Moms who pump at work come in

prego760 · February 2010

Can you describe your pumping schedule? I am not quite sure how many times or how long. I'd like to hear what others are doing.

madhatter2003 · February 2010

When I first went back, it was 3 times a day for 15 min, at around 6 months I was able to drop to 2 times a day for 15 min, now I don't pump at all and just nurse at home.

The_Jen626 · February 2010

I pumped at work for 4 months...

I had a Medela Pump In Style Advanced (which I highly recommend). I would wake up around 6:30am, pump while eating cereal at the kitchen table, then leave a fresh bottle on the counter. I left for work, and DH would wake DD up, give her that bottle, and take her to daycare. I got to work around 8:30 am, would pump around 9:30am, it took about 10-15 minutes to set up, pump, and be done with it. Then I would eat lunch around 12:00 and pump again at 1:30, and pump again at 4:45, because it takes me an hour to get to daycare to pick up DD.

I found it really helpful to set up "pump times" in my Outlook calendar, that way people wouldn't try to bother me during those 10-15 minutes.

Oh and I LOVE your siggy pic, the blue and red looks gorgeous together!!

curlilocks1207 · February 2010

7:00 a.m. LO nurses before we leave

9:30ish Pump for 10-15 min

12:00 Nurse LO at daycare

3:00 Pump for 10-15 min

haleymay18 · February 2010

I nurse before I leave in the morning. Then I pump at 9, 12:30, 3:30 if I am able to. Otherwise I adjust to the meetings I may have that day. I will drop a pumping starting in March. I will pump at 10 and 2 because she will be 6 months and the LC said that it would be okay then.

prego760 · February 2010

I leave for work at 6:30am and start at 7am I get two 15 minute breaks at work and then get off at 4pm. I dont get lunch break as everyone eats at thier desk. So if I pump before work and twice during my day and feed when I get home do you think I'll be able to keep up?

prego760 · February 2010

The_Jen626:

I pumped at work for 4 months...

I had a Medela Pump In Style Advanced (which I highly recommend). I would wake up around 6:30am, pump while eating cereal at the kitchen table, then leave a fresh bottle on the counter. I left for work, and DH would wake DD up, give her that bottle, and take her to daycare. I got to work around 8:30 am, would pump around 9:30am, it took about 10-15 minutes to set up, pump, and be done with it. Then I would eat lunch around 12:00 and pump again at 1:30, and pump again at 4:45, because it takes me an hour to get to daycare to pick up DD.

I found it really helpful to set up "pump times" in my Outlook calendar, that way people wouldn't try to bother me during those 10-15 minutes.

Oh and I LOVE your siggy pic, the blue and red looks gorgeous together!!

I'll definately look into this pump. It's so important to my DH and I that we BF.

Thanks for the compliment on my siggy pic. I loved the colors I chose even though other people though I was crazy for going that color sceme.

Maybride2 · February 2010

prego760:
So if I pump before work and twice during my day and feed when I get home do you think I'll be able to keep up?

The only way that you're going to be able to keep your supply up is by keeping the demand up. Ideally, you should pump as often as your infant eats - and for a newborn, that's about every 2-3 hours.

If you're not pumping that often, your body will take that as a sign that demand is down and it will decrease your supply accordingly.

When DS was an infant, I nursed him before leaving the house (around 7:30), pumped at around 9:30, noon, and 2:30, and nursed again as soon as I got home (around 6) and all evening. As he got older I was able to go longer between pumpings and eventually dropped one of them. I pumped until he was around 11 months old.

gypsywitch · February 2010

You should pump as often as baby eats when you are away from baby. SO, if baby is eating about every 3 hrs when you go back to work, you need to pump every 3 hours, and adjust as baby gets older. This is in order to maintain your supply. If you go to work and only pump 2x a day but if you were home with baby and they were eating 5-7x a day, your supply is going to take a huge drop. And as for duration, pump until your breasts are emptied each time, with a double electric this will usually take about 15mins. if baby is going through a growth spurt and you need a jump in your supply, pump a few mins after your breasts are emptied to signal your body to make more.

