Heading Back to work...questions About Pumping

I have heard of a working mom exclusively BF, but it is tough. I supplemented.

Basically, the more you pump and feed, the more you will produce. Just the same a mother of multiples can feed 2 or more babies, because she will just continue to produce.

Don't nurses work long hours? That will make it difficult.

When I began pumping for the first time, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I only had enough milk to cover the bottom rem of the bottle. I felt like it was such a disaster, then it worked out just fine.

Best wishes.

Good for you!
I just packed up my pump yesterday. My son is almost 13 months old and I am still nursing but no longer using the pump. I work full time and went back when my son was 13 weeks old. Here is what a typical 24 hour period looked like for me when I first went back to work:

3am-overnight feeding
5am-morning feeding
6am-pump
7am-last minute fill up feeding
9:30am-pump at work (at LEAST 15 min)
12:30pm-pump at work (at least 15 min)
3:30pm-pump at work (at least 15min)
6pm-just getting home, feeding
7:30pm-nurse to sleep
10pm-"dream" feeding
10:30pm-pump then go to bed

This is a ton, but it worked. And I really needed all of this to keep my milk supply up. Eventually I dropped the night feeding, then the dream feeding and then the 7am 'top off' and for months we were down to just those remaining feedings. Then when my little one was about 11 months old I started cutting out pumping times at work...and you know the rest is history. I just got off the pump, I never gave my son formula, ever.

When I went back to work I had about 75-100 ounces of breastmilk stored. It was more than you'll probably need being a nurse, because I will sometimes travel for work. A couple of times I had 2 or 3 day trips, so I always tried to have enough for him just in case something came up at the last second. I stored all my frozen milk in 5 ounce bags so I could take out what I needed. On Fridays I would take my pumped milk and freeze it and then Mondays I would defrost the oldest milk in the freezer so that my frozen supply would always be fresh, no more than 2 months old. I continued to pump in the mornings and night during the weekend so that I would keep my supply up and that would make up for anything that I was short during the week.

Since you are still home I recommend pumping after every feeding, then you know that your baby has had his fill and whatever is left is extra. You'll make more by the time he is hungry again, plus in a couple days you will find your supply has boosted.

I also drank the breastmilk teas (3 cups a day or they really don't work), ate oatmeal, barley, drank dark beer, and limited parsley and peppermint. This was alot of work but it was totally worth it.

Lastly, I HIGHLY recommend the Medela Freestyle Pump. It is a pricey $400, but it is portable, can be hands free, and only weighs like 4 pounds. With the Medela soft cups, it was comfortable but also very powerful. I think this was what made me able to pump and nurse so long. I had a different Medela pump for my oldest son and it just didn't work as well, my supply always struggled and I gave up at 7 months. Also, no bottles at night and on weekends. I know it's tempting for Dad to feed baby overnight, but I always needed the stimulation and my son needed the reminder of how to feed from me instead of the bottle.

Sorry for the novel--LOL! You can do this. You can find time to do anything that you love and are committed to, even with kids and on a mommy schedule. Never worry about your son being hungry. He'll tell you if he needs more, and the more he nurses the more milk you'll make. Feel free to send me a message if you have any other questions.

You have gotten some great advice, I will add a few things. Yes, before you go back, it is good to have some freezer stock. You can pump after each feeding, as others have said, OR, you can give baby one side and then pump the other (or if you are very coordinated, you can pump one side WHILE baby nurses on the other - but I was never quite able to pull this off). If baby misses/sleeps through a usual feeding, pump instead.

I pumped for all three kids, and never had to supplement, but here is something interesting. I never really got all that much milk from a pumping. I always worried that eventually my freezer stash would run out and I would need to supplement. BUT - many babies who receive pumped milk will do something called "reverse cycle feeding." You can google it, but the basic idea is that they will somehow adapt their needs so that they are mostly hungry when you are home, and don't need as much when you are not. The tradeoff is that a baby who may already be sleeping through the night or waking only once, will suddenly wake up 3 or 4 times to nurse. (This is why I ended up co-sleeping with each baby at some point or another.) I would routinely get out only 3-4 ounces total per pumping session (so 8oz per day) and that is all baby would drink while I was gone. Sometimes not even that much. My husband is a stay home dad and he got used to this but on the occasion when we would leave the baby with a sitter, they were shocked that the baby drank so little.

Anyway, remember, drink lots and lots of water, try to relax during pumping sessions, and be proud of yourself that you are doing this for your baby.

