Breast feeding/pumping and going back to work?

jschmidt6

I'm not due until July, but one of my biggest anxieties is breastfeeding in general, but more importantly what will happen when I go back to work 8 weeks after the little guy is born! Do most people just stop breastfeeding or do you pump at work? Where do you pump?! How often do you pump and what the heck do you do with the breast milk? Keep it in the fridge?!?! Sorry I'm so clueless, I just don't have a lot of working mom friends.

Thanks!

danieliza1127

You'll find a lot of great info on the Breastfeeding board too.

I pumped at work until my LO was 6 months old and I weaned.  I got the Medela Pump in Style (PISA) double electric pump and a hands free pumping bra.  I pumped 3 times at work, which worked out to be every 3 hours.  Luckily I have my own office and they put a lock on my door so I could just close and lock my door, but if you don't have that option you just need to talk to your supervisor about a private place for you to pump on breaks and at lunch.  The PISA came with a little cooler that holds 4 bottles and an ice pack so I just kept the milk in the cooler and wiped down the pump parts and tossed them back in my bag.  Everything was at my desk, I didn't keep anything in the work fridge.  When I got home at night, I would just put the milk away and wash the pump parts in  hot soapy water and put the ice pack in the freezer to refreeze for the next day.  Once you get into the routine, it's not hard at all.

shannm

I am typing this as I pump at work, so it can be done.  I am almost at 11 months.  Second baby.

Personally, I like to keep my milk in the insulated sleeves that came with my pump.  They have small ice packs.   Not sure they make a difference.  If you pump into clean vessels, fresh milk is said to be okay for 24 hours at room temp.  I never pushed it that far but it has always been fine for a full work day.  Usually the milk gets put in bottles for the next day and extra gets frozen.  I rotate my freezer stash by thawing some on Mondays.

I pump two times per day for about 10 minutes each time.  I got lucky here, some people have to pump more often and for longer time.   

telyn

Nine months on Saturday, still pumping at work, feeding at home! Def. Check out breastfeeding board and kellymom.com for tips.

I work at a very BF friendly place and all my supervisors are women-most of whom have  children-so they have made it easier. Plus, the pumping room here has hospital grade pumps, I just had to buy an accessory kit. I keep it in a lunch bag, I bag all my milk and stow it in the freezer and then pack it back in the lunch bag to go home.

https://www.usbreastfeeding.org has good information on your rights. I did have 1 co-worker complain that I was working a short day because she couldn't find me between certain hours, but once I made it clear to my supervisor that I was pumping during those times, it was all fine. 

LO does get some formula- 25% of her bottles are formula, but we still BF on the weekends and at night. We will wean when she is ready, but we have exceeded our goal!

You can make it work good luck to you! 

iluvmylab

First of all, try not to stress about BF just yet.  Do what you can to arm yourself with info- read books, take a class, educate your DH, etc.  Kellymom.com is a fantastic site that I wish I had spent time on before LO.

I'm a teacher and DS was EBF for almost 10 months.  I went back to work when he was 12 weeks.  I pumped in the morning right after he ate, during my morning planning time, and at lunch.  It was not fun and I hated sitting in my locked classroom and missing out on adult interaction, but it was necessary and temporary, so I did it.

I would take a large, reusable lunch tote with my pump parts and bottles with lids to store the milk.  I kept it all in the fridge near my classroom, where we all eat lunch. No one even knew what was inside, except for the ladies who knew I pumped, but no one cared in the least.  Between pumps, I did not wash parts, I just kept them in a large ziplock bag inside my tote.  DH would wash them every evening along with the bottles for that day.

I always sent fresh milk to DC, except for on Mondays.  On Friday, I would freeze what I pumped and send my oldest thawed out milk for Monday.  This kept my freezer stash rotated and fresh.