The_Jen626 · February 2010

prego760:
The_Jen626:

I pumped at work for 4 months...

I had a Medela Pump In Style Advanced (which I highly recommend). I would wake up around 6:30am, pump while eating cereal at the kitchen table, then leave a fresh bottle on the counter. I left for work, and DH would wake DD up, give her that bottle, and take her to daycare. I got to work around 8:30 am, would pump around 9:30am, it took about 10-15 minutes to set up, pump, and be done with it. Then I would eat lunch around 12:00 and pump again at 1:30, and pump again at 4:45, because it takes me an hour to get to daycare to pick up DD.

I found it really helpful to set up "pump times" in my Outlook calendar, that way people wouldn't try to bother me during those 10-15 minutes.

Oh and I LOVE your siggy pic, the blue and red looks gorgeous together!!

I'll definately look into this pump. It's so important to my DH and I that we BF.

Thanks for the compliment on my siggy pic. I loved the colors I chose even though other people though I was crazy for going that color sceme.

What state do you live in? Several states have laws protecting BFing mothers, in my state, for example, my employer has to give me a room to pump in, that is locked and private, and not a bathroom. Very nice to not have to pump in the bathroom. My boss is a man and when we discussed my mat leave options, he told me "we will make a room for you if you need it for "new mother" reasons" and he never objected to me leaving an all-day meeting if I needed to pump, you might be surprised how accomodating employers are to breastfeeding Moms (especially if your boss is a parent)

The ladies here have been very helpful to me, so feel free to ask any questions! I know it all seems very overwhelming now, but it's so easy to pump once oyu get it figured out.

The PISA is a great pump, all of my girlfriends have it and loved it, so I didn't even do any research at all, I just bought that one, and really loved it, it's the only reason that I was able to pump until 6 months when my milk dried up. It's a great pump, and worth the moderately high price tag, especially if you are 100% going back to work.

sju · February 2010

I think your schedule looks fine but try to actually pump at least 15 min. I nurse DD around 5 am and pump three times a day. Usually 20 min at 9:30am and 15 min at 12:30pm. The afternoon session varies from 3:30pm to 6pm depending on the day of the week and if DD nurses as soon as I pick her up. I work 30 hrs and leave at 3 on Mon&W'eds and at 4 on Tue&Thurs'.

I agree about the wedding colors; very pretty.

Edited to add that I also use a PISA. I used it to EP after I had DS and now to pump at work.

sunrae719 · February 2010

You may have legal rights to pump, but you should definitely have a legal right to a lunch break unless you work in a field where it's impossible to do that. No one should *have* to eat at their desk.

I feed DS at 6:15, pump at 9, 12, and 3, and nurse him at 6. I also pump right before I go to bed, unless he wakes up and then I'll just feed him. He just dropped a feeding though and I may drop a pumping session too.

DallasHorn · February 2010

curlilocks1207:

7:00 a.m. LO nurses before we leave

9:30ish Pump for 10-15 min

12:00 Nurse LO at daycare

3:00 Pump for 10-15 min

This schedule although sometimes I would pump 15 - 20 min. I would add that then I also nursed immediately after work (so 5 PM). Make sure you do breast massages and compressions once the milk flow slows. This really does make a difference with how much you get out. I used a Medela PIS. Around 10 1/2 months, I dropped the afternoon pumping session, then around 1 year I dropped the morning pumping session. With both kids, it was around 12-13 months that I dropped the lunch nursing session as they weren't interested in nursing at that time, but with both I did continue to nurse before work and evenings until DD was 15 months and DS was 17 months.

prego760 · February 2010

The_Jen626:
prego760:
The_Jen626:

I pumped at work for 4 months...

I had a Medela Pump In Style Advanced (which I highly recommend). I would wake up around 6:30am, pump while eating cereal at the kitchen table, then leave a fresh bottle on the counter. I left for work, and DH would wake DD up, give her that bottle, and take her to daycare. I got to work around 8:30 am, would pump around 9:30am, it took about 10-15 minutes to set up, pump, and be done with it. Then I would eat lunch around 12:00 and pump again at 1:30, and pump again at 4:45, because it takes me an hour to get to daycare to pick up DD.

