Pumping & Working Moms - Your daily routine
firefIy
member
Hi! I've been a lurker for a few months knowing the day would soon come when my maternity leave would end and I'd be headed back to work. It's such a weird feeling to already know I'm going to miss my 3 month old DS terribly, but also be a tiny bit excited to be back in the routine of work.
I know I've seen this question before while lurking, but I can't get any of the search functions to work. So if you would mind letting me know your daily routines and what works for you I'd really appreciate it. I'm just curious what time you wake up, do you get ready first, do you feed LO once or twice before leaving for work? Any tips on pumping at work and efficiently? What are your evenings like? I'm just getting a little anxious and looking for any advice you ladies have to offer to help me get into some kind of routine. I really appreciate your time.
Re: Pumping & Working Moms - Your daily routine
When I was nursing, I would wake up at 6am and do my hair and makeup (I showered at night). At 6:15am I would nurse DS. Then I would bring DS into our room and either put him on the bed (before he was rolling) or in the bumbo, bouncy chair, floor mat on the floor in the bathroom while I got dressed. I would leave for work at 6:50am to be at work at 7:30am. DH would get DS dressed and drop off at daycare.
I would pump at 8:30, 11:30, and 2:30. I would nurse DS when we got home at 5:15-5:30. Then again before bedtime, and a couple times through the night.
At 3 months, DS was eating 3 oz every 2-2.5 hours. At 4 months he went up to 4 oz every 3 hours and stayed there until he went on solids at 6 months. He then did 4 oz every 4 hours with solids in between nursing.
Buy a hands free bra. I could either work or play on my iphone or read while pumping. Do breast compressions to get extra. Drink tons and tons of water. Eat lots of oatmeal and protein. Don't feel guilty about taking time to pump!
Buy extra pump parts and bottles. I had like 3 days work of supplies. I would run them through the dishwasher at night, then empty them onto a drying rack in the morning before work. That way they were dry and ready to be packed/filled in the evenings.
I work full time and I pumped until 12 months, nursed until 14 months. You can do it! GL with your return!
Great advice from PP.
I know my routine will change with DD as she grows but here is what we are doing right now (she is almost 2 months). She wakes me around 5-5:30. I nurse her and she either goes back to sleep or I place her on her play mat while I take a shower and dress. My DS then usually wakes and my DH shortly after. I eat breakfast with DS and then he plays while I dress the baby and then dry my hair. Around 7:15-7:30, just before we are ready to head out the door, I feed her again. This way she isn't starving when we drop off at daycare.
While at work, I have been pumping around 10 and then 2. I have considered adding another early in the AM but it isn't necessary just yet. I have never been great going hands free so I just get set up and get it done. From desk to back to desk, it is about 20 minutes each time.
I then BF DD as soon as we get home around 5-5:30. If I feel like I need more milk, I will do a quick pump after she finishes. Then I/we make dinner, wash the pump parts, lunch dishes, kids get baths and pjs, DS gets tucked in with a book, then DD gets fed again around 8 and put down for the night. Then we pack up for the next day, lunches, bottles, pump bag, etc.. I try to get in bed by 9 but it has been more like 10 the last few nights.
DD wakes 1-2 times to feed during the night before it starts all over again.
My one baby is 4 months and the toddler is almost 2.
Baby wakes up to nurse 1 or 2 times per night, if it's closer to 5/6 am I leave her in the bed with me.
DH and I wake up around 7 a.m. He goes downstairs to shower while I pump since the baby is usually still sleeping and her last feeding was probably around 6 a.m. so she's not hungry yet.
DH comes back up and the toddler usually wakes up. He dresses her and starts breakfast downstairs while I finish pumping.
For now, the baby is usually still sleeping so I leave her upstairs while I shower and get ready.
That's about it, our mornings aren't too crazy because our baby usually stays asleep until 8 or 9 a.m. and we're gone by then.
At work I pump at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. I SHOULD pump at 4:30 p.m. but I can't handle pumping at the very end of the day. I usually just go home and feed her as soon as I get home around 6 p.m.
That's it. Not too bad, just do lots of prep at night and def. get a hands free bra! I also have 2 pumps, one for home and work. If you can swing this I recommend it!
http://balletandbabies.blogspot.com
Feed DS around 7 am (I get up at 6:30 to shower and get ready), sometimes he snacks again right before I leave at 8 am
Pump 9:30am, 12:30 pm and 3:30pm
Feed DS around 5:30 pm
I get up at 5:25 to shower and get completely ready for the day.
6:00 - make breakfast, eat while I pump one side
6:15 -wake up DD, dress/change her, then feed
6:40 -drop DD at dc and go to work
7:45 and 12:30 - pump
Lately I've been adding a 2pm pump time in because my supply is dwindling, but the other two times aren't negotiable.
3:30 - pick DD up, nurse at 3:45, then make dinner, wash dishes and pump parts, play with dd and try to get ONE chore done. Just one. I usually feed her again around 6 and we do bathtime at 7 and then she nurses at 7:30 or whenever bedtime is.
I pump again at 9pm and go to bed by 9:30.
DD gets up once most nights around 3am to nurse. I seriously feel like all I do is nurse or pump.
5:30am - Wake up and pump (I get enough for 2 bottles at this time)
6:00 - Shower, dress, get ready for work, bottles/DS's bag ready for daycare
~7:15 - Get DD up and nurse (sometimes she wakes up, sometimes she sleeps through nursing
7:40 - Go to work
10:00 - DD eats at daycare
12:00pm - I pump at work (get enough for 1 bottle)
1:00 - DD eats at Daycare
4:00 - DD eats at daycare
5:00 - I pick DD up and nurse her if she wants to eat, or pump if she doesn't (usually just finished a bottle)
5:00 until 10:00 - Nurse on demand, usually 2 or 3 times
10:00 - DD goes to bed and STTN until I wake her in the morning
Pumping in the morning saves me from having to pump more than once at work, which I was never planning to do at all. A hands-free pumping bra is a must, both for that morning pump and the pump at work. I nurse on demand on the weekends, and never have a problem, even though she is nursing more often than I would pump.