YOU CAN DO IT! I work full-time and had exclusively breastfed all three of my kids and will do the same with my fourth soon to arrive. my third kid was nursed till 19 months. It is HARD WORK and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Pump as much as you can. Snack and drink plenty during your entire shift and use whatever time you were going to take for lunch to pump. It helps if you can get in a couple of pump sessions at work. Use the microwavable disinfectant bags (or those wipes) or keep the equipment in the frig/freezor in between sessions to save time on the cleaning process. You could also take mother's thistle/feenegrek to help increase your supply, but again the more you pump the more milk you get.

Since you are at the hospital are you allowed to use the hospital grade pumps? You would only need to buy your own adaptors. Those are quite faster and stronger.

I would feed your son first in the morning if time permits since he may be better at getting all the milk. You need to completely empty for your body to know that it needs more. You could try to add in an extra session similar to when your son goes through a growth spurt and requires more milk and your body adapts to it.

As for storage if you are storing for the week in the frig, use the max of the bag. For the freezer, remember once it's thawed you need to use it for that session. So portion it to what he may need or half so you could add it up...

But as before remember to eat and drink plenty because nursing/pumping is quite draining. It's an energy suck, so you need to replenish it.

Plus a huge perk, for me with all this nursing/pumping was that I quickly went to a size 0-2 without excercise. Ha-ha, it's not all bad. Best of luck to you.

Wow I'm almost on the same schedule as Christa O. below. :-)

I've been back to work for 6 months and besides a few (less than 5) formula feedings in the beginning, I've exclusively breastfed.

I have a hand pump (Medela) which was $40 at Target for the kit. It's awesome! I bring 3/4 bottles with me in one of those little hard lunch bags with 2/3 small ice-packs. I pump every 2/3 hours. I just bring in the bottles and put them in the daycare fridge for the next day when I pick-up. Fridays I use the Lansinoh (sp?) bags and freeze them when I get home. Sunday nights I take out 3 bags and put them in the fridge so they're defrosted by Monday morning.

I do have some formula at school just in case she goes through a massive feeding binge and needs more than the 3/4 bottles I supply. I think they only used it once.

A few things not to forget...make sure you have some (a lot in my case) extra leak pads with you at work. They can easily be hidden in a drawer somewhere. You don't want to run out of those! Wear clothing as if you were nursing. Ever try to pump while you're half undressed cause you wore a dress that you have to unzip halfway down? Another thing that I have at work is a back-up pump and some extra bags. I've forgotten a few times and believe me, you don't want to go a whole day without being able to pump. OUCH!

You'll be fine! Your son is lucky to have such a caring mommy!

~Kristal

Pumping wasn't the easiest for me in the beginning. I exclusively breastfeed also but work part-time so I pump for those times. I pump in the morning, because that's when I have the most milk. If I know I'm going to be away for 4 hours, then I pump both sides. If I still need to feed the baby, then I pump one side. When I pump, I empty the boob so that I get the hind milk out. You can see the difference in the milk...hind milk is creamier looking.

I pumped 2x/day and then 1x/day at work, then finally stopped pumping but was breastfeeding while at home and during the night (formula during day). Never had a problem with supply or drying up. My body seemed to adjust to have milk available at the times I breastfed or pumped. Lactation consultant told me not to worry about foremilk/hindmilk and I didn't.

I never pumped one side at the time b/c it takes longer, and it makes more sense to feed some from each breast and then pump both sides, if you're going to pump at home.

Lactation consultants can be very helpful (often free advice on phone), but not necessarily the ones at hospitals that are used to new moms, latch issues, etc

Pump a couple of mornings ahead of te and you'll have enough for one day at work and then pump when your at work and bring it home for the next day. Good luck I'm doing it to this month but I work down the block so can nurse at lunch only problem is baby doesn't always take bottle and likes to comforted by breast but it's an adjustment and may take a few weeks.

So I would nurse in the morning, and pumped afterward. I always had a lot of milk then. I didn't pump until I was dry, I jus ttried ot pump a couple ounces. I stored this milk for about a month. then when I went to work, I tried to pump at the same times I would nurse. Truth is, I found it hard to pump as much as I would nurse and the pumping is les effective, and I did fall behind eventually. So I also provided formula for my daughter. However, I was able to give breast milk exclusinvely until she was about 4-5 months. You can probably do better than me if you are dilligent.
Remember that around 6 months you will be starting solids and this will allow you at some poiint to skip a feeding an dpump instead so as her intake of milk declines, you can store what she doesn't use.