I found it really helpful to set up "pump times" in my Outlook calendar, that way people wouldn't try to bother me during those 10-15 minutes.

Oh and I LOVE your siggy pic, the blue and red looks gorgeous together!!

I'll definately look into this pump. It's so important to my DH and I that we BF.

Thanks for the compliment on my siggy pic. I loved the colors I chose even though other people though I was crazy for going that color sceme.

What state do you live in? Several states have laws protecting BFing mothers, in my state, for example, my employer has to give me a room to pump in, that is locked and private, and not a bathroom. Very nice to not have to pump in the bathroom. My boss is a man and when we discussed my mat leave options, he told me "we will make a room for you if you need it for "new mother" reasons" and he never objected to me leaving an all-day meeting if I needed to pump, you might be surprised how accomodating employers are to breastfeeding Moms (especially if your boss is a parent)

The ladies here have been very helpful to me, so feel free to ask any questions! I know it all seems very overwhelming now, but it's so easy to pump once oyu get it figured out.

The PISA is a great pump, all of my girlfriends have it and loved it, so I didn't even do any research at all, I just bought that one, and really loved it, it's the only reason that I was able to pump until 6 months when my milk dried up. It's a great pump, and worth the moderately high price tag, especially if you are 100% going back to work.

I live in California and at my old building there was a room in the women's locker room designated but I will have to talk to my boss about a room here at the new building. Another girl pumped here but she has her own office and it made it easy to just close and lock the door.

I have to work because they have excellent health care benifits here for me and baby and they pay is excellent. They are going to lay off people next month so I have been working my buns off and trying not to rock the boat.

sunrae719 · February 2010

I work in HR in CA, I know the laws and benefits really well. How many employees do you have? If you're a small company, it may not apply, but most companies have to provide a lactation room and give you time to pump.

You may also be able to get a pump through your benefits. Call and ask if it's under Durable Medical Equipment.

The_Jen626 · February 2010

prego760:

I live in California and at my old building there was a room in the women's locker room designated but I will have to talk to my boss about a room here at the new building. Another girl pumped here but she has her own office and it made it easy to just close and lock the door.

I have to work because they have excellent health care benifits here for me and baby and they pay is excellent. They are going to lay off people next month so I have been working my buns off and trying not to rock the boat.

Excellent benefits and great pay are 2 very good reasons to work!!

Also, start lurking on the BFing board now, you will learn alot from reading those posts. BFing can be very challenging at first, but it is SO rewarding if you stick with it. Can you take a BFing class through your horpital? Take your DH with you, as he will be your primary support the first few days and weeks. My DH is practically an expert now on the do's and don'ts of BFing, and he was a wonderful help to me.

Also google and buy this: Easy Expressions Bustier

It makes pumping SO easy. I waited until I was back at work to order it, because I wasn't sure that pumping would work out, and I really wish I had ordered it before I even had my baby, it's so nice to have while pumping! I wore a 34H nursing bra, and I bought a size L in that bra. I just kept it in my pump bag, and it was so easy to put it on, pump, then unzip and be done, and put it back in my bag.

risysmama · February 2010

I work from roughly 8-3. I pump at 10, nurse her on my lunch break at 1130 and pump again at 3 before I go home.

ljlkm · February 2010

I pump at 6:30, 10:00, 1:00, and 4:00.

makclair · February 2010

When i was a resident, I pumped in the morning before I left (6am), then would pump around 1130 and 1:30 if i could, sometimes just once around that lunch period. I would usually pump when i got home around 4 or 5 b/c DS would take his last bottle at daycare around 4.

When i started working in private practice, I pumped around 7 before work, then at lunch (1pm) and usually before bed (around 9pm).

My son never had formula, I had a big freezer stash that I accumulated while I was on ML so that helped me ride through days when I didn't pump enough.

You can definately do it on your schedule, but it is work,and you will need to pump at home some.

I would highly recommend searching out the bf'ing board.

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