Problems Pumping at Work

Try putting a warm pad on it or something. I used a heating pad on them. Try something warm. Massages work great too.

Hi, M. -

I'm a trained and experienced doula and breastfeeder...Hopefully, I can give you some insight.

First, here's a VERY helpful link:

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

To put it simply -- Don't let this get you stressed out about your milk supply. Especially if you've been exclusively breastfeeding your son for 4 months, your milk supply is WELL established.

Surprisingly, your level of relaxation effects your milk output, and your let-down reflex. Kind of reinforces the whole mind-body connection you hear about quite often, huh? :)

Think about it -- You're at home, comfy, in a familiar environment, with your baby near...All the factors are in place for a super-productive pumping session.

The opposite of all those things -- Pumping at work. You're carrying job-related stress, baby's away, you're in an unfamiliar room and possibly feeling anxiety about that, and now additional anxiety about not expressing enough milk...Eek!

Try and set up a routine before you pump that is conducive to quiet, relaxation. Bring a picture of your baby, or one of his onesies that smells like him...Or, any other familiar object that makes you feel warm and cozy and maternal. Also, try some deep breathing and take a few moments to clear your mind.

Pumping could actually become a time of day that you look forward to, a time that you connect with your child and de-stress, even though you're at work.

Take care!

M.,
First of all, congratulations for giving your son the best food he could ever get. I'm a postpartum doula and a lactation educator. It may be helpful if you brought a picture of your little guy when you pumped. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, forget you're at the office and think about your son. Pretend you are nursing him. (Ignore the noisy pump.) Don't look to see how much you are pumping, just give it ten minutes or so. Then you can look. Also, you might bring your pump in style and use that. You are used to it and perhaps the Latina isn't working up to par. I hope this helps you. E. Richter, Cary

If you have a pump like I did, you might need a different size funnel cup(the part that fits on your breast and attaches to the machine). My lactation consultant gave me a few different size ones and I found that they all had different suction power. If the cup doesn't fit right, it won't work.

get pictures of the little one. This usually works for me. If I'm looking at a picture of the baby I can usually pump more than if I'm reading or still doing work while pumping. Also, if you have a digital camera that also records video, sometims a video of Burke crying will help me. Good luck, hope it gets better.

I'm sorry you are having trouble, you are right, the more you stress about it, the worse it will get. My suggestion is to get one of those $20-30 "electronic picture wallets". You put in digital pics and they flash through so you can watch them as you pump. Pick out the ones that make you smile or even laugh out loud. They don't just have to be of a happy baby either. We had one picture of our son about to scream that was so uncharacteristic of him that I still laugh when I see it.
Or, if you are pumping in your own office, make your screen saver a sequence of pictures that change so you don't look at just one picture the whole time.
It sounds like supply isn't the problem right now, but it could become one so keep the herbs and diet in mind if you start to have trouble.
Good Luck!

I'm also exclusively breastfeeding my four-month old and work full time. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the amount I was pumping had gone down and like you I could feel that my breasts (or at least one) was still full.
I brought a few more pictures of my son, started having a cup of hot tea and relaxing for a few moments before pumping and have had greater success. I'm pumping almost twice as much now!
Good luck and kudos for sticking with it.

The key to this is: Relax. If you're even remotely stressed, your milk production will drop drastically. When I was at work at first I was getting ten oz. Then, the co. deemed pumping, in the location I was in, innappropriate. They then moved two of us to the PUBLIC restroom. This was more sanitary to them. OMG. It was aweful. I had to fight to get two or three oz. If you don't already do it, take a pic of the baby to look at, assure yourself ultimate privacy, and maybe some mellow music. This way you can relax completely and not think about the task at hand. The more stressed you are, the less your body will letdown. I know from experience it's a very frustrating situation. I feel for you. Good luck. :)

Relaxing, bringing pictures, listening to his cries that I had recorded with my cell phone, and so on all helped me also. I used the Medela Pump in Style. Another thing that helped me was the Avent manual pump. It obviously wasn't as easy because I had to do the work but the cup that fits over the breast part had bumps on it that 'hit the spot' to release the milk better.
Great job for pumping and working!

Yes,
I would also suggest relax and maybe a nice cup of hot tea or something.
One thing that I found with my pump is that I ALWAYS got more power when I was in the car (adapter plugged into the cigarette lighter). Not sure what it was, but I just found it easier to sit in my car rather than inside with the electrical outlet.

But if your only option is being inside, then I would go with the suggestions that the other moms gave: stick to your same pump, drink more water (tea) and relax.

Its rough, but it can be done.
B.

