Back to work and afraid I won't be able to pump very often. Advice?

erin_asay

Hi Ladies!

I'm a lurker on this board and would really appreciate any tips/advice.

I will be returning to work next Sunday. I am an RN on a very busy high-risk pregnancy unit. I work day shift from 7am-7:30pm (3 days/week). DS is almost 5 months old and he still BF every 2 hours during the day and wakes up a couple of times at night to BF. I know that I will not be able to pump every 2 hours at work and pumping every 3 hours might be pushing it, too. So right now, I'm planning to pump every 4 hours.

Here's what I think my day might look like: Wake up at 5:00, BF DS sometime between 5:00 and 5:45, leave for work at 6:15 and pump on the way to work, pump around 9:00, pump on my lunch break at 1:00, and pump at 5:00, then BF around 8:00 when I get home. I plan to EBF on my 4 days off.

My concern is that my inability to pump every 2 hours while I'm at work is going to kill my supply. Maybe I'm just worrying for nothing. TIA for all of your help! 

iluvmylab

You really won't know until you give it a try.  My LO ate 3 bottles at DC while I was at work, but i only was able to pump twice.  I was able to get enough if I pumped twice at work and one time right after he ate first thing in the morning.  

I'm a teacher and due to my schedule this year, I decided to only BF in the morning and evening hours because I would only be able to pump once a day.

Good luck!  Hope it works out for you! 

erin_asay

Thanks for your response! I guess the best thing for me to do is to just relax and not stress about it. I'm sure everything will work out

tokenhoser

You can only do what you can do. Do your best and that will be enough.

My one bit of advice would be to pump *at least* every 4 hours, but to take your opportunities where you can find them. If you see a minute where you can pump at hour 2 or 3, do it and reset the clock to pump again 4 hours from then.

Froggy76

I agree with pps- just do your best!  You might find that you pump enough for your LO to get bottles every 2 hours, or you might be a little short and need to supplement.  Either way, try not to stress and just do what you can.  I don't pump enough for DD when I'm at work, but I don't need to supplement when I'm with her on the weekends.

erin_asay

Great advice! Thanks for the encouragement, ladies. I needed it