Back to Work/Pumping Question

plutoisaplanet

Good morning!

I am going back to work at the end of the month, and DS will be in daycare 3 days a week and home with DH 2.  I'm looking forward to work (I love my job) but I am incredibly nervous/sad/anxious to leave DS.  I really wish I could be in two places at once (as do, oh, all of us!).  

I will be dropping him off at 7am and getting him between 3:30-4pm.  I cannot get to him during the day at all to feed him.  I am very familiar with the pump (EP'ed the first few weeks).   

Here are my questions:

1. I don't really have a freezer stash to speak of.   Should I start to build one?  If so...how?  Do I get up in the middle of the night?  Pump in the morning?  How do I finagle this? 

2. How should I be preparing for this?  I am (irrationally, I think - I've never had a supply issue) terrified that I won't be making enough milk for him.  Should I do a dry run?  I don't even know how much he drinks during the day!  How am I going to know how much to send to daycare?

3. I'll be able to pump at 8am, 10:30, 12 & 2 - of those times, when should I pump?  All?  

4. How on EARTH do you all pump in the car?!  I am in awe of everyone & their skills.

I am sorry if these questions are redundant or whatnot - I am apparently more freaked out than I thought!  And, I know that nerves will kill my supply when I pump, so I am trying to get it all out beforehand  

Any advice/suggestions would be awesome.   

Becky19

You honestly don't really need a freezer stash. A little one can be helpful, but no need to go out of your way to create a big one. Maybe just try to pump one time a day/a few times a week (morning is best) about an hour after baby's first feed and store that in the freezer.

 Try and figure out how much he takes in a bottle and aim for that. I'm not sure how old your baby is. At 3-4 months I think most BF babies take about 4 ounces in a bottle. It's normal to worry about supply and making enough but most likely you will be fine, although you may have to pump extra at night or in the early morning. See how you do your first few days back and add in extra sessions if necessary.

 You should pump each time he takes a bottle while you are gone. My baby takes 3 bottles during the work day so I pump 3 times - at 8:30, 12ish and 3 or 4ish. It doesn't have to be the exact same time as your baby, but try and pump for each missed bottle and make the sessions spread out enough so you'll actually get enough milk.

I don't do car pumping so can't help there!

jlsimon56

It's normal to have these jitters.  How nice that your DH can stay with him 2 days!  Will your 1st day back be a Daddy Day or a Daycare Day?

1.  To start a stash, pump ~1 hour after the first AM feeding.  You may not get a lot at first, but just keep that consistent schedule and you'll get more as your body gets the message to make more.

2.  I never did a dry run b/c I wanted to nurse my LO as much as possible b/c I knew once I returned to work, my nursing sessions would be limited.  Call me selfish.  My LO did fine with the transition so thankfully I had nothing to worry about.  To calculate how much your LO needs, here is some info (all found on www.kellymom.com).  LOs typically eat 25oz in a 24 hour period.  Take the # of feedings to determine how much on average, your LO is eating each time.  If he's eating 8x per day, that's ~3oz per bottle.  If he eats 6x per day, that's 4oz per bottle.  AVERAGE.  I'd start on the lower end and send more bottles, to see how he does.

3.  Of those times....I'd probably do 8, 10:30, and 2.  Then if you need more, add in the 12 but eat lunch at the same time.  Remember that pumping breaks are not paid breaks.  I ended up working 5:30-3 to make up for my 4 pumping breaks.

4.  Haha.  It's not THAT bad.  Some moms, this is how they were successful with pumping.  Others dont like it.  Try it!  Certainly a time-saver!

blu-eyedwife

plutoisaplanet:

Good morning!

1. I don't really have a freezer stash to speak of.   Should I start to build one?  If so...how?  Do I get up in the middle of the night?  Pump in the morning?  How do I finagle this? A freezer stash can definitely be helpful. For me, it was what kept us from having to supplement since my little guy always ate more at daycare than at home, and therefore more than I was pumping.  I did a pumping session after his first morning feed, which was usually in the middle of the night for me.  DH introduced a daily bottle, and I would pump to replace that too.  And that gave me a nice freezer stash for when the little guy started daycare.

2. How should I be preparing for this?  I am (irrationally, I think - I've never had a supply issue) terrified that I won't be making enough milk for him.  Should I do a dry run?  I don't even know how much he drinks during the day!  How am I going to know how much to send to daycare? Start paying attention to how often he drinks during the day.  That will tell you how many bottles to send in that period.  As far as amount, there's a great calculator at Kellymom that helps you figure out how many ounces he eats in a feeding.  As I said before, my guy ate more at daycare, so I would send in an extra bottle and 99.9% of the time, he would eat that too.

3. I'll be able to pump at 8am, 10:30, 12 & 2 - of those times, when should I pump?  All?  I drop my guy off at 8:30, pump at 12 and 3:30.  So since you drop your son off earlier, I'd chose the 10:30 and 2 times to pump.  However, be flexible and see what you need.

4. How on EARTH do you all pump in the car?!  I am in awe of everyone & their skills.  Pumping in the car is easy - if you have a hands free nursing bra.  I drop him off at daycare, and in the parking lot I hook up.  First I put on a nursing cover.  Then I put on the bra and the flanges, set the pump beside me on the passenger seat.  Turn the pump on, adjust the flanges so I'm comfortable, buckle up and go.  When I get to work I unhook the tubes and leave the pump running while I take off the bra, combine the milk and put it away, and adjust my clothes.  Then I turn off the pump and head in to work.

 

tcu_2003

1.  I have one, but I'm paranoid that I won't be able to keep up with DS (so far, I am, so this may be an irrational fear).  To get mine started, I would pump every morning - DS only ate off of one side for his first feed, so I'd pump the other side.  I'd occasionally pump after one of his other feedings in the evening, but not always.

2  I did not do a dry run.  DH took vacation and kept DS my first week back at work so we could work out some of the kinks.  DS likes to nurse frequently, so I knew that smaller, more often bottles was going to work better for us.  I feed him at 6am, top him off at 6:50am in the car right before he goes to daycare at 7am.  He then generally gets a 3oz bottle at 9, 12 and 3.  I also always send one extra bottle in case he's hungry and needs to eat more often.  Then, we nurse a ton in the evening/overnight.

3.  I pump at 5:45/6am on one side (and DS will eat off the other side).  At work, I pump at 9, 12 and 3.  I eat my lunch while pumping at 12.  Luckily, I have some things I can do while pumping at 9 and 3 so I don't have to make up that time.  Occasionally, I don't pump enough so then I'll add in an extra pumping session in the evening at home after DS nurses. 

4. Don't know - I wonder that too.