When DS was still nursing:
-5am - 6:30am: shower, get ready, eat breakfast, pack my lunch, pack DS's bag for DC (3 5oz bottles of BM and nipples)
-6:30am-7:15am wake DS up if he didn't wake up on his own, change diaper, dress him, nurse him
-pumped at 9, 12 and 3pm (basically the same time that DS would be taking a bottle at DC)
-get home at 5:30pm
-6/6:30pm - nurse DS
-8pm: bathtime and then nursed to sleep
When DS was STTN at 6w, I would still wake at 4am and pump (I would get 10oz). I kept this routine in place from 6w-11w just so I could build my freezer stash! I stopped waking at 4am once I went back to work.
Also, Friday's pumped milk would go directly into freezer bags. Monday's milk would come from the freezer. This helped with rotating my freezer stash.
Buy an extra set of pump parts and leave at your office. I forgot pump parts about 6-7 times and it seriously sucked bc by the end of the day my boobs would be leaking like faucets!
Think about how you're going to store the milk while you're at work. I was lucky that my old job had a mother's room with a cooler in it specifically for pumped milk. My current job I just put the freezer pack in the freezer and kept pumped milk in my cooler bag in the regular fridge.
Also, I got a separate cooler to keep my pump parts in inbetween pumping sessions and kept them in the fridge as well.
Don't stress...you'll fall into a routine!
Here is my schedule on the days I go to the office, I travel some, so we have a completely different schedule on those days.
545am - E wakes up, usually will nurse and fall back to sleep for another hour. sometimes only 30 min, so we juggle E and getting ready on those days
6am-7 - DH and I both shower and get ready, take dog for a walk
7am - I leave for work, DH gets E up, changed and ready for the day
7:30am - nanny arrives and DH leaves for work
9:30-10am - pump
2pm - pump
(I am flexible with my pumping times, just aim to do it twice while at work, I have a busy schedule and rarely do he same time each day)
5:30 - DH is home and nanny leaves
6:30 - I get home, nurse E
6:30-715 - play with E, eat dinner
7:15pm - start bedtime routine
7:45pm - E asleep
11pm - nurse E
It has taken us almost 2 months to get into the above schedule, and when I first started back we didn't really have any sort of schedule, but we eventually got into this routine. The only thing that is really a set time is our nanny's schedule.
For reference, DD is now 7 months, but we've had basically the same routine for a while now (minus solids before 6 months, when I made slightly bigger bottles):
5:30-ish DD wakes up and I nurse her, she goes back to sleep, as do I
6:20-ish I get up, shower, start getting ready, DH gets up at like 6:40 when I'm out of the shower
6:30-7:15 DD wakes up. Depending on who is more "ready" either DH or I get her dressed etc. then we both finish getting ready while she plays.
7:45 I nurse DD again
9:00, 12:00, 4:00 I pump at work. DD eats 4, 4oz bottles at daycare (roughly every 2 hours), and solids once...she likes to eat.
6:00 nurse DD again, and give second solids
7:15 bedtime she gets 3 oz pumped and then nurses (this ensures that even if she's sleepy and won't nurse well, she gets at least 3 oz)
8:00ish we eat
9:30 I pump again and it all starts over! She would get to eat overnight until around 5 months.
It's a lot of pumping, and I can barely keep up with her, but it's worth it to me, and she's happy and healthy. She just really likes food!
Baby Girl #2 is on her way!
My routine can vary but for the most part, this is how it goes:
Alarm goes off at 6:15. Shower and start getting ready. DD usually wakes up between 6:15-7, so I do as much as I can while she's still sleeping. Once she wakes up, I nurse her right away, finish getting myself ready, and then get her ready. Some days I'm fully dressed when she gets up, other mornings I can hear her talking while I'm still in the shower. We're out the door by 7:45.
I pump at 9:30, 12:30 and 3:30 (roughly). Some days I can only get in 2 session b/c of my work schedule, but I have those 3 times on my calendar everyday. I usually bring my laptop into the mothers room and either check emails, do projects, or surf the internet if I need a break (like I'm doing now, lol!). I get home from work between 5-5:30. DH picks up the baby from daycare and some days she'll take a quick nap before I get home. Otherwise I nurse her as soon as I see her. She nurses at 5:30, and then I nurse her before bed and sometimes another time in between. We start bedtime routine at 6:30 and she's asleep by 7:15. She does still wake once at night to eat and then goes right back to sleep.
From the time I get home until she goes to bed, we nurse, rock, play, I feed her solids, give her a bath (not every night) and just snuggle with her. We only get about 2 hours, max, and then it's bedtime. I try to not do anything else during that time and just focus on being with her. Once she goes to bed, I wash bottles and pump parts, and get everything re-packed and ready to go for tomorrow.
One thing that I've started doing that really helps is packing my snack bag for the week. There is a fridge on my floor at work and I bring all my snacks on Monday morning. I pack yogurts, fruit, cheese sticks, nuts, granola bars, etc. so I'm not lugging another bag back and forth everyday. I bring it home on Fridays, as I can leave it there all week. That has been a huge time saver and one less thing for me to do in the evenings. I also have a snack right when I get home, like cheese and crackers or a scoop of peanut butter. That takes the edge off, and some nights I don't have dinner until after she's gone to bed.
Good luck! The transition back was toughest in the first couple weeks and now it's so much better.