It wasn't until DS was around 10 months that EBF no longer worked.  I wasn't able to pump enough, so he got 1 bottle of formula at DC.  Then I started just doing formula at DC, and BF in the morning and evenings for a few more weeks.

It's not easy to be a working, BF mom, but it's doable.  Tip:  keep a set of batteries for your pump in case the power is out at work.  That happened to me once.  My neighbor teachers pulled batteries out of clocks and remotes to help me out, LOL.  Also keep a set of spare pump parts in case you forget something.  A few times, I would forget my valves since they were so small. And get everything ready the night before to save yourself time.  Good luck! 

kcircell

9 months strong here, I pump in a single person bathroom on a big desk chair that I keep in the corner of the bathroom. I keep my milk in a cooler in the community fridge. I pump 3 times a day at work because that is how many bottle LO takes. I usually pump for 30 min sessions. I work for a tiny 30 person company.

brettsmama

I went back to work when DS was 3 months, I worked full time. While I was off work I pumped extra and froze the milk to have when I went back. Even after returning to work I exclusively breast fed until DS was 6 months. My work had a conference room I used to pump. I made a sign to put on the door so I didn't have anyone barge in on me. I also used a nursing cover just in case. I breast fed before work, pumped on my morning break, pumped at lunch, pumped at my afternoon break, breast fed through the evening and night and usually tried to pump right after the evening feed as well. I bought extra milk storage bottles and pumped directly into those. After pumping I put the bottles in a insulated lunch tote in the office fridge. The milk I pumped one day would be used to feed him the next day. If I didn't pump enough I would get some out of the freezer that I pumped before going back to work and on weekends etc.
Also, try not to "stress" about breast feeding. Just continue to educate yourself and know moms were designed for this. Also know anything is better than nothing. Just do what you can. Good luck Congratulations.

karleegirl

I'm still pumping and bf at 12.5 months. I went back at 12 weeks. When I first went back Dd was eating every 2 hours. So I pumped every 3 hours. I got a hands free bra and car adapter and pumped on my drive to work. At 11 and at 2. Around 6 months I changed to bf her before leaving home and pumping at lunch and at 3.

I store my milk in the cooler bag that came with my pump and put that bag in my office fridge. I work in an outpatient clinic so I pump in a former exam room. It doesn't have a lock but I put a sign on the door and wear my cover.

litzo27

I pumped until about 15 months (but only once a day from about 8 or 9 months). It's a little easier for me because I have my own office so I just close the door. My SIL pumped till 18 months and she is a consultant who travels between locations so it was a little challenging but she made it work.

- Get a good pump. For me Lansinoh/Ameda worked well. Big help is a high quality hands free bra (I tried to make do with a sports-bra with cut-outs. Nope, spend the $ and get a good one).

- Find whether there is an official room in your building (ask HR). If not work with HR (or directly with management if it's a small firm) to arrange a room with a door, ideally a lock. I've seen women on here talk about using conference rooms, extra offices, server rooms, closets and even their boss's office (must be an awesome boss!). Obviously some of these are not ideal but you'll make it work.

- If you have a fridge at work just store the milk in there. if the bottles are in a bag noone will even know what's in there. If you don't have a fridge a little cooler or insulated lunch bag works just as well. 

- I've found that I don't need to wash the parts between pumps. So after the first pumping session I would disconnect the tubes from the flanges and store the bottles with the flanges still attached. And then just pump into those bottles again. Makes for super fast set-up/dismantle. And just wash them at night at home. 

- If you have a place to keep the heavy pump at work (i.e. a desk) that's great. No need to lug it around. Just transport the parts. Keep a spare set of flanges/bottles at work though - inevitably there will be days you'll forget them at home. 

- It's normal if at first you don't letdown for the pump all that easy. Takes a couple of weeks sometimes to really adjust. Meanwhile start pumping once a day now (in the morning works) to build up a stash for a stress-free transition. 

You'll do great. Once you start and have more specific questions the ladies here and on the BF board will help.