been my biggest concern about going back between 8-10wks.

I have a friend who swears by the Freemie pump. It allows you to wear the cups all day to collect leaked milk and allows you to pump while clothed so if you only had 10 minutes you could do it at the nurses station with no one knowing. It might be worth looking into. I'm actually considering it this time around.

I've never heard of this, but I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

VexyMommy

Pontot31 said:

@2octobermama - good to know! I'll be doing 8hr shifts when I return but glad to know it's possible! It's been my biggest concern about going back between 8-10wks.

I have a friend who swears by the Freemie pump. It allows you to wear the cups all day to collect leaked milk and allows you to pump while clothed so if you only had 10 minutes you could do it at the nurses station with no one knowing. It might be worth looking into. I'm actually considering it this time around.

That sounds awesome.  I'm having a really hard time getting my head around how it would work without being incredibly obvious under clothing, but I definitely would like something that catches and puts the leaks to use. 

Pontot31

VexyMommy said:

Pontot31 said:

agerstner said:

@2octobermama - good to know! I'll be doing 8hr shifts when I return but glad to know it's possible! It's been my biggest concern about going back between 8-10wks.

I have a friend who swears by the Freemie pump. It allows you to wear the cups all day to collect leaked milk and allows you to pump while clothed so if you only had 10 minutes you could do it at the nurses station with no one knowing. It might be worth looking into. I'm actually considering it this time around.

That sounds awesome.  I'm having a really hard time getting my head around how it would work without being incredibly obvious under clothing, but I definitely would like something that catches and puts the leaks to use. 


It's pretty neat. I've seen pictures of her at work and you can barely tell anything is there. There's s tiny lump but I would be willing to try. https://www.freemie.com

Cook3133

With my first 2 I pumped at work easily for the first year. I had 10-12 hour shifts and would nurse or pump right before and right after work (I had a 45 min commute) and then 2-3 times while at work. We had an empty office for me to use do that was nice. We also had a break room with a fridge. I got a soft lunch cooler to keep my milk In then froze it as soon as I got home. Be up front with your employer and have a pumping plan in place before you leave to have the baby. I pumped every 3-4 hours for about 10-15 minutes. My employers had no issue with this. Also make sure you have a doue pump!! I stated pumping at about 3 weeks with my first and the second day with my second because my milk came in full force I was drowning the poor child!! Never had to supliment with either. They both took the bottle very easily no matter who was feeding them. But every child is different there. I used playtext drop ins with all 3 of mine (wasn't able to nurse past 3 weeks with my last )