Ladies who are back to work

mars8k

Is there anything you would have done differently before going back to work?

EBF ladies: how many hours do you work and how much does your LO drink while you're gone?

Im going back next month so im curious to know the answers. Thanks!

rae430

I wouldn't have done anything differently. I started pumping maybe 2-3x a week around the one month mark and had about 75 oz in the freezer on my first day of work. I'm usually gone 8 hours/day (7 hours at my office, plus driving times) and I pump twice at work. LO was 7 weeks old when I went back and was eating about 10-12 oz. At 12 weeks, he eats between 12-15 oz, plus I feed him right before I leave and right after I get home. I think this might be more than most babies, but he's pretty huge (all the men on my side of the family are over 6'5 and LO is shaping up to be a really big kid).

marms1987

I went back at 10 weeks. I wish I went back in the middle of the week like thursday or wednesday instead of monday, the first week felt like a year to me. Ask if you can go part time the first two weeks to help LO through the transition. I'm gone for almost 10 hrs (long commute), and my lo eats almost 22oz (he eats alot). I pump three times while at work and feed him as soon as I get there.

borntorun17

Ummm my LO is 11 weeks and eats 34 oz a day.

uwemi

I wish I started saving milk from day 1. I started work when LO was 3wks, I work 16hrs and currently almost out of stored milk. She is 12wks and eats about 30oz/day.
Start saving as much as you can now.

Curlygirl84

I have the opposite problem. I started back this week and so far my LO is only eating 5-7 ounces in the 8 hours I'm gone. Enough to stave off hunger and then she's been cluster feeding for hours when I get home! I hope this changes as she adjusts, but I hear reverse cycling is pretty common.

stark01938209

Mine has added back in a night feeding since I've been working this week. Only been back a few days- so far I've pumped twice per day (about 12 oz). She only eats 10 so it's okay I didn't have a huge freezer reserve- I'm still able to add to my storage.

moreno3

I went back to work last week, my LO eats about 16 oz a day. He's 10 weeks today. I wish I would have started my stash earlier than I had, at 6 weeks. You should take into account what they're eating, but also problems like holes in bags or someone leaving a bag out too long after it has thawed. Also the fact that, if you're like me and away 9 hours, I try to pump 3 times but sometimes things come up and can't

hirokotaki

My daughter is 3 month old.
I pump at work 3 times a day. She eats 3-4 times a day 5oz each feeding. I sometime pump at middle of night after she eats a little in middle of night.
I have stash of milk in freezer. 5 oz, 30 of them. Just in case if I couldn't produce enough milk at work, or work over time, or I decided to go out somewhere, etc.

Pump everyday, even little and freeze them. You will get better at it, and be able to produce more milk. Massage breast before pump.
Pump at least 10-15 min. Even milk is not coming out any more, keep pumping. Most of time you get second letdown.

So far I'm confident I can do 100% breast milk.
I was worry I might have to do formula.

Do practice run a week before go back to work. Even half day, leave with someone who can watch baby. Pump the time you are planning to pump at work, and tell caregiver to feed about the same time.
Tell caregiver not to shake breast milk, make swirl to mix. Do not microwave. A lot of people don't know that.

Good luck everyone! I want everyone to success breastfeeding!

Sam2552

My lo is 3 months. She eats 3-4 times a day while I am gone. Depends if I get a second feeding in before I have to leave. She usually eats 10am, noon, and 3pm while i am gone. She's funny. At those times she will eat 3oz, 2.5, and then 2. Lol. She eats the most in the morning and then decreases in the afternoon. So I try and pump 10, noon and 2 or 3. I can't pump after 3 because she cluster feeds at night when I get home at 6. Then she will eat again at 7 and 8 before bed. I have a small stash built up for going out and in case I miss a pumping while at work. Things happen and I get busy sometimes.

erin79

DD is 13 weeks.  She's at daycare from 8 - 4:30, and takes 4 4-oz bottles of BM while she's there.  I pump 3 times a day.

My only recommendation would be to pump and freeze as much as you can now.  Most days I don't pump the 16 oz she needs, so I have to use my freezer stash.  This is unfortunately pretty common with working moms unless you have an oversupply.

Curlygirl84

I'd say also start to figure out what your morning routine looks like and what time
You and LO need to get up to make it happen. Then you can start getting into a wake up, nap and bedtime routine beforehand. (I didn't do this and we were blissfully sleeping in but now it's adding extra stress to figure out her nap schedule and necessary bedtime for when I need her to get up and nurse in the morning).

jessmaydvm

I am gone 7:30-6:30 (10 hrs), but am able to go nurse at lunch. I pump 4 times a day (in the car on the way to work at 7:30, 10 am, nurse at lunch, 2 pm, 4 pm). My LO eats from 9-10 oz when I nurse at lunch to 11-12 oz if I can't nurse him.

Make sure your daycare doesn't overfeed. A rule of thumb is to feed 1-1.25 oz per hour between feedings; much more than this and you may run into problems of your LO not nursing much when you get them home because their caloric needs have been met already at daycare. That and you may find that you can't keep up with pumping either. My LO tends to need 1.25-1.5 oz per hour, every baby is different. I would just make sure they aren't feeding him as much as he can eat.

marijaa333

This is really helpful. Keep the tips coming, please!

I'm going back in three weeks, my son will be 3.5 months -- eek!

kstaff77

If possible, ask whoever is watching LO to send pictures throughout the day. Seeing her chewing on her toy, enjoying a bottle of milk I provided for her, etc makes me happy (knowing she's happy!)