Working and Breastfeeding...

step2mom2010

Moms that have worked (or are working) and pumping - realisticly how long can I keep this up?  We are on week three and I want to make it to at least 6 months - am I fooling myself? Will I be able to keep this up that long?  Currently I feed him in the morning, then he has three bottles during the day (2 breast milk, 1 formula) and then I feed him in the evening. Sometimes he gets supplement in the evening as well, but that is just by ear.

sad5781

DS is 20 weeks and I'm still pumping (I exclusively pump)

I know other nesties have made it well past 6 months

I have two coworkers that are still pumping and their babies are past 6 months.

You can do it. It gets hard and frustrating at times but its not impossible!

Good Luck! 

alisa1228

sad5781:

DS is 20 weeks and I'm still pumping (I exclusively pump)

I know other nesties have made it well past 6 months

I have two coworkers that are still pumping and their babies are past 6 months.

You can do it. It gets hard and frustrating at times but its not impossible!

Good Luck! 

agree with pp - it can be hard & frustrating, but it's not impossible.  once you get into a routine, it will get easier.

i work and bf dd1 for just over a year... and i'm in outside sales, so i was often pumping in my car!

readyforbaby

I think you can as long as you want to.  I stopped pumping at about 9 months but I kept up morning and night nursing sessions until about 11 months.  My sister worked and pumped her DS's entire 1st year.  I started supplementing about one bottle a day at 6 months or so b/c I never had a over supply or freezer stash. I too feed him in the morning, sent 3 bottles to day care and usually fed about 2 times in the evening.

It definitely isn't the most fun thing to do.  I had to pump 3 times a day and I was ready to quit many times.

jen5-03

My BFF has twins. She went back when they were 2mo old. She pumped and they were EBF until 6mo.

I have to say she pumped like a mad woman and took fenugreek constantly. She made it to 6mo and then she was very very glad to stop (or at least to taper off and not pump quite so much).

I only work part time and I confess I'm a lazy pumper. So I don't get anywhere near what my friend did. But it is possible.

If you are nursing in the evening it would be better to not supplement at night if at all possible. It keeps your supply up better.

CindyandScott

I did the same for each of my girls. I went back to work when they were 6 weeks and pumped at work was able to keep them on bm with not formula for the first year of their life. It wasn't easy or fun but I made it work. I too would suggest not supplementing in the evenings and nursing when you are with baby. I would also on the weekends pump after the first feeding in the morning and sometimes after the last feeding or just before bed at night to work on my stash. 

cali_girl92504

I pumped from when DD was 3 months and I returned to work until she was almost 5 months when I decided to stay home. I hated pumping but you can do it. I still pump at 10 pm to keep up my freezer stash and pump so that I can leave her with ILs or DH.

I had to pump in the car 2-3 times a day because I was calling on stores so I didn't have an office. It sucked to be out in the heat (it was during July and August, the hottest months of the year) and pumping but I focused on my goal to EBF DD as long as I can.

I would tell myself this- there are so many woman who would love to be in our shoes, to be able to breastfeed their babies but they just can't. If I am physically able, I will. It's a gift to be able to BF so stay focused and you can do it. Good luck and remember, do what is best for you and your baby. Doesn't matter what we say or do, it's your baby.

Suzi-G-

CindyandScott:

I did the same for each of my girls. I went back to work when they were 6 weeks and pumped at work was able to keep them on bm with not formula for the first year of their life. It wasn't easy or fun but I made it work. I too would suggest not supplementing in the evenings and nursing when you are with baby. I would also on the weekends pump after the first feeding in the morning and sometimes after the last feeding or just before bed at night to work on my stash. 