I think many Mom's find their milk declines with a return to work, so just be really consciencious to drink lots of water and pump often. And pump at night too and keep your supply as high as possible. You will find a rythmn that works for you. And by the way, I never really thought much about hindmilk, etc. I just pumped when I could!!

PS - I nursed for 13 months while working!!

I breastfed at work for 2 yrs combined with both my kids, but I had a convenient location and a fridge to store. Before I went out, I would pump for a week to have an extra store, while continuing to give my babies breast milk from a bottle. The more you pump, the more you will produce (at least for me it did)Then the week I started out to work, I pumped every 3 hours for 15 mins and got about 4-6oz each time. I stored that "batch" for the next day and continued doing that and so forth. So my babies always got breast milk only that it was from a bottle. I would nurse at night after work. Drink lots of fluids (water preferably), eat protein, carbohydrates for energy and to keep your milk supply. Good luck.

PS: I must add that the BEST pump for me was the manual Avent pump and it was easy cleanup and storage for me.

Well lots of good advice, my little tid bit is basically rule of thumb try to pump every 3 hours. I read you're a nurse and what I hear it's quite challenging. I worked in a lab so it was quite challenging to get to go pump when I needed to at times. Just stick to your guns and you can be flexible to a point but don't let work get in the way of you wanting to continue to nurse. When you are home nurse when you're baby is napping too to build up your supply. Start stocking up now! Before you go back too see if you can find out ahead of time where you can store your milk in a fridge or make sure you have an ice pack with it. And also a room to pump in with an outlet. You should have an automatic dual pump too since it's so much faster. 15 minutes is plenty of time. If you can, buy extra shields to have a set at home and one for work. Then it's one less thing to have to forget! Pack your empty bottles the night before so it's all ready to go. I pumped 6x a day, fed my daughter when I got home, then before bed. She was exclusively b/f for 13mos. Oh, make sure the milk isn't shaken either prior to feeding since that will break down nutrients so I hear. It's A LOT of work but well worth it. You'll feel like a milk machine but the end result is the best feeling that you did it! You'll figure out the best way that works for you with the morning ritual. For me it was easiest that I let sleeping babies lie, and just pumped and gave the bottle to my husband to feed her when she woke and to get her ready then. Other people bf and wake the baby up. I know I had to get out of the house by a certain time so it was one less thing for me to worry about. Lansinolh bags I liked best! Not a fan of Gerber bags! Best of luck, you can do it!

pump after you feed her. you want her to get the milk first. i pumped after i went back to work at the usual schedule that i had been feeding for her. i stored it in the same bags you are talking about above. the crappy thing was lugging the pump with me to work everyday. that got old really quickly, but i knew it was best for her. the hard thing is to clean it after you pump. be prepared for that. i had the madela symphony and i had to take the thing apart in the bathroom and wash it all out with soap. i bf'd until my baby was about 7-8 mos because by then she was on solids and she kept turning away the bmilk in favor of the solids....she was a very voracious eater and wanted it then and now and when the milk didnt come fast enough for her she would get tired of the breast and want to go right to the solids so in essence she weaned herself. i was sad, but i would do it again in a hearbeat.

What kind of nursing do you do? I am a hospital nurse and RARELY had time to pee, much less pump....and, I finally dried up. Like the other ladies, feed the baby first, then pump. Pump as much milk as will come out. Like they said, the more you pump and breastfeed, the more milk you will make. Yes, the milk will stop coming out and your breasts will become very soft. Your baby won't empty your breasts with each feeding...so, if she falls asleep, pump. You are going to need to pump often just to build up your freezer supply. You can start pumping now and build up your supply. You will get your routine....I found it to be sooo hard because I worked 7a-7p....I would get up super early and pump and take the pump to work. That grossed me out because I worked on a floor that had lots of contact isolation patients. Then, I realized that I didn't have time to pump properly....ie time to relax to allow letdown. Then, I would wait until I got off from work and literally pump while I drove home....Ugh! My milk supply dwindled within 4 weeks of going back to work....I just hope you are working in an environment that will allow you the TIME to pump. I didn't have that luxury. Good luck!

I was able to exclusive breastfeed my daughter even after returning to work, and I never had to supplement. I started pumping immediately after I nursed all daytime feedings. At first, I wasn't pumping much because my baby just emptied me, but before long my body knew I was going to pump after she was done eating and I built up a huge supply quickly. It never negatively affected her or her growth, and it was actually nice when she had a growth spurt because I was already producing more milk. Pump every time IMMEDIATELY after she eats and you will build your supply - that way she still has top priority and your body will produce enough to pump. I wish I had known this with my first! :)

Hi, J.,
I would start now by pumping both breasts after every feeding. Even if you don't get much (or any) milk at first, don't stress about it. Just keep doing it, and that will send the message to your body to make more (I breastfed twins and pumped after every nursing to build up my freezer supply).

