BF plan when returning to work

hydrangeagirl · June 2014

Hi ladies,

I plan to return to work in about 7 weeks or so and need your guidance on what my feeding/pumping schedule should look like. I plan to work 32 hours/week, Monday-Thurs. My work is about two minutes from where I live and I plan to have my parents watch DS when I return to work; my parents live less than 5 minutes from my work. I EBF right now.

I can pump at work, but I'd like to BF as much as I can during my work day since my parents live so close, but don't know how practical that will be. I definitely don't want my supply to suffer so want to be sure I am prepared when I return to work.

I was thinking that I would BF before I went into the office at 9:00a, then pump at 12:00p and 3:00p, then BF when I pick DS up from my parents. If DS feeds more frequently at my parents house then they would need to let me know so I can pump to replace each feed, right? Does this sound like a reasonable plan? If my parents are able to bring DS to my office for BF (or me going to their house) at 12:00p or 3:00p, or whatever time he shows hunger cues, then I can eliminate a pumping session, right?

At what point do I need to start building a stash for when I return to work? At 3 months of age, what is the normal oz intake per session?

Are there any other considerations I should take into account?

TIA, I appreciate your guidance!

Lena122 · June 2014

I have the ability to sometimes go home to feed DD instead of pumping but I actually prefer not to do that. She feeds from one side so if I nurse her but don't pump then I'm lopsided until the next pump. I also miss the opportunity to pump some extra milk since I can usually get a little more than she drinks in one session. I can only pump 3 times at work so if she happens to eat more than 3 times I can't make up for it with an extra pump which is why I like the opportunity to pump extra during my allotted times.

I'd start pumping 1x a day to start building a stash. I started about 6 weeks before I went back to work and ended up with about 70 oz which gave me a comfortable cushion. If you pump at the same time every day (like after the MOTN feed or morning feed) you should start to see results in a couple days. It's important to pump at the same time though so your body knows to make milk at that time every day.

jenn43 · June 2014

My baby is actually at the office with me, and I still find it difficult to coordinate my breaks with when he is hungry. It's much easier to pump. Then he gets to eat right when hemismhungry, and I'm not stressing out trying to rush through things.

hydrangeagirl · June 2014

Bliz1712 said:

I work a little more hours than you, but my DC is approx. 3 miles away. So ideally I could go there and nurse during my lunch break. However, I have declined to do so for a few reasons. 1) the reason explained above by PP 2) I have a 2 yr old there as well so popping in and leaving could cause issues for her thinking I'm going to pick her up 3) my lunch hour might not always fall on when she is going to want to eat

I would definitely start pumping once a day, after the first morning feed would be the best time to start. This will help you start a stash should you not be able to pump enough while you are at work. Currently I work 8 hours a day and I pump 4x a day. I pump in the mornings before I get ready, approx 6:15 then at work it's at 9:15, 1:00, and 4:15. I pump enough to feed her the next day and also freeze at least 1-2 feedings to continue to build my stash. I was also worried about the supply issues like you. What has helped me is to make sure I drink a ton of water throughout the day and also to make sure to eat periodically while working. It's easy to get busy and not eat, which can be bad for your supply. I think those two things are a big reason my supply has stayed up. I also don't ever miss a pump. When I'm with baby I make sure to always BF to keep up my supply, especially on the weekends. Good luck!!

Thank you @Lena122 @jenn43 for your feedback.

@Bliz1712, thank you too! I have a few additional questions.

1. "...pump in the mornings before I get ready, approx 6:15 then at work it's at 9:15, 1:00, and 4:15."

Do you BF your LO in addition to your 6:15a pump before you go to work?

2. "What has helped me is to make sure I drink a ton of water throughout the day and also to make sure to eat periodically while working."

How much water do you typically consume in a day? And what kind of foods do you eat at work?

3. What kind of pump are you using?

4. How many oz do you typically produce from each pumping session?

Thanks for your help!

hydrangeagirl · June 2014

theresat858 said:

I think this is something that is easy to overthink before you go back to work, but something that can really only be solved by trial and error once you go back to work. You may get away with only pumping twice a day if you can breastfeed your LO at 9am and 5pm, but many moms need to pump extra (in addition to when baby gets a bottle) in order to produce as much milk as baby takes -- this is because the pump is less efficient than baby.

