Breastfeeding and Working questions....Please Help!!!

I didn't have to pump at work but wanted to add that I also pumped while feeding. I seemed to get more out that way and didn't have to find another time to sit and pump. Good luck!

I don't ahve answers to all your questiosn. But I do have some thoughts.

Try mixing formula and breastmilk until she gets used to it. It is good tha tshe be able to drink it in an emergency (e.g., not enough milk at daycare).

So that your daughter gets a feeding and you can pump, start pumping after each feeding. You may only get a few ounces all day, but that way you don't have to skip feeding her. It will also increase your supply a little bit to completely drain a breast, and thus you will have more to give.

As for pumping at work, especially in the beginning, pump as much as you can. My experience and many others I've heard, is that supply really suffers when Mom goes back to work. Pumping is less efficient than nursing so your breasts don't drain fullly and your supply is reduced. Also, it is easy to get distracted at work and you skip pumping more than you anticipate or pump for shorter periods of time. So be prepared to have some fluctuations in supply, but try to pump often!

Remember, your baby won't nurse so much over time, and will need less milk. You've done great at being exclusive for 3 months. I thought the hardest part was really months 3 to 6 because milk is the baby's sole nutrition. When they start solids, you can let your supply decrease a bit and pump less. So don't get overwealmed at first. It is doable - I nursed for 13 months for my first daughter pumping at work for about 10 months. But when she started on solids, I have to admit, I switched to mostly formula for day care, and only nursed at home.

A lactation consultant my be a great help to you when you go back to work, so you might want to line-up one just in case. Good luck.

First, congratulations on your bundle of joy and your commitment to breastfeeding!! You should feel proud of yourself that you are doing this. It's not easy but so worth it! I'm by no means an expert but i'm in the same boat as you - i have a 4 1/2 month old, exclusive breastfeeding, and am back at work. Here's how I do it:

I try to nurse him as close to the time that i have to leave for work as possible. My aim always is to minimize the number of feedings he has away from me. Every day at work I pump 2 times. Ideally, i would pump 3 but it's not realistic. At each session, I get between 4-5 ozs, on average (Between both sides, not each!) So I do it about every 3-4 hours at work.

Then, depending on what time my baby has eaten at day care, I'll sometimes pump again when i get home (unless he has to eat within the hour or so). Then I nurse him the rest of the night, but if he only takes one side, I pump the other. He still wakes up during the night for a feeding, so sometimes I'll pump then, too, if he doesn't take both sides.

With all those pumping sessions, I'm likely to have made the 12 ozs that i always give our sitter for him during the day. Then i typically give her 1 or 2 frozen bags to keep on hand in case the 12 ozs isn't enough. (My baby eats about 6 ozs every 4 hours or so).

I have read that fresh breastmilk is your first choice, then frozen. I think freezing takes away some of the antibodies but it's still better than not doing it at all.

To help maintain my supply, i drink LOTS of water and drink the Nursing Mom tea. I'm not sure if the tea works, or if it's just the extra fluids, but so far, things have been working pretty okay.

Good luck!

Hi S.:

First of all, I want to congratulate you on your choice to continue to provide the best nutrition you can to your baby.
My son is now 14.5 months and he only knew breastmilk the whole way through, until we stopped about 3 weeks ago.
I breastfed exclusively until he was 4.5 months at which point I went back to work and he started daycare. As I was home with him until 4.5 months, I was nursing and at the same time building my supply. I was able to pump about 8-9 oz per breast, each 3-4 hours. I kept it going and my supply stayed up. I did not miss a single pumping session and got up at night as well. We tried formulate ONCE and he absolutely hated it. I had no reason not to want to stop feeding him my milk as it really is the best nutrition. A few weeks into his daycare, he started rejecting my breast and would only drink expressed milk from bottles. I was devastated but really, my second best option, next to nursing, was to provide him with expressed milk. I cannot tell you the stress and exhaustion I went through. I had a lot of milk and had to pump at work every 2-3 hours, each time saving 12-15 oz. If I skipped pumping because of meetings, etc. I then exploded and pumped double the usual amount. I was lucky enough to have a private office with a 'do not disturb sign' and a fridge where I stored my supply every day.
I would take my pumping bag to work every morning, store my freezer pack in the freezer section of the work fridge. I carried portable wipes that do not require water and washed my pumps directly in my office after each pumping. At the end of the day, I had about 30-40 oz of milk which I then tookm home and stored with clear dates. Our son drank about 5 bottles of milk each day at daycare, at 8-9 oz each. He was slightly refluxive so I always brought an extra bottle to daycare as a reserve and sometimes he needed it!
Our daycare had a rule of milk being out of a fridge for no more than 2 hours which we had to comply with but at home, I sometimes went 3-4 hours and saw no health reasons not to. I also read that formula is more susceptible to bacteria build-up and breast milk is resistent and some authors even say that leaving it out for up to 7-8 hours is fine.
I also travel for work so my abundant supply came really handy when I had to go for a week at a time and my husband would bottle feed at home and make bottles for daycare. I kept pumping during my trips, even at airports, always selecting trips with longer layovers, as I did international trips. Milk was always inspected at airports but I felt great making that choice.
We had to buy a separate freezer as I had so much of it. Milk lasted us until about 3 weeks ago and my doctor said that as long as it is deep-frozen, it can go forever althoug I read that they recommend only up to a year with deep-freeze and 6 months for regular freeze.
We transitioned Nathan to cow's milk at the end of his 13th month and did that for 2 weeks, slowly incresing ratio of milk to breast milk.
At the end, I would find milk from Feb/March in my deep freezer and it would taste the same way as fresh milk so do not worry about giving your baby 'old' milk. Now the freezer is empty and I fondly remember those days....
Our son has not had any health issues, ear infections or anything else and we attribute it to disciplined and frequent pumping. I only wish I had a less stressful job where I could have continued just a bit longer. But we say that 14 months on breast milk is great and some babies do not even get more than a few months.
My other advice is to et lots of soups and drink plenty of water and no caffeine! That and fenugreek (when my supply would go down due to stress) did miracle for me. At any given time, I had about 200-300 5oz medela pumping bags at my disposal in the freezer. That was the best feeling in the world!
Good luck to you and your family!

I suggest that to build up your supply you start pumping after some feedings or even in between, and store every little bit you can. By the time I went back to work (4 months) my son was sleeping through the night and I discovered that the first few mornings I was overfull, so I pumped and froze the excess in anticipation of needing it for daycare. That worked so well, that I continued pumping the excess after the first morning feeding for the rest of his first year (when we transitioned to cow milk). When I went back to work, I pumped twice a day (I was a slow expresser and so it took 30-45 each time) and between the morning pump and the 2 at work, I always had more than enough for the next day, plus maybe 2 oz to freeze.

OK - I'll try to answer your questions:
What amount of breast milk do you typically provide for your baby when your away from them for 8-9 hours?
It varied depending on their age and when they start eating solid food. I figured it out based on how many times I thought he might eat if I were home (on average) and brought a little extra. I think in the beginning it was 3 or 4 bottles a day and maybe 4-6 oz each time... We also had a routine in place by then though (that's what worked best for me), so it was easier to figure out.

I want to provide the most accurate information about storage and handling of breast milk to my sitter.. does anyone know where I can get that to print off to make sure my breast milk isn't being thrown out too soon?
The milk storage bags I bought at Target (sometimes I used the Lansinoh brand and sometimes the Medela brand) came with information sheets. I wouldn't give your sitter any more than one days worth though and only keep leftover milk from that day if it hasn't been opened. I brought the milk over in a insulated lunch bag and she stored it in the fridge during the day.

How often do you feel you need to pump when away from your baby to be comfortable and keep your milk supply going?
I pumped twice a day at work in the beginning and towards the end, only once/day. I also pumped at home right after the a.m. feeding, like I said above.

How much milk do you get from each breast and total when you pump at a sitting.
My right breast was a better producer for some odd reason. :) but generally, 4 oz from each breast at each session. often 4-6 oz from the right one though!

Do you typically provide the milk from the day before to feed? or do you have a supply in your freezer/fridge that is a few days?
I felt that the milk from the day before was the freshest, so I always used that. I kept a small rotating supply in the fridge though, and maybe after 2 days I moved any left to the freezer. If I ever had to use any frozen milk, I tried to mix it at least 1/2 and 1/2 with the fresh milk.

Stacy,
Dont forget to drink ALOT of water; that really does help bring up the supply. you have plenty of good advice here otherwise. :)
K.