I'm not familiar with the Lansinoh pump -- is it automatic or manual? Once you start working, you will probably want an automatic one that will pump both breasts simultaneously. I really recommend you get something like this:

http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/products/pump-access...

that will allow you to pump hands-free (you can also get a sports bra and cut holes in it). This was a real lifesaver for me, so I could do other things while pumping.

When you're at work, try to pump during the same times of day when you would be nursing if you were home.

Good luck!
A.

I pumped for my oldest singleton child and for my twins. I am a teacher and I was only away for two feedings. Unfortunately at work I was unable to pump at the exact times I should have been breastfeeding them - but I pumped before school, at lunch, and near the end of each day. That was necessary to get enough milk for two feedings for my first child and one feeding for my twins (they had to have one feeding of formula). I had different goals the two times. I pumped for my daughter in order to keep her exclusively breastfed. I pumped for the twins mostly so I could continue breastfeeding them at times when I wasn't working (to keep my supply up). Here is the thing - pumping can be really hard and sometimes you just don't get a lot of milk out (it's like your body knows that you aren't actually breastfeeding a baby). The only way that I kept my daughter off formula after six months is that I used to increase her solid food on days when I had a smaller supply of milk. The only way to pump well is to try to completely relax, which means not worry about how much you are getting. You should start pumping now (after feeding your child - especially in the morning and I wouldn't just feed one side or anything - just try to pump out the extra and start saving). Even with my first, the surplus eventually disappeared and I was essentially pumping for the next day's feeding. It was always like that with the twins because I had nothing left after feeding them to pump out and could only pump well if it was a replacement for a feeding. Good luck to you - positive and relaxed attitude is key. If it's at all possible to pump at work during the times you would probably be feeding your baby, I think that would be so helpful.

Hi,
It is very easy. I went back to work when my daughter was 3 months. I breastfed her for a year so I pumped for 9+ months at work. Here is what I did and it helped. A few months before going back to work I pumped 1x in the morning after her morning feed for 15mins (both breast) and than again at night before I went to bed which was 2 hours after she went down. (My daughter was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks). I had at least 10 bottles of milk stored in the freezer. Than when I went back to work I woke up an hour before my dd and pumped for 15 mins. My breast were always the fullest in the am. I got the most milk than. I than pumped at work at the times she was having a bottle (she was on a schedule so I knew how many bottles to replace when I got home). I continued to replace the bottles each day. I also continued my pumping at night before bed.
It will all work out. I was able to pump enough between the 2 extra pumps morning as nigt to support her bottles. I think the one thing that will help you is if you put your son on a schedule.
Best
L.

When I was getting ready to go back to work, I would pump after my son had finished nursing in the morning, sometime during the day, and before I went to bed. That way there was a bit of a "stockpile" at home for when I was at work. I am not sure of the exact composition of the milk, but the fact that it separated in the bags was a good sign (fat on top, more "skim" on the bottom).

When I was working, I only needed to pump once. I would nurse my son in the morning, pump after he was done, go to work, pump during my lunch hour (I usually go about 12 ounces... I am a crazy over-producer!), then either nurse him or pump when I got home. It took a little while to get the routine down, but once I did, it really was not all that difficult.

There definitely are difficult things about pumping at work, but keep going. You'll love to see how your baby grows and develops with the milk that you are providing!

And Alli is right... cleaning the pump can be a beast. I discovered that Lansinoh (I think) makes pump cleaning wipes that sanitize the pump without needing a sink. They were a lifesaver for me! You can find them at Target in the pump/breast pad/bottle aisle. I'm sure you could probably find them cheaper online, too.

I don't think you sound silly at all. These are great questions, especially for new moms who have no idea of what to expect when it comes to breastfeeding. I was terrified at the thought of my child not receiving "enough" from my breast feeding sessions. As time progressed, I'd say to about the 3rd month, I noticed my son would fall asleep at the breast while feeding. Then, I'd shift him into the burping position (shoulder rest) & pat away. Just like after a Thanksgiving feast, some people loosen their belts and relax because they're full & content; is much like a breastfed baby. The doctor assured me that he was receiving plenty (remember to drink plenty of water.) One way to feel assured that the baby is receiving "enough" is by their weight gain. My son was rarely ever sick as an infant, with maybe only two ear infections during infancy. I fully support breast feeding!