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mrs.littlejeans
member
Moms Who've Pumped at Work
mrs.littlejeans
member
I'm so anxious about it and trying to figure out how it's going to work (I teach, so my time to pump is very limited). Did you use one of the hands-free bras? Any advice? Thanks!
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Re: Moms Who've Pumped at Work
I'm not a teacher, but here's my experience...
I was really anxious too. I has become pretty easy to manage though and I do not have a hands free bra. I don't work while I'm pumping, so if you are going to have to continue on with grading, paperwork, etc. while pumping you may want to get a hands free bra.
I pump at about 9, 12 and 3 and it takes about 15 minutes total each time. I get 10 minutes pumping time out of that. The rest is set up, then pouring milk into storage bags and zipping everything back up.
I store my filled storage bags and pump parts in what looks like an insulated lunch bag in the community fridge. I figure who's going to look in what they think is my lunch?? And if they do, then that's what they get for snooping! LOL
Since I refrigerate my parts between pumpings, I don't wash in between pumpings. I just wash at the end of each day at home. Saves time during the day that way.
I have found that my pump time at work is really relaxing now that I've gotten more efficient & quick with set up and clean up.
Dont be anxious! It will work! I didn't use a hands free bra. It was "my time" to pump. At our office people get to go smoke, I got to pump. It took me about 20 minutes total from the time I got everything out, put together, pumped, put everything up and put myself back together.
Do you have a place to pump? Does it have an electrical outlet or do you need batteries (if you need batteries, make sure to have extras!)? Is there a place close by to wash your hands? Do you have a place to store a towel or burp cloth? Do you need a sign for your door? Does your door lock?
I would pump and still answer emails. I could do that one handed. Your first day back will be a little stressful trying to get your routine down but by the end of week 1 it will be ok and you will be in a good routine and have a good feeling. Dont get overly stressed and remember to keep your fluids up! Drink Drink Drink.
Prayers for you as you return to work.
All these applied to me as well! Also if you can get two setups it is a nice to have, so you dont have to wash every.single.night. That part did get old for me.
Don't be anxious, you can make it work. I pump in a closet, literally, I have a little desk between the filing cabinets, boxes of office supplies, and the box for the office Christmas tree. Before that I pumped in a library carrel. You can make nearly anything work.
I've always only pumped twice a day which works well for me but I know lots of women need to pump three times. Do whatever works.
I do use a hands free bra and I love it, I read or play on my phone while I pump. I also don't wash parts during the day, I wipe them off and put them in the bag with the icepack with the bottles of milk.
Good luck to you, you can do it!
ETA: I almost forgot, my very best advice is Enlist Your Husband. Pumping gets old, it feels like work, washing all those parts and making bottles and washing bottles and freezing/defrosting milk adds a lot of extra chores. My DH does all the washing, milk storage and bottle making tasks. This is our division of labor, obviously he can't help me pump the milk, but he can do all the other milk-related work to make pumping feel like less of a chore to me. I come home, hand him my bag and he does the rest. In the morning I pack all my clean parts up and take Cooper's bottles out of the fridge. I honestly believe the team effort has been a major factor to my pumping success. I have been working & pumping for 9 months now
this worked just fine for me when I worked part time and pumped:
https://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/hands-free-pumping.html
Yep, I have 2 sets of pump parts. Highly recommend this!
I would definitley get a hands free bra. With all of the tubes and horns flailing about, it's nice to have your hands free while it's going on. Plus, you can get some work done, if you want.
You will get to where you HATE pumping - give yourself a little pep talk before your session - and get out a pic of your LO. That will help remind you why you are going through it all (it's also supposed to help stimulate your let down!). :-)
Are you going to have a cooler or a fridge to store it in? If no fridge, make sure to bring a mini cooler with frozen packs to make sure it stays cool until you get home to put in the fridge.
I also got another set of tubes and horns (b/c I forgot mine one day and had to buy some!). But after I had the extra set, it was nice b/c I could bring one home to wash and immediately pack the clean set when I took out the dirty ones, so I woudln't forget them again. I just wiped them down inbetween sessions. You can keep them in the cooler if you are worried about missing spots.
Get a few of those microwave sterilizer bags. They can be resused (20 times, I think?), and it's much faster than boiling everything.
It will all work out! I was anxious at first but once I got in my groove it was no big deal. I pumped in my office but since you're a teacher I'm sure it'll be harder for you to find a place. My door doesn't have a lock on it so to make myself feel better I made a sign for the door and pushed a very heavy chair behind the door when it was closed. I never got walked in on and it helped ease my mind.
I didn't have a hands-free bra but next time around I will consider getting one. I positioned myself so that the horns rested on the edge of the desk and I could still work on my computer. Make sure you bring something to do, even if it's not work related, because it gets boring.
When I first went back to work I pumped 3 times and then went down to 2 after a month. I pumped until DS was 13 months.
One thing I learned the first day...bring a towel (hand towel) to drape over your lap. I spilled some milk on my black skirt and it bothered me that the stain was there for the rest of the day.
Good luck! It'll all work out once you get in the swing of things!!
Thank you - I'm definitely trying this!
Hands-free bra is a great thing, though not essential.
One tip: Purchase pump assemblies (cone, bottle, etc.) for as many times as you plan to pump away from home. Bag each set in a separate bag. Remember bottle caps, too. Then, pump with a set, put dirty parts back in bag, and place milk in cold bag or refrigerator. At your next session, use a new set of cones, etc.
(If you can keep an extra pump at work, even better.)
Doing dishes at work on top of pumping can be awkward and time consuming. I did this and then washed everything at night with K2 and it was far better than washing at work like I did with K1.
Good luck. You are doing a great thing. It is hard to do at work, but you'll get in the groove. It is a great way to remember your connection with your baby.
A little delayed in my response, but I pumped for 15 months at work. By law (this is very new, like in the past 3 months) employers must have a place for you to pump. Just FYI- confirm the details with your HR department.
Anyway, I had 2 pumps so that I didn't have to lug the one from home to the office and vice versa. I had 2 sets of pump "stuff" to start out with (bottles, cones, tubes, etc) and ended up with 3 because of the day I left a set at home. Worked out perfectly because I ended up keeping one complete set at the office at all times. I also agree about the towel, because I can't begin to tell you how many times I spilled milk (and cried over it, since we all know that breastmilk is worth its weight in gold
), and a hand towel would've made all the difference in the world.
It took me about 20 minutes a time, and I pumped 3 times a day for the first 4 months, then twice a day until the last month. I didn't have the hands free bra, but I did figure out how to manuver the cones into my nursing bra so that I could continue working the entire time I was pumping.
Good luck! You can do it!
I had multiple (like 7 or 8) sets of horns, bottles, etc. I didnt plan this, just got lucky to get some sets from a friend, but man, i LOVED having that many so I didnt have to wash as often.
I only brought one set of horns/bottles each day and use them all day. Since it was all going in the fridge in my cooler bag, I didnt see the need to dirty 3 sets. Any milk in the bottles/horns would be fine if it kept cold.
I poured the milk into the bottles I'd be sending with baby to daycare the next day so that I wasnt wasting storage bags, wasnt having to wash as many pump bottles and was one step closer to having his bottles ready for the next day. Just had to put nipple/other parts on the bottle.
Keep a few storage bags in your cooler/pump bag in case you forget bottles one day or something. You can even tape the bags right on the pump assembly if you ever forget the pump bottles (did this twice).
Ha, I told Erica the same thing before she came back to work.