M.,

I'm also pumping at work and feeding only breastmilk to my 4.5 month old son. One side always produces more milk than the other (I call it Super Boob) and it was the same way with my first son.

I guess I have a few questions...

How often are you pumping at work? I TRY for every 2 hours but it's usually every 3 hours. I have the times written on my erase board to remind me.

How often was your little guy eating when you were nursing him this past week?

How much are you putting in the bottles for him to eat while you are at work? My son is getting cereal now because he was eating so much (about 40 ounces a day). But, I leave daycare five 5.5 ounce bottles. I usually end up bringing one home.

Do you still nurse him at home when you are with him? This is supposed to be the best way to produce more milk. I nurse before bed and for the AM feeding. I also get up in the middle of the night to pump (at about 1 or 2 AM).

Drink lots of water and stay away from caffiene.

Does the at home pump work better for you? Are the breast shields the same size at home and at work? Try bringing your home pump to work and see how it does. I use the Medela Pump in Style, too and have had good luck with it.

Hope this helps a little bit...feel free to email me since we are in the same position it seems! ____@____.com

Good luck,

T.

I agree that you should use the same pump you use at home at work. Also, something else to keep in mind is that the little membranes on the pump need to be replaced every 4-6 months. The get stretched out and that can effect your suction and output.

Here is a great website about pumping at work that was a big help to me: www.workandpump.com

I would think maybe the problem is that you need to relax a little. I know I would bring a picture of my son, or a blanket or something with his scent. Then I would hook up my pump, and I would set it for a higher suction level at the start. Then I would close my eyes and do some deep breathing and try to push everything from my mind but my son...I would think about cuddling and nursing him and then I would feel the let down. Usually once I felt the initial let down I was good. Are you in a place pumping where you can relax like that? Try the higher suction at the beginning of your pumping session, then once you have let down, turn it down more. Sometimes if the milk stopped coming and I could tell there was more and it just wasn't happening, I would stop and try the beginning relaxation/suction thing again. The PIS advanced supposedly mimics the baby's suction better...so why not take it to work and try that? Maybe your body just responds better to that pump? I know I didn't have a provided pump and I would leave mine at the office during the week and just take it home on the weekend. I also know some Moms that carry it back and forth everyday. You might also try a blanket around your shoulders or something to keep you warm as the warmth helps with let down too. I know there are also some tinctures you can take to help with letdown if that is your issue.

try these tips: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T025600.asp
Tincture for letdown: http://www.rescueremedy.com/
other herbs that might be helpful: http://www.birthandbreastfeeding.com/galacatagogues.htm
http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/galact.asp - this one cites fennel in particular to be a good tincture to take to assist with letdown.

Well, I have some suggestions for you. First, eat oatmeal. THat will really help your supply. And also you can get Fenugeek at any health store. Are you drinking alot of water? And, when you pump, look at a picture of your little one and maybe take a blanket of the baby with you to work. This will relaly help. When I say look at the baby, I mean by a picture of course. That will really help with the letdown.

S. Bailey CLD
aurora
www.tendermomentsdoula.com

With my second child I pumped at work. No matter what, I never got the same amount as I did at home. I did get more after a while, but I think that no matter waht pumping at work is not as comfortable as pumping at home, and your body knows it.

I tried to keep to a schedule when possible of pumping at the same time and my body got used to it and that helped. Hang in there.

I honestly, did not have luck with the Medela Lactina. It stunk having to drag my Medela Pump in Style to work and home, but b/c I used the same pump day in and day out, whether at home or at work, I think I got good results. I proudly breastfeed my daughter and son for a year. Try bringing your own pump to work for about 3-5 days and see if that helps.

I think with pumping, your breasts just get used to it and if you don't do it for a week they don't know what to do. Once you start again regularly, your body will respond again. I hadn't in ages and then tried to and couldn't get anything but knew it had nothing to do with supply. Try to relax and think about your son when you pump.

What i did when i would pump and it does work is watch tv. or read a book anything that would make me not think about what i was doing and man i did pump alot when i didn't think about it and be looking at it the whole time. oh you need to see how much he is drinking in the day. this is all you need to pump unless you just want to make sure there is more. i hope this helps

I know when there are other folks around (such as work or the fear of someone walking in on me) I have more of a problem relaxing thus pumping or nursing.
Can you lock yourself in a bathroom stall? get a board to sit on top of the seat?
Do you have an ipod with some shows on it so you can put the headphones on drown out the sound of the pump and concentrate on the show? Or just some instrumental music and read or sew or whatever?
Good luck you'll do just fine.