Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

I go back to work on Monday.

DS is 2.5 months and up until now has been EBF with only the occasional bottle. I have no clue how many times a day he eats or how much for that matter.

So I have a ton of questions, please bear with me...

-When you went to work what did your schedule look like? When was the last time you breastfed DC before leaving him/her. When did you next breastfeed after getting back to DC?

-Do you pump at all before you leave the house or after you get back?

-How many times a day do you pump at work and about how many ounces do you get each time? How long do you pump each side? Do you try and pump around the same time every day?

-Did you find your supply took a dip when you returned? If so did you find that it eventually went back up?

-I have an okay sized freezer stash (about 125 oz). Did you find you were still able to add to it from pumping at work or did you have to start using some of it and couldn't replace it?

-If your DC woke up 2-3 times a night did you breastfeed or let DH help with a bottle?

Any other tips or tricks would be great. I have a flexible schedule at work so I can pump for as long or as many times as I need to. I just want to get a feel of what I should aim for when I go back.

If you got this far - THANK YOU!



UPDATE: Thanks so much lady for all of your input!!! A lot of this I suppose was anxiety but so far so good.

DS actually started going for 7 hour stretches on Friday night

This morning he fed at 6 and then at 8. I had to pump after his feeding because my boobies are messed up from him sleeping at night.

I got 6 oz this morning after his feeding.
Pumped at 11 and got another 4. I am going to pump at 1 and 3 and hopefully it will work out.

THANKS so much for all the advice!! I was totally going into this thinking I would only do 2 sessions. So far so good!

Message edited 9/13/2010 12:06:02 PM.

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

Relax

You have a great freezer stash! So just get used to what he eats with that stash. Pump what you can at work and see how things go.

I can't really tell you about my routine because most of my shifts are overnight, so my pumping times were all crazy. I remember typically pumping about 3-4 ounces per breast each time I pumped. It did increase to over 5oz per side, so I just changed bags while pumping. I was able to keep increasing my freezer stash.

When DS woke in the middle of the night, I typically breastfed. I found it easier than waiting a few minutes for DH to realize there was a crying infant, wait another few minutes for him to heat up the bottle, then shuffle back to DS's room. By that point I was wide awake with all that time of DS crying anyway.

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

I should start off by saying that my son comes to daycare at the school where I work 4 days a week, so I am able to BF him there on my breaks. One day a week, he stays home with my husband, so I'm answering based on what I do that day.

I only work 8:30-2:30, so I usually only have to pump on my lunch break at 11:30. My rule about the morning was that if he woke up before I left, I would nurse him. If not, I would pump before I left. When I get back home to him, if he is due for a feeding soon, I just wait and then nurse him. If he recently had a bottle though, I pump when I get home.

When I pump at work, it's usually just the one time, I pump for about 20-25 minutes and usually get about 6-7 ounces. I just pump each side until nothing more is coming out. I do pump at the same time every day, which I definitely recommend if you can. That will keep your supply maintained best.

I don't think my supply took a dip when I went back to work.

I haven't had to use my freezer stash since going back to work. Though, being that I was only pumping once a day, I wasn't really adding to it either.

My son STTN, but if he did wake up a few times, I would probably just nurse him and then go back to sleep. But everyone is different. I can go back to sleep very easily after getting up, and I know my son would go right back down too. If I wasn't able to fall back asleep well or if I knew my son would be up a while afterwards, I would definitely have my husband help out.

Good luck!! You'll be just fine!!

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

First off for going back to work....

OK - I went back to work when DD was 12 weeks old. I was fortunate that she was sleeping through the night and did not have to wake in the middle of the night to feed. I had a fairly predictable schedule and it went like this.....

wake, feed, pump (since you have the most milk in the morning - I would do this to make sure I was empty and would get about 8oz after feeding DD)
then I would pump 3x at work...10am, 1pm, & 4pm. Then I would feed DD another 2 times before she went to bed at night. I would freeze whatever milk I pumped on fridays. I made sure to pump after each first morning feeding on the weekends and this usually gave me enough milk to start off with on mondays.

I stopped pumping in the morning after the first feeding about 2 months after I went back to work as I was not getting as much as I used to.

My supply did not take too much of a dip until she was about 6 months old. This was partially due to having to pump more than feed her myself and the fact that she was eating solid foods, so she needed less BM.

I started dipping into my frozen stash at 7 months and once DD turned 10 months I have to introduce formula during the day as I could not pump enough and it was taking an emotional toll on me. At 10 months - DD was only getting 2 bottles during the day anyway, so I fed her in the AM & PM and she got 2 bottles of formula during the day. I stopped pumping at that point.

