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September 2015 Moms
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Pumping Schedule for Moms Returning to Work

jen83mnjen83mn member
in September 2015 Moms
For those of you who are breastfeeding and plan to return to work and pump while at work (or STMs who have done this previously), I'd love to hear what kind of pumping schedule you kept to build your supply prior to returning to work. How often and what time of day did you pump?

Once you returned to work, what did your breastfeeding/pumping schedule look like? Did you feed baby the milk you pumped today the next day, so it never had to be frozen? Then used the frozen stash for back-up?

Baby is 3.5 weeks now and I'm pumping a few times a day to start my stash, and am giving baby one breastmilk bottle a day of 3 oz. But I'm having a hard time finding time to pump while taking care of baby, so any helpful hints would be appreciated!
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Re: Pumping Schedule for Moms Returning to Work

  • ForeverEverAfterForeverEverAfter member
    I didn't build a stash prior to starting work with #1, so I can't comment on that part. I would send the milk I pumped the next day. On my last day working (shiftwork) I would freeze the milk, then the next day I worked after being off I would send my oldest frozen milk (I would thaw one bottle, send the rest frozen for them to thaw as needed). I never pumped on my days off, just nursed on demand.
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  • joules11235joules11235 member
    For my first, I would pump during my two breaks and lunch at work (I think that's what I had).  Prior to returning to work, I did pump some as well, although i can't remember when I managed to do that.  After I went back to work, I bf on demand and did not pump.  Doing this, I had enough to keep stocking up.  I think I would try to use the oldest frozen milk to send to daycare.  (Sorry, been four years).  

    (I did make lactation cookies once, they were tasty and I've seen more recipes that look tasty as well)
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  • kheitic4kheitic4 member
    I pumped every 3 hours while at work for 15 minutes. I would cap the bottles put them in the fridge and use them for the next day bottles at the sitters. We ended up saving all the freezer milk for when I weaned and kept the baby on the freezer milk. It depends on your supply and how much your baby drinks while at the sitters. The freezer bags are super easy to thaw if you use a bottle warmer. I have a medulla pump and you can buy a connector to pump straight into the freezer bags too.
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  • dmbfan46835dmbfan46835 member
    I will pump at lunch and 2 breaks and keep it in the medela bottles In the cooler pack. I will send that to the sitter the following day. I am also pumping and freezing currently, with about 300 ounces in the freezer right now. I hope to have close to 1k ounces by the time I return to send extras to the sitter for emergencies, to have some in hand if my supply drops due to the stress at work and for when LO is weaned as well. Lots of my friends at work said their supply dropped a bit once they went back to work so kinda worried about that.
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  • maiatenemaiatene member
    I started pumping and saving milk as soon as it came in so I has a nice stash when I went back to work... my regular freezer as well as a deep were filled with milk.

    Looking back I was pretty aggressive bc i wanted to keep the same schedule I had at home. When I went back to work I pumped in the morning before I left, and when I got to work I pumped 3x (think breakfast lunch and teatime). When I got home I pumped after I ate dinner and right after the baby went to sleep. At one point I would wake up on the middle of the night to pump but I was so tired I dropped it once the baby didn't want to feed overnight anymore.

    My bosses were understanding and didn't give me grief for being away from my desk so often, which I think helped a lot.
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  • bijouxbleubijouxbleu member
    I haven't even started pumping yet. And I'm going back to work the end of October. I feel behind now. I plan on pumping this weekend.
    When do you guys start pumping. The first feeding in the early morning? Guess I'm just at a loss as to when I should start. What time? Do I pump after LO feeds? I nurse one boob at a time. So while he's nursing on one boob, do I pump the other one?
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  • jen83mnjen83mn member
    dmbfan46835 said:

    I will pump at lunch and 2 breaks and keep it in the medela bottles In the cooler pack. I will send that to the sitter the following day. I am also pumping and freezing currently, with about 300 ounces in the freezer right now. I hope to have close to 1k ounces by the time I return to send extras to the sitter for emergencies, to have some in hand if my supply drops due to the stress at work and for when LO is weaned as well. Lots of my friends at work said their supply dropped a bit once they went back to work so kinda worried about that.

    How often and for how many minutes are you pumping to already have 300 oz. saved up? That's incredible!
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  • etayisloveetayislove member
    I never built up a true stash, just pumped a few times and that once I started work used that for the first week to get started. If you pump after the first few morning feeds you'll usually get a little more milk.

    The general rule of thumb is to pump as often as your baby would normally eat when you are home. Your breasts will tell you, lol. This keeps your supply level.

    After a few months you may notice your baby reverse cycling, eating less and less while at the sitters or daycare, and nursing as much as possible through the evening and night. Just a heads up!
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  • squigles28squigles28 member
    FTM here. I EP. I found a sample schedule for baby's age on exclusively pumping.com if that helps any.
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