Most babies need ~1 ounce/hour when away from mom -- but baby may need more if baby is sleeping a longer stretch at night or is on the upper end of the range of 19-30 ounces/day that is average intake for a breastfed baby. 3-4 ounces every 3 hours is average, but some babies may need to eat more often than every 3 hours. My LO spaced her feedings to 4 ounces every 3 hours at 4.5 months at daycare, but still nursed more frequently at home until 7months.

I pumped one side while nursing the other around 7:30am, then pumped at 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm at work. Some days I pumped at 10am, 1pm and 4pm, depending on my schedule and if I was keeping up with LO at the time. We had early overfeeding issues at daycare, so I had to pump more when that was going on to avoid demolishing my freezer stash.

I recommend pumping once a day (or one side once a day) now to have a bit of backup in the freezer when you go back to work (this is in addition to whenever baby gets a bottle, which you should probably also start doing once every day or two if you haven't already).

Feeding baby instead of pumping at work may work for you, but it depends on if your baby will wait to eat.

@theresat858, thanks for your reply. Can you give me more guidance on how feeding from the bottle works? You said I should start using a bottle once every day or two...I have not started giving LO a bottle yet. So am I pumping to replace a BF session in order to give the bottle? Or am I doing a normal BF session then pumping afterwards and giving him what I produce?

hydrangeagirl · June 2014

Bliz1712 said:

1. What has worked for me is to pump, get ready, and then get LO awake, dressed, and then BF. So after I pump it's about 30-40 minutes and she's BF. I know others would wait and pump after she eats, but that would make me late for work or pumping immediately when I get to work. And waking her up isn't ideal for me to get ready because she doesn't always want to be set down.

2. While I'm at work I have a 32oz container and I drink that at least 2x if not 2.5-3, so approx. 80oz while just at work. I'm also drinking other things, I'll have a soda at some point and milk with my dinner. I also drink about 24oz while at home. So I would say close to 100oz of just plain water a day.

3. I have a Medela Pump in Style Advanced

4. A normal session I get 4-5 oz. I pump 3-5 minutes after the last drop. If I get another let down, I do another 3-5 minutes. Typically it's 15-20 minutes a session. The morning pump varies based on when LO wakes up for her MOTN feeding and is always a little more since it's in the morning, but it's usually around 8oz. LO is eating 9oz at DC where she's there 9.5 hours. Just this week she has started eating more, I think a growth spurt. Most people produce more in the morning, I got the suggestion to pump in the morning on here. I could easily drop a pump, but it's working for me know and helping me put more in the freezer for when I decide to quit. My goal is 6 months and then start to wean.

I'm still rather new to this, so I'm sure others will have some great input as well, but this is what has been working for us since 5/13.

ETA: the first few weeks I didn't get that many oz with each session. It was random, one time I'd get more than I'd get less. It has now tapered off and I get a consistent amount anywhere from 3-5

Thank you so much for your guidance. This is very helpful!

hydrangeagirl · June 2014

casey78 said:

I think others have good advice. I'd start pumping once a day for stash and to condition your body for the pump. Kellymom.com has a good calculator regarding bottle size based on frequency of feedings. We started with 3oz bottles and gradually increased to 5oz bottles. As LO has take more solids, she's decreased bottle size a bit.

My initial work schedule looked something like: 6am nurse LO, 9am pump, 12p pump, 3p pump, 5:30 nurse, 7:00 bedtime nurse, nurse on demand 0-3 times overnight. I was able to get enough and a little extra from 3 pumps at 12-15min each. It was only around 9m that I didn't respond to the pump so well and needed to start pumping before work and going to 20-25 min to get what I need.

A lunch break nurse may work well for you. If you are close, I suppose you could play it by ear. It might not matter now, but as baby gets older, it might be harder to have 2 separations a day vs. 1.

I also need 3-4 quarts of water a day. Easy work snacks: nuts, greek yogurt, hummus and pita chips, trail mix apples with peanut butter.

Thank you @casey78! I appreciate your guidance too!!! BTW, your little girl is absolutely adorable

hydrangeagirl · June 2014

theresat858 said:

It's usually ideal if someone other than mom gives the bottle, but not necessary. I always just pumped while DH gave the bottle to LO for the practice bottles. Yes, it is in place of a BF session.

Many babies will refuse the bottle if you wait too long to introduce one...around 3-4 weeks seems to be an ideal window; moms who wait until 6 weeks often have a lot of difficulty in getting baby to take a bottle.

Thanks @Theresat858. I will start replacing a BF session with a bottle tomorrow evening; DH can give LO the bottle. I sure hope he will accept it without any problems. Do you have any suggestions on a good slow flow nipple?

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