HELP- Preparing to go back to work

christy1009 · October 2013

I go back to work in about a week. LO is going to a home daycare. I've been pumping about 2x a day to prepare. I am meeting with the daycare provider tomorrow for her to meet LO and to drop off change of clothes, diapers, milk, etc. So, I'm taking a few bags of frozen milk to her. My questions are: how do you transport your milk to your daycares - do you take frozen bags or do you maybe pump into the storage containers and take refrigerated milk that was pumped the day prior?

My friend said she pumps and then takes that milk pumped to daycare the following day - so it has to be used in 24 hours from pumped so she takes the milk daily to daycare. It helps to save on storage bags too, etc.

Also, pumping at work questions - I plan on pumping right before I leave for work or nursing before I leave and then pumping 2-3x day in a 8-9 hr shift. What do you store your milk in at work? I have a Medela PIS - I was going to use the compartment with the icepacks with the storage bags....? Put my pump parts in the fridge to use at work and then wash when I get home? Please share your routine with me. I'm nervous about going back to work

sgerrity23 · October 2013

I have a medela and use the compartment with ice packs to store them. They stay cold all day. I am only able to pump twice, but just to help you, bring a blanket or clothes that smell like your lo. It helps a lot with the milk let down. I found it takes forever for me to pump enough milk but something that smells like my lo and pictures/videos helps.

rondokye · October 2013

I'm not a big producer so I only have about a day's worth of milk frozen. I get as much ready for LO as I can the night before, that includes putting milk in bottles. If I am using my milk from the freezer, then I wait until the morning to put the milk in bottles. I get up around 5 a.m., get myself ready and eat breakfast, then get LO up around 6 a.m. I'll nurse and snuggle with her and am out the door by 6:50. I have an hour+ commute. I have my own office so I am able to close the door and pump often, which is 3-4x an 8 hour day. Yesterday, I was only able to pump 2x and it was fine. I have a medium-sized Thirty-One cold storage bag and that's what I keep my pump and milk in. Its stored in the fridge at work. Then, when I get home, I either nurse LO or pump, depending on when she ate last. That milk is put into bottle for the next day. Any milk that is pumped on my last office day for the week is put in the freezer. Sunday night, I will rotate out the oldest milk and use it for Monday. I try really hard to not have to pump over the weekend.

Erinkathleen21 · October 2013

I nurse my daughter right before we leave to drop her off at daycare(about 7 am). I bring milk that I put in the fridge from the freezer the night before(most of the time it's still mostly frozen). I get to work at 8am, pump at 9:30, 12 and 3(if I miss a pumping session once in awhile I don't worry to much about it). After each pump session I just run the horns through water real quick and toss in the fridge. I just use the cooler that comes with the medela pump in style with icepacks to keep the milk in. Then when I get home I transfer the milk from the bottles into freezer bags and put the in freezer and I pull out the bags to take to daycare the next morning

emmy236 · October 2013

I only go into the office once a week but I hated dragging in my big pump so I got the medela single hand pump and just use that. I have a little cooler tote and I put the pump handle and bottles in there. I only pump 2 times a day at work so I just need to bring two bottles. I have a ice pack in there but I put the whole thing in the fridge at work. I pump at night after R goes to bed and again in the morning. So that is two bottles for my mom (she watches him for me and I give her a frozen bag). I give him a full bottle before I go and he has 3 -5oz bottles while I'm gone. When I get home I freeze one bottle to replace the frozen bag used and feed him the other bottle. I pump again and he has his bottle for before bed. Then one more pump that night to start it all over again. I'm an EPer.

alexkylee · October 2013

For daycare I use refrigerated milk from the day before except Mondays when we use frozen. We transport the bottles pre-made in a little insulated lunch box. Our daycare will not handle frozen milk or any milk not already in a bottle. At work I pump into the medela bottles since they fit into the cooler that came with the PIS. I pump before I leave for work at 530 then at 830, 1130 and before I leave work at 230. After each session milk goes in the cooler in the work fridge and pump parts are rinsed and put in a zilpoc baggie. I put the baggie in a lunch box and it goes in the work fridge too. At the end of the day I take the freezer pack from the PIS and put that in the cooler so the milk stays cool on the way home. Pump parts are sterilized nightly in the steam bags. I have two sets of parts, one for my PIS and one for the pump at work (I work in a hospital and use those pumps). It's nice to have a backup.

carrotcake06 · October 2013

You'll work out the logistics that work best for you the first week. Then it's easy.

I pump into the bottles used to feed them. I have a cooler big enough to keep everything including pump parts in the fridge between sessions. Milk pumped one day is used the next day. Freeze on Friday, defrost for Monday to rotate your stash. Do as much prep as humanly possible the night before.

sarbieb · October 2013

I'm shocked to see I'm in the minority, but with DD (and this is my same plan when I go back to work in 3 weeks) I have a large frozen stash that I draw from. I defrost the night before and fill bottles for daycare. I pump 2-3x while at work (I was washing all pump parts every time, never thought to keep in fridge!) and storing in work fridge in freezer ziplock bags bc I freeze that at home. I'm essentially using 3m old pumped milk each day and today's milk will be used in months from now as my stash depletes.

HELP- Preparing to go back to work

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