back to work

[optimistic1]

How did you guys manage breast feeding once you returned to work. I have to return after my 6 week maternity leave and I'm not sure how I'm going to keep this up. Id rather breast feed than anything. I guess I have to start pumping and get her to take a bottle. When do I start this transition and if I'm giving her a bottle while I'm at work can I return to the breast when I'm home? Also how many ounces should I be trying to pump around 6 weeks?

 

[Serafina83]

Hiya I started expressing early and gave first bottle at 3 weeks. I expressed and he drank 2 oz at that age. He's 14 weeks now and still only eats 2/3 oz from a bottle. Apparently he amount a breastfed baby doesn't change much, the changes with babies needs instead or that's what I was told anyway. You can definitely still feed yourself when not at work! Good luck xx

 

[toby1331]

I started pumping and introduced the bottle at 4 weeks. I went back to work at 12 weeks and my schedule looked like this- 5:30- wakeup and pump 6:30 wakeup LO and nurse. 10:30 pump. 1:30 pump 4- back with LO nursed on demand for the rest of the night. LO was STTN by the time I went back to work so if I needed to I would pump again at 9:30. LO is 9 months and we are still BF. Though I will say I hate pumping!

 

[misspriss]

I go back a week from tomorrow. I plan to pump at work around the time he eats at home, we will see how it works out. My proposed schedule looks like this:

5:00-5:30: LO wakes up and we BF until 6:00-6:15.
6:15: Eat breakfast and get ready for work.
7:00: go to work
8:30: pump
12:00 pump
3:00 pump
5:00: home with baby, BF
6:00: Eat dinner
8:00: Feed and put LO to bed
Then go to bed....

 

[scoobydrlp]

I started pumping when LO was about 2 weeks old, and was advised by my LC to pump after the first two morning feeds. At the beginning I didn't get much out but it increased as time went by. She took one 3oz bottle per day from 2 weeks until I went back to work when she was 11 weeks. At some point (maybe 4 months?) she went to 4 oz, when daycare told me she seemed still hungry after finishing her bottles. We tried 5oz bottles later too, but she rarely finished them and I hated wasting milk so we're back to 4oz.

I try to pump every 3 hours at work (so 3x each day). I work at an animal hospital and when we're busy I have to skip sessions, but I almost always can get at least 2 in. An ideal day would go like this:

5:30am Wake baby up and BF until 5:45
6:00am Pump at home
9:00am Pump at work
12:00pm Pump at work
3:00pm Pump at work
6:00pm BF
9-9:30 BF to sleep
That's the end until we start over at 5:30 the next morning

 

[Steph82]

Like everyone else said, it's possible! They say, to give yourself and the baby two weeks to get used to pumping and bottle feeding. I started pumping at 4 weeks (I pumped the off side from the morning feed) and then gave LO 1 feeding by bottle a day (which I then pumped for as well). This meant, that LO got used to being fed by bottle and I could build up some freezer stash for when I got back to work.
Right now I get away with the following:
6am BF
9am pump
12pm pump
3pm pump
BF the rest of the night.

I try to aim for 4oz (total) per pumping. Sometimes LO will only take 2oz, other times he will eat 4oz and still ask for more.
I will say this much though... The first day I went to work, he drank 12 oz in 6 hours . I think he was trying to find comfort that he normally gets through nursing. I've been back to work for 5 weeks now and he seems very happy with the bottle during the day and BF when I get home.

 

[scoobydrlp]

Steph brought up a good point. While we were at home giving LO one bottle a day to get used to them, I always pumped in place of nursing. If you skip it your supply will drop and screw everything up.

 

[optimistic1]

I think I've got an idea on how I'll go about this...she'll be 3 weeks soon and I want to start pumping after each feed to get a stash going or atleast be sure I'm able to pump up to 5 oz per session. Should I start trying to give her the bottle during the hours I'll be away so she's used to having the bottle during that specific time? I'll probably introduce bottles at 4 weeks on...hopefully everything goes smooth my only other option is formula and even though I know it's not bad for babies and all my nieces and nephews and probably 98% of my family was raised on formula since breast feeding even thinking about giving her formula makes me cringe..

 

[Steph82]

I say, try it and see how it goes

One huge benefit that makes all the effort worth it: LO has not gotten sick yet (fingers crossed), and the whole family has been deathly ill. They say that BM has all your immunities in it and therefore acts like a shield for LO. So to me, it's less time off I have to take ... And he is happy and healthy of course

 

[optimistic1]

That's good to know her dad gets sick so easily and I'm always afraid she's going to be like him. I love how beneficial breast milk is and it's so cheap!