Pumping at work is not easy, it is a labor of love. But with a lot of faith and devotion it can be done. My best advice is to try not to stress about it. The more relaxed you are, the better.

DD is now 18 months old and I am still BFing her before bed.

Best of luck to you! I am sure you will do great!!!

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

DD was 8 weeks when I went back to work. I nursed her before I left, but if she was still sleeping I pumped a bottle for her (around 6:30 am).

At work, I pumped for every nursing session that I would have missed so I ended up pumping three times at work (9 am, lunch, 4 pm). Usually I'd double pump for 10 minutes and get roughly 5 - 6 oz a session.

When I got home, I'd nurse her before bed time. My schedule was pretty consistent. It definitely dipped once I started working, but I was still making more ounces than she was drinking so I built up a nice freezer stash. I'm weaning now (since DD is turning 1 on Monday) and I still have 250 oz in the freezer to use up!

As for night time feedings, I can't help you there since DD was STTN from 7 weeks. The occasional nights that she did wake up, I just nursed her back to sleep. I never bothered DH since his job is too stressful and mine is more flexible. Good luck!

Message edited 9/10/2010 9:22:32 AM.

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

Lots of luck with returning to work!!!

Here's what I did:

If he woke up in the morning hungry, I would BF him and not pump. Sometimes he would wake at say 4 or 5am to feed in the middle of the night so I wouldn't BF him when I got up at 6-7am and would just pump at home or pump at work.

I started by pumping 3 times at work since he eats 3 times while I'm at work. I found that if I only pump twice (once mid morning and once mid afternoon), I was getting the same amount as when I pumped 3 times, so now I just pump twice.

I would BF as soon as I got home around 6 or 6:30pm. Then again before he went down for the night. After that, I BF on demand. When I first came back to work he was 3 months old and still waking 3 times a night to eat. Then he went down to 2 times a night waking to feed around 4 months old. Then around 5 months old, once a night. At that point, DH would get up with him and give him a bottle for me so I could sleep some. "They" say that even if your DH gets up to feed the baby a bottle, you should pump at that time so that your supply is not affected. Once DS was 4-5 months old, I didn't do this anymore. I would just sleep through. It didn't really affect my supply (but I have a small supply to begin with).

When I pump at work, I use my double pump (Medela Freestyle) and pump for 22-25 minutes each time. I found that around the 20-22 minute mark, I always get a second let down. Since I have a small supply, I need the second let down in order to get enough milk. I usually pump a TOTAL of about 4-5 ounces per 25 minute pumping session (yes I know that is SUPER low compared to some of you ladies, but I've tried EVERY trick to increase my supply and nothing has truly helped).

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

I went back to work when Loey was 6 weeks old and I barely had a freezer stash at all, maybe 20 ounces??

I'll answer your questions:

-When you went to work what did your schedule look like? When was the last time you breastfed DC before leaving him/her. When did you next breastfeed after getting back to DC?

*I would wake up at 5 am and BF Loey. Then I'd put him into the swing and he'd sleep until 8 or 8:30. I would get ready and leave the house at 6:45. At work I would pump 3x. Once at 7:30, again at 10:30 and again at 1:30. I would normally get home around 3:30 and BF right when I got home. It never mattered when Loey's last bottle was when I wasn't there... he ALWAYS wanted to BF as soon as I got home.

-Do you pump at all before you leave the house or after you get back?

*I never pumped at home. I used to try to pump in the morning, but never got anything. Instead, I'd go to work a little early and pump first thing.

-How many times a day do you pump at work and about how many ounces do you get each time? How long do you pump each side? Do you try and pump around the same time every day?

*Answered above, but I'd pump 3x for 15-20 minutes total. (I had a double pump so it would be both sides). I would pump the same times every day. I would get a total of anywhere from 14-20 ounces total for the day. Usually most in the morning, and decreasing from there.

-Did you find your supply took a dip when you returned? If so did you find that it eventually went back up?

*At first I was only pumping 2x/day which worked because Loey was taking 3 5-ounce bottles which was okay. Once he moved to 6-ounce, I added another pumping session which was the only way I could increase my supply.

-I have an okay sized freezer stash (about 125 oz). Did you find you were still able to add to it from pumping at work or did you have to start using some of it and couldn't replace it?