I was lucky that I was able to pump every 2-3 hours at my job while I was away from my child. I would leave 4 to 5 bags of 4 oz of frozen breast milk with my mother in law who cared for my child. Storage of breast milk was stated on the instruction manual of my breast pump. So milk is good in a deep freezer for up to 6 months, in a regular freezer 2-3 months. http://www.llli.org/FAQ/milkstorage.html. Pumping every two to three hours greatly increased my milk supply. I was pumping about six ounces a breast or total per session. Since my milk supply was increasing, I would use the milk that I had in the freezer that was the oldest. Hope ths helps.

some places have rules about how long they can keep your milk. i asked my provider to return the milk rather than throw it out. then i could use it at home if i didn't agree it was too old.

I'd highly recommend the book "The Milk Memos." It's designed the specifically answer the question of breastfeeding moms who are going back to work. It's easy to read and EXTREMELY helpful. Depending on where you live, you should be able to request it from your library or receive in through the inter-library loan system.
For a 3 month old, I left about 4 oz for her to have at each feeding so 16-20 oz total. I found it nice to freeze in 2 oz units so that less was wasted when thawed if she didn't use it.
I found it to be the most productive, and easiest, if I pumped while breastfeeding my children. It takes a bit of arranging to get everything set up but it would eliminate you having to give formula for any feedings. I would gather everything I needed, sit cross-legged on my bed and prop the baby up on a pillow on my legs. Then I'd hook up the pump and get that going as he nursed. I found that if I wore a nursing bra I could slip the pump shield into he elastic of the bra that goes across the top of the breast and it would help hold it in place so I could pump hands free.
The amount of milk you pump varies a lot from person to person. I would normally get 4-6 oz, sometimes more if I pumped first thing in the morning. The good thing is that you'll pump what your baby needs. Whereas the quantity needs of a formula fed baby increases with time (so you 8mo old might take 8 oz of formula), a breastfed often does not increase at the same rate so your same 8 mo old might only take 4 oz of breast milk. Your breast milk changes to meet the new nutritional demands of the baby without having to increase in volume as much.
Here is the link to the book I mentioned: http://www.milkmemos.com/resources.html
It has the resources you were referring to as well about breast milk storage as well as forums where you can ask questions of other working moms.

Hi S., I had the same situation with my first child ... I went back to work after three months of maternity leave and let me tell you that you need a really good breast pump! Get the best one you can afford or sometimes I think you can rent them. Get one that does both sides at the same time which will cut down on how much time you spend pumping. As far as trying to build up a supply, I would try maybe feeding the baby with one side and then pumping on the other. I was very lucky in that I had a huge supply so I was able to stock up quite a bit before I went back to work. In terms of trying to figure out how much your baby needs, you can try weighing the baby before and after she nurses to figure out how many ounces she is taking in, keeping in mind that she will need more as she grows and had growth spurts. My last piece of advice is to contact your local La Leche League. Their website is www.llli.org and you can search for a group near you. The leaders have all nursed for at least a year and have gone through a lot of training and have extensive knowledge about breastfeeding. Even if you can't make it to a meeting, you can call up the leader and get great advice for free.

Good Luck!

S.

Hi S. -

Best of luck to you! It was really hard for me to return to work and find time to pump. I nursed and worked with 2 of my children. I went back to work with no real schedule as I was feeding on demand as well. I started with a pretty good supply of frozen milk but didn't end up needing to use it. This is how my typical day would go. The last thing I would do before I left in the morning would be to nurse that way I figured the baby would be good for a few hours. I would pump 3 times a day at work. I never pump more than 4 ounces on each side. I would say I typically pumped 2-3 ounces on each side. I stored th milk in disposable milk bags made by gerber. Then when I got home at night the first thing I would do would be to nurse and then I would nurse again right before I put the baby to bed. I would put my milk from the day in the refrigerator and rotate it out. I kept my milk for 8 days and then threw out what was left over. I always pumped more than was used. Sometimes I would freeze a bag here or there when I got home since there was always too much. You can look on la leche leagues website for milk handeling questions. I firmly believe that babys that nurse eat when and what they want to eat so don't worry about how many ounces your baby consumes it is like comparing apples and oranages when comparing to formula. As long as your baby has wet diapers and it gaining weight you are good. My son is 9 months and weighs 21 lbs! I didn't start solids until 6 months too. Best of luck I hope everything works out for you!

This is a great question. And one that is hard to answer, because of course it depends. But here goes,

In general, babies need to be fed breast milk every two-three hours. My first son nursed on the clock, my second was less predictable, however, when bottle fed every three hours was fine (all breast milk). My first son loved the bottle, I never had a problem, my second son not so much. The first few weeks, a lot of breast milk got thrown away.

