Working mom pumping ?

MadisonMommy23

I am going back to work this Fall and LO will be 9 months old. I haven't really started to pump and store because I'm with him all the time. I do have some just in case, but not much. I am curious how much I will really need. How many bottles did your LO get at 9 months? If I'm pumping at work won't I be making enough (or close to enough) milk for the next day? I want to give him BM till he's at least 12 months. I'll plan to nurse before he leaves for DC and then at night of course. What are you thoughts? TIA

rmelanson

There may be a time you can not keep up pumping and how much your little one is eating.  Currently now while you are at home I would pump after you breastfeed to get a stash of frozen bm built up.  When you pump it does not matter how long you pump you do not get as much bm as if your little one was eating from your breast.  Hope this helps.

DenverBride2005

I went back to work when DS was 3 months. He's now 10 months and we're still BF-ing/pumping at work. He takes 3 5-oz bottles at daycare each day (has been since around 5-6 months--I have read that with BM the quantity stays about the same because the content of your milk changes as LO grows, whereas with formula, you might have to increase the amount to meet the changing dietary needs)--around 9 am, 1 pm, 4 pm (with solids/finger foods usually) around 11-noon. Since he's eating solids twice a day now he doesnt take quite as much milk as he did around 6 months before we started solids, so I had a bigger freezer supply at that time...I also think my supply has dropped from pumping 3 times every week day instead of nursing him all day, every day (since the pump isnt as efficient at getting milk as DS!), so now I can pump only about 9 oz total a day, while he is still drinking 15 oz--so I have gone through my freezer supply almost entirely. We have supplemented a little bit with formula in order to build/maintain a freezer supply--DH would give him a bottle of formula sometimes at bed while I pumped so I could save and freeze that--I figure the longer he is getting mostly BM the better, even if he is getting a little formula in there now and then too. You are lucky to not have to go back until he is 9 months! I am sure your supply will be so well built by that time that you could even just add an extra pump session and build a freezer stash slowly that way.

dianadvargas

Well it all depends, it can be different for everyone.

In my case, DD went from 3 bottles of 4oz at DC to 2 bottles of 4 oz, and 4oz of fruit purree with yogurt for bfast, and 4 oz of veggies for lunch and puffs @ 9months while @ DC.

 I pumped twice at 10am and then at 2pm, and got about 12 oz. total. for the next day @ 9 months. I always pumped only 2 times and between 3-6 months I was getting 23 oz of BM. So you see, it's like your body adjust to what your baby needs at their specific age.

Now, I'm controlling and want everything to be perfect so I always had (I still have) a super freezer stash. I even donated 500+oz to milk before it went bad. So, there is not an easy aswer to how much you should have as a stash, certainly not as much as I did. But you will only know if it was worth all the pumping for your stash once you go back to work and see how your supply and pumping goes and how much your baby drinks while away. But I would start with at least 50oz for a stash. But again that's just me I probably had about 200+ oz when I went back to work at 3m but I didn't really need it.

Another thing is that I never missed a pumping session, I always made it a priority, every day at the same time. So it also depends on how you approach it and what your job allows you to do. Some people have to miss pumping sessions for whatever reason and that's when they use their stash, for emergencies.

I really think it will be so much easier for you since you are returning to work when your LO is 9months and you will have only 3 months of pumping. So hang in there! 

HTH!!!

 

 

sarahice

You only have to have one days worth of milk stored when you go back to work. At 9 months my DD was taking 3 to 4 five oz bottles a day at daycare. It is nice to have some in the freezer just in case, but I have never had more than 50 oz in my stash. To build a bit of a stash I would only pump Sat/Sun mornings after the first feeding (when DH was home). HTH!

katiewhompus

DD still drinks about 16 oz of bm while I'm away (7am-5pm). She is bad aboutt solids though.

mrsjones06

I came back to work when DS2 was 4 months old & had a very large freezer stash already b/c I knew (from DS1) at some point my pumping wouldn't keep up. DS2 has a milk & soy allergy that limits my formula options so I wanted to have as much milk stored as possible.

Over time my pumping volume has decreased. Within the last month I've started dipping into my freezer stash a few days/week at least. With two pumping sessions I'm getting 8-12 oz & DS drinks 12-18 oz during the day. If he only has two bottles I can keep up somewhat, but when he drinks 3, I have to use stored milk.

If I were you I'd just start pumping extra to store when I could & if you still end up running short at some point supplement with formula or maybe he'll even be old enough to have some cow's milk occasionally if your pedi ok's it. Maybe your pumping supply will keep up since it's only a few months to hit the 1 year mark & you won't need to supplement with anything.

MadisonMommy23

Thank you for all the information. I think I will start to store a small stash now so I won't run out