You absolutely can if it's what you want.  It takes work, for some people more than others but if it's your priority I really believe you will make it work.  Cooper is going on 8 months and has only had BM.  My schedule is flexible though so making time to work isn't that hard for me.  Ditto the bolded part above. 

step2mom2010

Thanks everyone! Great confidence booster.  I wasn't sure that it was really possible. (you hear all the frustrating stories)  My goal is to make it at least 6 months if not longer. My son is taking around 5 to 6 ozs at a feeding. I am only able to pump around 3 maybe 4 ozs at a time.  So I have to supplement.  I supplement at night because I fed him once and less than 30 minutes later he was screaming! Everything was fine, I tried nursing him again and nothing.  I tried pumping and there wasn't anything there.  So I broke out a bottle the next night for the evening feeding and realized that I wasn't producing enough.  So I let him breastfeed and then supplement 2ozs (if needed). 

I did start pumping in the morning after he eats on occasion because he isn't empting me completely.  That has helped.  I was able to send him three bottles of BM today instead of just two.  I pump three times a day (at work), and sometimes 4 if I pump in the morning). 

Thanks again everyone. I needed to know it could be done. It was a frustrating morning...

CareBear01

I BFed for 8 months.  Went back to work at 12 weeks, so I pumped at work for about 5 months.  It is very difficult to find time to fit it in the work day with the pumping, storage, wiping parts, etc. at least 2-3 times a day.  I will say, in the end, I found less time to pump during the day so my supply dropped, it was getting painful, so I had no problems finally stopping pumping and switching to formula b/c I was ready.  But I made pumping work for 5 months, so I was proud of myself.  Just take it day by day.  You will get more efficient as time goes on.  My goal was to BF for 6 months, and I made it 8!  So, just keep working towards it and you will succeed!

jen5-03

step2mom2010:

Thanks everyone! Great confidence booster.  I wasn't sure that it was really possible. (you hear all the frustrating stories)  My goal is to make it at least 6 months if not longer. My son is taking around 5 to 6 ozs at a feeding. I am only able to pump around 3 maybe 4 ozs at a time.  So I have to supplement.  I supplement at night because I fed him once and less than 30 minutes later he was screaming! Everything was fine, I tried nursing him again and nothing.  I tried pumping and there wasn't anything there.  So I broke out a bottle the next night for the evening feeding and realized that I wasn't producing enough.  So I let him breastfeed and then supplement 2ozs (if needed). 

The boob actually never runs dry. The flow just slows down once the milk stored up in your boob is gone. Not getting anything in the pump does not mean the baby isn't getting anything.

lilycat

I'm still working and breastfeeding at almost 11 months. I went back to work at month 3.

Around 9 mos. I started supplementing with formula or frozen bm for school (three bottles on average). For me, over time I went from 3 sessions at work, to two sessions, to one session, to none at work. I no longer pump, but feed at night and the weekends. This is a gradual change, though.

Having two pumps helped a lot this time. A big hurdle for me is carrying more cr@p around - so having one stashed at work and one at home worked better.

Another tip that helped was having multiple pump assemblies for each work session in individual plastic bags. I would pump, store the milk, place the dirty parts back in the plastic bag, and then wait to wash them at home. The next session, I broke out a fresh set and did the same. Not washing up at work took a lot of the drudgery out of the process.

 

Good luck.

kreeper611

I gave DS bm only for 6 months.  At 6 months I could still pump 18oz each day, but he wanted more so we had to suppliment 6oz of formula.

I quit BFing 2 weeks ago - at 8.5 months.  At 7 months it just got harder and harder and my supply dropped like crazy.

It's not easy at all - but it was totally worth it.

mAnYaSha

I went back to work at 12 weeks, I nursed and pumped before work, pumped twice at work, then nursed twice at home and then pumped right before I went to bed. I had a clean set of pump parts for each pumping at work. I made it over 1 year and stopped pumping because co-workers made me feel weird about it. Still nursing twice a day.

If you put your mind to it, you can do it!  My production cut in half around 6 months when I got my period. I did not think I was going to make it. I started fenugreek, blessed thistle and calcium+magnesium pills to keep it up. We made it without supplementing and were able to make several donations... Just don't skip pumping sessions and nurse rather than pump when you can. GL !