Working mamas who pump

NGilmerGirl · July 2014

For those who pump at work during the week, what do you do on the weekends? I've been back to work about a month and have been just nursing on the weekends, no pumping, but the extra output to freeze might be nice. Plus, I'm getting just enough milk each day for the next day whereas when I first started back I was getting about 1-3oz extra to freeze. So I'm worried my supply is heading down.

cinderin · July 2014

DS slept for 4-5 hours (usually) his first stretch of sleep, so I would put him down, pump and go to bed. Since I had just fed him, I only got maybe 1-2 oz.

Jmorgan971 · July 2014

I pump right before bed during the week so I do the same on the weekend to keep up my supply. The milk from those sessions either goes in the freezer, supplements my Friday pump if my output was low, or goes to a weekend bottle feed if I want to go to a movie/book club/dinner and will miss a nursing session.

p2k2c4bk2p2 · July 2014

This is my second child I've pumped for and I never pump on the weekend or vacations.

If you want a freezer stash try pumping either early in the morning or a couple hours after the baby goes to bed. I have never found a big freezer stash useful. I'm more in the "feed your baby not your freezer" camp myself.

Altima80 · July 2014

Well I guess I fed my freezer.... At one point I was having low supply so I added in an extra pump session on my commute to work. I then pumped once on Saturday and once on Sunday equally a total of around ten ounces to get me started into the week. I really built up a stash and needed to do it for my own piece of mind.

mommatotwo2 · July 2014

I was coming up with a deficit fairly often especially as the week would go on. My pumping output would be great Monday, Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday thanks to the supply boost from nursing in demand all weekend, but dwindled by Thursday and Friday. I started noticing LO would only nurse a few minutes on that second side first thing in the morning, so I'd nursed her on the lower producing left while pumping the right. I did this because I was feeding on demand and so she could ju st nurse again sooner if she wanted. I was usually able to get 4 to 5 oz each day this way, so I'd start my Monday with 8 to 10 extra ounces and so making bottles Tuesday, I'd use all if that plus a little of what I pumped at work Monday, making Wednesday bottles I'd use the remainder of Monday a yield and some of Tuesday's and so on. That way when Thursday and Friday rolled around and I'd be a bottle short, I had my surplus to make it up. On the rare occasions that my output stated Hugh all week, I'd just freeze my oldest milk beyond 8 or 10 extra ounces. I hope that makes sense lol.

DahliaFlower · July 2014

I do pump when time and supply permits. Usually I pump about 1-2 times per day on weekends. I will often pump before we are going out somewhere because I find it easier to deal with bottles in public, as DS doesn't do well w/ NIP. I will sometimes have an extra pump session that I will keep for Monday's supply, as I usually only thaw one - two bags at most, sometimes I have enough refrigerated to get through Monday.

eggmankate · July 2014

I've pumped after the 9am feed ever since DD was 8 weeks old in anticipation of returning to work at 12 weeks. I pumped for 10 minutes about an hour after that feed and yielded about 1-3 ounces. Once I returned to work I only did that pump after a feed on Saturdays and Sundays. This probably helped keep my supply up and also allowed me some extra milk if I ever pumped any deficits during the work week (I rarely needed it). DD is 7 months old now and I think I'm going to stop doing this weekend pump around 9 months once I feel like I have enough milk to get us to the 1 year point. If you choose to do this make sure it's at a time that it's easy to do. I sometimes miss this weekend pump because it is usually around 10:30am that I pump and sometimes I'm not home to do it.

jenn43 · July 2014

I pump every day (weekends included) after our 6am feed, and I usually get 6-8oz. That seems like a lot, but added to my two pumping sessions at work, it's just enough milk for the day. On the weekends I save it for the week ahead in case I fall a little short.

ErinO21 · July 2014

As much as it sucks and I'm looking forward to stopping, I almost always get up around 430 or 5 in the morning. and pump on Saturday and Sunday. It creates a nice cushion for the week because my pump output fluctuates. LO sttn and I'm able to go back to bed for an hour or so before he wakes up. It's not the worst thing in the world, but I am looking forward to being done with having to do that.

Pankers · July 2014

I pump after the last feed, at midnight and at 2/3 am as well as pumping in the day at work. Weekends are a bit off, we're trying to get her to gain weight so bottle helps with that and I pump.

bumpuser3155624 · July 2014

Similar to pp I pumped one side on the weekend just like during the work week. That extra 3-5 oz added up and helped when my supply dropped.

Unknown · July 2014

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michelle142 · July 2014

When I pumped at work, I would pump once on the weekends right after DS's bedtime nursing session. It was nice to get that little bit extra in the stash.

chickii2008 · July 2014

I don't pump at all on the weekends. I rarely pump at home - I don't always get a let-down. The only time I pump at home is if I need to build my supply or stash back up. For right now, I refuse to leave my little guy for more than a couple of hours. My little guy has also reversed cycled so most days he only eats about 5-7oz a day during the week so I normally have surplus of 4-6oz.

vvvvvfee · July 2014

i never pumped on the weekends. DS always nursed a lot when i was home, and night-nursed.

if you don't have a lot in the freezer and want a back-up, you could pump once each weekend morning for a few weeks and freeze that to build up a bit of a stash.

BabyBrooks5516 · July 2014

I pump every morning before LO wakes up and get about 5 ounces, I do this on weekends as well or else it messes my during the week supply up. It also creates a 10 ounce surplus for later in the week when pump output decreases at work (it almost always does). Nursing on weekends brings my supply back up again. I realized how important keeping the weekend morning pump was this last week when we went on a 4 day vacation and I did not pump and all last week I struggled and had to pull from my small freezer stash all week. So, I have the morning pump and pump twice at work. A LC once told me that I will always have enough when the baby nurses, so she nurses after my morning pump (like 45 minutes after). Seems to work out just fine. It really sucks to not sleep in on weekends though.

radiohd18 · July 2014

I pump every weekend morning, just to try to get ahead. By the end of the work week (heck, the end of the workday), I struggle to pump enough so I try to take advantage of the morning supply.

Even if you only have 10 minutes to pump, I think it helps.

diamondtaurus · July 2014

Following as I go back to work next Friday!!

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