Another BF and Returning to Work Question

Hi,

I don't have an answer for you, but I'm just glad to see another Mom that decided to have a child at an older age. I was 38 (almost 39) when I had my son. He's been a joy, but lots of hard work also!

Good Luck!
J.

I had 3 bags, one for pump, one for bottles to daycare, and a cooler for storage while I was at work. I usually left my pump at work just cause I had so many things to carry, and just brought it home on the weekends. If you do that, though, I would have a back up manual pump or something at home because there will be the rare occasion when you don't go into work and need a pump.

Medela does make nipples for those bottles, but they don't look very BF friendly to me (ie very narrow nipples). I always used the Playtex bottles/drop in liners and used their One Step BM Collection Kit (you have to buy two if you are double pumping). These were a life saver for me because I didn't have to wash all those bottles and I love their bottles anyway because the liner collapses and they get less air, plus you just throw the liner away and every one is sanitized. They also have the best nipples, nice and wide to encourage good latch, and they make them in latex still which is softer and collapses more like a mother's breast when a baby is nursing (sillicone ones are so hard and just keep their shape.

Hi A.,
I am returning to work this Thursday (agghhh) thus understand your questions. The only advice I can offer is that we have tried the Medela bottles for feeding and do not like them.
I love them for storage, but I always dump into Avent bottles for feeding, as they seem to work best for my son. The Medela seems to come out too fast for him - I think the wider mouth ones work better.
Best of luck. I am dreading pumping at work!
Kindly,
A.

Hi A.

I was pleasantly surprised when I returned to work to find out they offered a lactation room. Disposable equipment and tubing was provided to each mom. The pumps were set up in the room along with a refrigerator. They also took steps to make it a relaxing environment. Even if you have privacy in your office, you may find that you have a better experience by getting away from your desk. Before you go and purchase a back up pump, check with the nurse at your job to see if they offer this type of amenity.

The daycare I used wanted the bottles to be marked and to be able to use a single bottle for each feeding. It was more convenient for me to pump into the Medela bottles or freezer bag until they were full. Then, at home, I would prep the 5-6 bottles each day that would be sent into daycare. I did not use Medela bottles for feeding. Instead, I kept them with me and used Medela (or Johnson & Johnson) bottles or freezer bags for pumping.

I liked having a pump at home and not having to worry about carrying it back and forth between the office and home. It was one less thing to worry about forgeting and there were several occasions were it helped to have my personal pump at home. I did bring my personal pump with me for business travel. I always brought it on the plane instead of checking it but I guess now you would have to add a little extra time for security:>)

I pumped for one full year after my firstborn and had returned to work after 12 weeks. I would suggest that you take the pump with you back and forth from work. I know it's a pain, bulky, heavy, etc., but you never know if you will need it at home. With my firstborn, after about 3 weeks of my returning to work, she got so used to the bottle, that she did not nurse from me anymore. With my second child, once I returned to work, my milk supply diminished quite significantly, despite my diligent efforts. I still pumped and then nursed at home, but by the end of the day, you may not have enough milk to satisfy your growing child's appetite. Good luck to you and stay with it!

I to am a first time mom and will be returning to work very soon and breastfeeding. I have been pumping once a day and storing the milk so I have a back up supply just so I have extra for any complications but I plan to take my pump to work and to home everyday. I just live about 10 minutes from my office but in the event you have a long commute I would look into perhaps getting two because if you forget it well you dont have to turn around and make a long trip. Hope this helps and best of luck to you and the little one.

I don't know about the daycare situation, since I only work part-time and my daughter was at home wiht her grandmother when she was still nursing. However, we did use the Medela bottles for feeding (bought extras) and they worked just fine. We used the Gerber Nuk nipples in the bottle tops and they were the only bottle/nipple my daughter would use.

One thing I would say is you might want to leave hte pump at work during the week and bring home on weekends so you can get some more reserves built up on the weekends. I found that I did not pump at work as often as I would have nursed my daughter if I'd been home those days, and so ended up pumping from one side after nursing on the other on mornings before I left for work to have enough supply at home for the afternoons.

I'm not sure if they daycare will let you do this, but ask if they will let you store your milk there overnight. When go you to pick up your son after work, you can drop off your milk and they'll have it for the next day. (I had a home daycare situation, and this worked very well.) You'll need to label it with your son's name and the date & time you pumped it. It will be one less thing to do in the morning, except for Monday. I always carried my pump back and forth. But you'll figure out what will work best for you. It's a huge adjustment. Best of Luck!

