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Working Mamas With Older Babies--Dropping a Feed?

eggmankateeggmankate member
in Breastfeeding
My DD is 6.5 months old and I pump 3x/day over a 9 hour period. I'm starting a new job on Monday and have told them I need to pump so it's going to be fine that I do that, but I'm curious if this job will be more busy than my last and I wonder if I'll be stressed out trying to find time to squeeze in these 3 sessions. I'm just curious (and I know every baby is different) how old your baby was when they dropped a feed (if at all)? If so, was it just dropping a feed or did they spread their feed times out so eventually one of them dropped? Did you mimic that feed routine at work? Or, did you drop a pump session on your own even if baby hadn't done so yet, if so, how did that go and what did you do?
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TTC since April 2011. DH Dx MFI in February 2012. BFP #1: 7.16.12. MMC dx: 8.22.12, D&C 8.28.12, TTC Again November 2012. DH Varicocele repair November 2012; Repeat SA showed "dramatic" improvement February 2013 (awesome!)
BFP #2: 3.26.13, EDC: 12.7.13. Anya born December 9th, 2013!
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Re: Working Mamas With Older Babies--Dropping a Feed?

  • vvvvvfeevvvvvfee member
    i dropped from 2 to 3 pumping sessions when DS was about 7/8 months old. i wasn't getting enough in the 3rd session to justify keeping it, and he had started on solids by then and was tending not to finish his 3rd bottle. DS has always been really into nursing, and always nursed a lot at night. when i was home i'm sure he was still nursing 3x or more during the average workday period. so i wasn't really going by replacing each missed feed with a pump, just by my pumping output and the number of bottles he took while i was at work. (does that make sense?)

    i would at least start out trying to pump 3x a day at your new job. then you can always cut back to 2 if it becomes difficult. if you have a freezer stash, that gives you some leeway as well.
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  • eggmankateeggmankate member

    vvvvvfee said:
    i dropped from 2 to 3 pumping sessions when DS was about 7/8 months old. i wasn't getting enough in the 3rd session to justify keeping it, and he had started on solids by then and was tending not to finish his 3rd bottle. DS has always been really into nursing, and always nursed a lot at night. when i was home i'm sure he was still nursing 3x or more during the average workday period. so i wasn't really going by replacing each missed feed with a pump, just by my pumping output and the number of bottles he took while i was at work. (does that make sense?)

    i would at least start out trying to pump 3x a day at your new job. then you can always cut back to 2 if it becomes difficult. if you have a freezer stash, that gives you some leeway as well.
    My one concern with cutting a session is that I'm not sure how the weekend would work if I am nursing her. Would my supply be enough if she nursed more than I was pumping?
    image

    TTC since April 2011. DH Dx MFI in February 2012. BFP #1: 7.16.12. MMC dx: 8.22.12, D&C 8.28.12, TTC Again November 2012. DH Varicocele repair November 2012; Repeat SA showed "dramatic" improvement February 2013 (awesome!)
    BFP #2: 3.26.13, EDC: 12.7.13. Anya born December 9th, 2013!
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  • vvvvvfeevvvvvfee member
    i had no issues with my supply for weekend nursing. DS still nursed a lot when i was at home on weeknights, plus overnight, and as often as he wanted on weekends/holidays. i think if you nurse on demand you should be fine.

    but again, if you're concerned, just keep up the 3 pumps a day for another few weeks. once your LO is well established on solids, you always have the option of sending solids instead of one of the bottles.
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  • lindseyb624lindseyb624 member
    My schedule since I've been back to work (when DD was 4 mo) was to pump one side in the morning and feed her on the other before work.  Then I would pump twice while at work (9-6) at 11:30 and 3:30 and then I'd nurse at night on demand...usually when I got home for just a little and then before bed.  Now DD is 9 months and is drinking a lot less because she's eating 3 good sized meals of solids and I have a decent freezer stash so I'm keeping the morning the same, pumping once around 1:30PM and then nurse a little if she wants in the evening and then at night before bed.  I also nurse throughout the night on demand.  Some nights it's nothing, but usually it's once.  On weekends I only do the morning (one side) pump and then nurse the rest of the day.  My supply didn't seem to be affected on the weekends with this schedule.  I'm obviously noticing a difference since this week we cut the 2nd day pump which freaks me out, but I needed to regulate or we were going to have freezer milk forever.
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