*I built up a HUGE supply once I started to add a 3rd pumping session at work. If you work longer hours, you might need 4 sessions. I liked to space them out every 3 hours (you need to do it at least as often as your LO is eating). Even when Loey was eating every 4 hours, I pumped at work every 3 hours to have more of a freezer stash.

-If your DC woke up 2-3 times a night did you breastfeed or let DH help with a bottle?

*I always BF at night even when I was back at work.

Any other tips or tricks would be great. I have a flexible schedule at work so I can pump for as long or as many times as I need to. I just want to get a feel of what I should aim for when I go back.

*Don't stress it! Don't watch to see how much milk you're producing. Wear a hooter hider and jump on the computer and dive into something else (like LIF!) Keep your mind off and you'll make more milk. It was honestly a lot easier than I expected! Cleaning the parts is a pain, but you can get the Medela wipes and it makes it easier.

If you have any questions, feel free to FM me! I went back to work when Loey was 6 weeks old and pumped at work until I was finished with summer school when he was 7 months. He's almost 9 months and we are still BFing/pumping and it's working out wonderfully!!!

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

I went back to work at 11 weeks PP and DD was EBF...

This was my day from 11 weeks to 5 months (I worked 8-5):
BF before leaving for work (7am)
pump 3x at work (every 3 hours - usually 10am, 1pm and 4pm)
BF when I got home (5:30ish)
BF before DD went to bed (8ish)
Pump before I went to bed (11ish)

When DD was around 5 months I went to only pumping 2x/day at work and started supplementing with formula b/c I just wasn't getting enough anymore and my freezer stash was gone! By 6 months I went down to 1x/day and by 7ish months I stopped pumping and started to BF AM and PM... which I did til 9 months.

My pumping sessions at work were about 15 mins. I always did one breast at a time and each took about 5-7 mins. Once I felt the letdown on each breast I would pump until milk stopped coming out. I'd usually get around 4-5 ounces total per session (which got lower as time went by which is why I went to 2x/day then 1x/day... I just couldn't keep my supply up).

I had a much smaller freezer stash than you, I just wasn't good with pumping while on maternity leave. Everything I pumped at work would be used for the next day so I hardly saved any (except if I got a lot from pumping before I went to bed).

DD was STTN by then but on her occasional wake up I would always BF her (until she was 6 months then we stopped with the middle of the night feedings on the rare occasion that she did wake up).

It's a lot of work but you can do it! Good luck!!

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

Posted by azoodie

I go back to work on Monday.

DS is 2.5 months and up until now has been EBF with only the occasional bottle. I have no clue how many times a day he eats or how much for that matter.

So I have a ton of questions, please bear with me...

-When you went to work what did your schedule look like? When was the last time you breastfed DC before leaving him/her. When did you next breastfeed after getting back to DC?
i nursed in the morning (if she was awake, many times she wasn't) and when i got home if she was awake. maybe once or twice before bed (i usually got home at 5-6). dd started reverse cycling though (not eating much during the day, eating all night) so i generally nursed all night long...

-Do you pump at all before you leave the house or after you get back?
no, but i know some people do this to make up for any extra oz they weren't able to get during the work day. i had a ridiculous oversupply of ilk so i didn't have a problem.

-How many times a day do you pump at work and about how many ounces do you get each time? How long do you pump each side? Do you try and pump around the same time every day?
i worked 8-3, but had 1.5 hr commute on either end. i usually pumped 3x a day and then dropped to 2x. i TRIED to pump around the same time, but it depended on my prep periods and when the AP could get out of her office (that was the room they provided for me). i don't remember how many oz though...

-Did you find your supply took a dip when you returned? If so did you find that it eventually went back up?
i didn't but started eating oatmeal for breakfast just in case. i didn't notice a difference either way though.

-I have an okay sized freezer stash (about 125 oz). Did you find you were still able to add to it from pumping at work or did you have to start using some of it and couldn't replace it?
i always had some to add to it and only needed to dip into it if i was out unexpectedly, etc. i know some people are the opposite though.

-If your DC woke up 2-3 times a night did you breastfeed or let DH help with a bottle?
dd usually woke up every 2 hrs at night and i nursed her each time. it's your own choice. i will say though that make sure you have enough oz during the day before you start using some at night. you don't want dc to be "stranded" during the middle of the day when you're not there.

Any other tips or tricks would be great. I have a flexible schedule at work so I can pump for as long or as many times as I need to. I just want to get a feel of what I should aim for when I go back.

If you got this far - THANK YOU!

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work...

Re: Lots of questions for those who EBF and now pump at work... UPDATED 9/13!

Bump with update!