You do want to have breast milk stored up. This was always an issue for me, but I got lucky a few times. In general I could pump more than the baby would eat from a bottle at this stage. So before it was time to feed my son, I would pump, I could generally get 5-6 oz at this age. I would then give my husband a bottle of 4 oz, leaving me with two oz extra. I would save that (freeze if long term). Do this once a day for a week, and you have what you need to go back to work. You really only need enough "stored" milk for one day, the first day.

I was able at work to pump twice, and get enough for the next day. I used all the milk I pumped the next day. You will have to see how your body responds to the pumping. Milk supply was never an issue for me, some people need to pump more often to maitain supply.

Those first few days are going to have to be trial and error. It is so nerve wracking as the mom, but have faith and you will figure it out, as long as your care giver is willing to work with you. (some of them have set schedules, you could check, babies adapt to expectations).

Make sure you have a good pump in good working order. This is not an item to skimp on. You want several sets of cones, and lots of storage bottles. It was yucky to me to wash them at work, so I went through a new set every time, two a day.

Good luck.

Hi there! I should have some good info. for you - I went back to work when my son was 3 months and continued pumping until he was 10 months and then continued breastfeeding him in the a.m. and p.m. until he was 14 months. I won't say the pumping thing was easy, but it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. The first day is the hardest b/c you really have to be away from them to collect any amount of milk (at least I did - I only produced just enough for him usually). I pumped once around 10 am or so and then once at lunch around 12:30-1 p.m. or so. If I had to work late, I would do one more time, but not usually - although I was exploding when I got home! The second one I would pump for at least 1/2 hour, the first one a little less. I would get a total of about 12-14 ounces in the two pumpings and then would divide these into 4 3-4 ounce bottles for the little guy for the next day at daycare. The amount would vary by day - I made sure to CHUG water all day long, especially while pumping. I discovered that I have high levels of an enzyme called lactase (I think) in my milk that makes my milk spoil quickly, so for weekends I had to freeze my Friday supply immediately so it was still good on Monday. It would only last one day in the fridge max. Make sure to remind daycare NOT to use a microwave and NOT to warm it more than once - it is very sensitive and like GOLD so you don't want them to ruin it! It actually can last I think 5-7 hours out of the fridge when you first pump it, although I did have a cooler pack. Hope this helps!

I pumped 3 times at work or twice if I got to go home and feed him at lunch...once in the morning, at lunch and in the afternoon and feed him as soon as I got home. I would freeze the milk in a bag with 2 ounces only so it wouldn't go to waste if he wasn't too hungry. I wrote on the bag with a sharpie. I think the bags came from babies r us. I would keep one days supply in the fridge though. It varied how much I got from each breast though. sometimes only 2 ounces sometimes 6 but i guess the average was 3 or 4. Also, I would pump right before bed since he was sleeping about 4 hours at that age and then nurse him 2 hours later. If he slept longer I sometimes would pump at night if they felt reaaaaalllly full. Also, he wouldn't take formula from me at all but took it fine from Daddy, wouldn't even take a bottle from me til about 6 months actually. I guess he could smell better options with me:-) But there were days when I couldn't pump enough to keep up with him and he took formula, but from someone else. Don't worry about how much you pump, just try and relax. When I was stressing about how many ounces were in the container I never seemed to get as much as when I just read or relaxed and dozed. Also, I don't know if this was normal or not but if I continued pumping for a few minutes after I thought I was totaly empty I sometimes, well most times actully got an extra ounce or 2 from each breast. She'll be fine and she won't starve herself. Good luck.

I would recommend Gayle Pryor's book on managing working and breastfeeding, La Leche League resources on-line and in print, www.kellymom.com. And I would also recommend taking a breastfeeding and transitioning to work class where you can ask questions in person and share ideas with other moms.(www.TidewaterLactationGroup.com)
Best wishes, L.

S. - Working and breastfeed can be done. It will be a little difficult but if you are determined to do it you, you will be fine. First, here is a website that is great for general breastfeeding information:

http://www.kellymom.com/
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/index.html

Here are some tips I can offer:

1. Start pumping extra milk now. Its always good to have a store of milk built up. From personal experience, this happened for me purely by chance - I used to pump once in the night to relieve engorgement when my daughter had longer stretches of sleep - that helped to have a frozen supply that came in handy when I started with work. There are many mothers I know who were very stressed because they worried about expressing the right amount on a daily basis. This is too much stress (and stress can affect your supply).
2. You need to have dedicated time and a private area at work to pump. Try to pump at the same time everyday. If possible time it with some of the more predictable feedings for your daughter.
3. Consider taking herbs and other things help to increase your supply - every person is different so you may not need to but. However, I only offer this suggestion because many moms find their supply does decrease after going back to work and pumping more. Babies are more efficient at extracting milk than pumps are. See how it goes and you can decide.