Hi A.~
I agree with a previous response-about getting an extra pump. If you aren't aware of it, I'd like to give you a website: www.freecycle.org
You can sign up with this website-it is all designated to the area in which you live in. It is for people to post ads for stuff they are either giving away or looking for. And as the name states, everything is free. It is not allowed to post items for sale. If you were interested, once you sign up, you can go to that website & post an ad for another pump, just so you've got an extra one. I actually got my Medela Pump in Style from that website- I did purchase new breast shields and other parts for it, but it is a nice way to have an "extra" without having to pay a good $300 again.
As for the Medela bottles-I used them to feed my first son after pumping and storing, and they worked just fine for me.
Good luck!
J.

I recommend bringing the pump home with you every day. Even though I pumped 3 times a day at work, I could not pump enough to feed my son at daycare all day. If you bring the pump home, you can get in another pump session or two at home. Plus, on occasion my son wouldn't eat very much in the morning before I dropped him at daycare, so I would pump before work. If I didn't have my pump with me, I would have to wait several more hours with already full boobs before I could pump at work on my first break (painful!)

As far as storage/feeding goes, I just used the Medela bottles for pumping and to store the milk till I got home. Once I got home, I would transfer the milk into Playtex Disposable Bottle Liners and keep those in the fridge or freezer. You can also pump directly into the Playtex liners if you get the adaptor kit, but I still preferred to pump into the Medela containers because they were sturdier for traveling. I would bring a cooler with me to store the bottles, I used 3 packs of blue ice and that kept the cooler very cold for the whole day.

Good Luck!

You've gotten great advice, but I just wanted to throw another suggestion in. When I first went back to work, I was lugging the pump back and forth with me every day and it got to be such a pain. I ended up buying a 2nd pump (same style, but used) off of ebay pretty cheap. I left one at home (I'd pump one side in the morning while I nursed) and left the other at work. Then, I'd just bring the tubes/funnels/milk home in the cooler bag and take them back clean the next day. My 'routine' was to pump one side in the morning at home, pump 2-3 times a day at work, and pump one side on the weekends (if it was convenient) while I was nursing.

Also, I always poured the milk into Avent bottles and just used the Medela bottles for pumping -- mainly just due to my own preferences though.

Good luck!

I did just what you are doing with my first daughter and will be returning to work in March as well after the birth of my 2nd....

I always brought home my pump every day so if I needed to pump at home- I could. Especially on the weekends!

If you CAN leave it at home because you are pumping enough at work for the next day in daycare- I'd leave it. Hassle to lug around.

My DREAM is to get a 2nd pump. One to leave at work and one to leave at home....

Bottles... I found that that it didn't matter which ones I used. I used the storage bottles. The nipples are what makes them different.

Go with the cheapest option first and upgrade if you have trouble

I hate to answer a question with a question but have you introduced your son to the bottle yet? I remember sending my daughter to daycare and one of the things I discovered was how difficult the caregiver had it with babies that she had to introduce to the bottle. I even had a co-worker getting calls from her provider because her baby had never had a bottle until that first day with the caregiver. She simply said when he gets hungry enough he'll take the bottle. I thought that was a bit unfair to the baby and the caregiver.

~M

Just another data point to add to your list:
I leave my pump at work all the time, but have a hand pump at home just in case. I wash my pump parts between pumpings at work and let them air dry. I take them home for a "good" cleaning each weekend. I bring whatever empty bottles we have around to work with me (and keep another empty one in a drawer in case I forget) and leave it in the fridge during the day. After pumping I just add whatever I get to that bottle and bring home the full b ottle at the end of the day. I never had any supply problems so I never pumped except when at work. I always nursed my son when he woke, right before leaving for the day, first thing when I saw him after work, and at bedtime, plus any midnight snacks.

It's hard going back to work, but you'll do great. I used an Ameda Purely Yours pump and collected the milk in Avent bottles, which is what my son ate from (until he went on bottle strike 1.5 months ago... but that's another story).

I think it depends on how you travel to work. I took the EL in, so it was better to just leave the pump at work. I didn't want to spend so much money on a pump to only have it somehow break during the commute! If you drive, then just bring the pump home with you. What I did for home pumping was just having a cheaper manual pump when I needed to use something. However, I do recommend when you are at home in the evenings and on the weekends to nurse whenever possible. Nursing your baby on demand will help your milk supply to stay strong. Good luck to you and I wish our country would adopt a more humane maternity leave mindset so you wouldn't have to go back to work so soon....