These are just a few specific thoughts I wanted to pass along. However, please also browse the site I included above. There is so MUCH information out there that will be useful!

Good luck!

It's been swhile for me - but I'll try to relay what I did...

I stored the milk in quantities of 2 oz. so that a bunch of milk wouldn't go wasted (e.g. if the sitter warms up the milk but the baby doesn't want it)

Tips on storage and how long milk can be used can be found here:
http://lansinoh.com/breastfeeding/storing-milk

Another good web site is Medela's:
http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/tips-and-solutions/1...

And a GREAT resource in general is La Leche League. Their web site is full of FAQs and articles that may help. You might even want to see if they have a group near you.

I used to pump twice a day at work - about 20 minutes each time. I had a Medela double pump and a special bra that lets you pump hands-free so you can still work (multi-tasking at its finest!).

I think I typically got 3 or more ounces per breast each time, but I guess it's different for everyone.

I used to have some stored in my fridge and some in my freezer. I would give the sitter the milk that needed to be used first (the older milk from a day or 2 before). I would date the bags and stand them up in a plastic container in the fridge, placing the newest milk towards the back. I liked the lansinoh bags.

It's great you're planning ahead. You should try to have your husband bottle feed breast milk more frequently so she gets used to it. And continue to pump and freeze so that your sitter can always have an emergency supply in the freezer.

I can't remember exactly how much my daughter used to take in a day - but I think it may have been around 16 oz???

Check out those web sites and feel free to contact me with any more questions.

Good luck!

I went through this twice, with both of my kids. I did on demand feedings, and was not able to store up much milk before going back to work. Both my kids got breast milk, and formula, when the breastmilk ran out, when I went back to work. They adapted to formula. I think your baby will, too. Millions of babies drink formula. But in the two weeks you have left, try to pump/express as much as you can to save up and to increase your supply. You'll probably have to pump 3x a day at work. That's what I did. But each person is different, so you may need to pump less or more. For proper storage guidelines, I would check La Leche League's website, or call your local hospital. I know breast milk can be refrigerated for a couple of days, and I think kept in the freezer for a couple of months. Good luck to you!

Hi S.,

I'm in the same situation as you. I have a 2 month old and will be returning to work next week. I have been building up my supply for the sitter by only feeding on one side and pumping on the other. I usually get anywhere from 4 - 6ozs each time I pump. I plan on giving the sitter about 12 ozs to feed and a bag or two of my frozen milk in case she needs more. I am hoping to be able to pump at least twice at work about every 3 hours but I'm a TA in an elementary school so I don't know how that is going to work. Hope this helps a little and good luck.

Check out the La Leche League website at www.llli.org. They have great information on working and breastfeeding. Many babies will not take a bottle from their Mom but will accept a bottle from a caregiver, particularly if Mom is not in the home. So don't worry, she will learn to drink from a bottle. Also, your breasts are never empty. The baby stimulates the breast to make milk when she sucks. The milk may not spray out the way it does when you haven't nursed for a few hours or before your body and your baby work out the supply-demand issues. But you have milk for her and she can milk your breasts more effectively than most pumps so you can't measure what she is getting from how much you would have been able to pump.

Many babies will increase their evening and nighttime feedings (or whenever Mom is not working) to make up for Mom being gone. This is totally normal and doesn't mean that you don't have enough milk or that the caregiver is not feeding her. The baby is just reconnecting with Mom and getting her meals with the extra closeness of Mom as part of the package. It can be tiring until you get used to only half waking to nurse and then both of you fall back asleep. Nurse before you go even it is early and as soon as you get back. I used to nurse at day care in their rocker or in the car. That made the ride home easier and getting dinner started smoother.

The La Leche League site should have the information on how many bottles to leave and on setting up a pumping schedule. You may feel extra full on Mondays when you go back to work after baby has been nursing a lot on the weekend but a day or two working gets you back to the balance between supply and demand.

Congratulations on nursing your daughter!