Going back to work, did you have to supplement with formula?

[Itsychik]

I'm going back to work in October, but next week I have a half-day planned in and I'm worried about having enough expressed milk to leave for my LO.

With my first baby I had a low supply and had to supplement with formula.

With my second baby I was so afraid of having supply issues again that I pumped like a lunatic in the first 8 weeks after birth to keep supply up, so when I went back to work I already had a decent freezer stash.

With my third, I was soooo exhausted all the time and he was cluster feeding all day long for weeks at a time that I barely had any time to pump. So I only had 3 bags of frozen milk left which we used tonight while practicing with a bottle (one leaked! And DS drank the other two entirely and then also nursed afterwards!). So now I have no back up supply at all (DS drank 160ml/5.5oz out of the bottle tonight, and I only can pump about 100ml at a time...) and I'm worried I won't be able to pump enough to send with him to daycare when he starts going...

What did you ladies do when you went back to work? Did you supplement with formula or find some other solution??

 

[staralfur]

I never had to supplement with formula and I had at most 10mL of backup in the freezer at any given time. I didn't build a stash, just worked hard pumping every day. I pumped first thing in the morning, while I was at school/work whenever I had a break or whenever I started feeling engorged, and again a couple of times when I got home. It was always just enough for the next day. It wasn't easy but no regrets from me.

 

[Lirpa11]

I pumped at work as well. I generally had approx 80oz in stash at any given time, but I rotated it each Monday.

I pumped 3-4 times a day, in order to make enough milk for 3 bottles the next day. Then on Friday I would freeze what I pumped, and get frozen milk out for Monday.

We have made it to one year and I am no longer pumping at work (as of last week) but we are still BF when together.

 

[BellaRosa8302]

I never had to supplement. I built up a huge stash with my daughter, and used that when I had low pumping days... which I DON'T recommend! At the end there, when my freezer stash ran out and I was trying to make it to the end of the school year, I had to pump extra in the morning to make it work. (I'm a teacher and just didn't want her routine to change before the summer when I'd have her home with me).

Now that I have an almost 6 month old, I enjoyed NOT pumping in the beginning. I have three 2 oz bags of breastmilk in my freezer, and I pump day-to-day. (I admittedly just went back to work yesterday, but he spent two hours on Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to yesterday, which I also pumped for). This time around, I plan to give my son only what I pump on a day-to-day basis. Friday's milk will chill in the fridge till Monday. My freezer stash (what little of it there is) will be in case of spills or emergencies.

Maybe look at the pumping/feeding schedule you've set up to stretch your milk as far as it can go? A typical day for me involves breastfeeding before daycare dropoff, then he gets bottles at 10:30, 12:30, and 2:30. I pick up at 4/4:30. Each bottle has 2 ounces in it. That's what I did for my daughter, and so far it's working for him. We will see as time goes on. But, that way, I only need 6 ounces for the time I'm gone. Yesterday, I pumped 8 ounces. I will see how he did today in terms of if he got enough. Yesterday, he drank the the first and last bottle, but left half an ounce in the second bottle (so he's def not starving!).

Another thing to think about is, are you paced feeding? 5.5 ounces seems like a lot for a breastfed baby to eat at once. I can't recall my source, but I remember reading back when my daughter was a baby, that most breastfed babies never take over 4 ounces at a feeding. Just saying so to make sure baby's not getting more than necessary before realizing the tummy is full!

Good luck!!!

 

[loved2830]

I am going back to work in October as well and wondered this. When my daughter was two weeks old I had 30oz in the freezer but then I listened to the lactation specialist and she said to feed it to her and not to store. BAD IDEA. Now that I stopped listening to that lady..I pump after every feeding and now my daughter being 6weeks I pump after every feeding and I have a freezer stash of over 100oz.

I usually get 5oz total in the middle of the night and sometimes 1st thing in the morning. After each feeding I can get 2-3oz total so its not much and I have read its normally to get .5-1oz after breastfeeding when pumping. So I would say I am doing well.

On good days I can get 10-13 oz even after I have breastfed at least 12x a day.

So I say pump on and you should be fine when you go back to work because I feel I will be fine now that I have some stash build up.

I will continue to pump as I have until I go back to work.

 

[Itsychik]

Thanks for the responses ladies!

What I'm most concerned about at the moment is having enough stored for the first day back! My LO has finally gotten to a schedule where he nurses every 3 - 4 hours on both sides, and I've tried pumping after a feed but usually pump less than an ounce. And at night he wakes every 2ish hours.

He went to sleep 2 hours ago so I've just pumped on one side (as I want the other side 'full' in case he wakes up soon) but I've also gotten less than an ounce. So far I've only got a little over 3oz stored from the past few days of extra pumping... I have to go to work for a half day on Sept 6, and think I should at least have 12 oz available (for 3 feedings of 4oz). But I'm starting to panic about how much of a freezer supply I can build up in the next week to prepare for this!

With my DD the only thing that saved me on the 'low pumping days' was my freezer stash and the fact that my DD drank a lot less than my DS2 does.

 

[Itsychik]

Sigh. And he just woke up (30 minutes after I pumped) and is definitely not satisfied. How am I supposed to pump when it interferes with his normal feedings?

 

[loved2830]

Itsychik...I had that same problem. She would wake up to eat while I was pumping or was supposed to pump. Either way I'd still pump once she was done. This just signals your body to keep producing milk.just keep pumping. I too also was only getting .5oz after each feeding but I kept pumping and now I get more!! Pumping is a lot especially when you want to sleep or do something else. But keep at it

 

[BellaRosa8302]

Exactly what Loved said. Don't give him what you pumped if he wakes and wants to eat while you're pumping. Stop and give him the boob, but keep what you've pumped. If he's still hungry, he'll keep sucking, and you'll continue to make milk as he's drinking. He will be fine.

Still best to pump AFTER a feed though. When I was preparing to go back, I was pumping after his first feed of the day, while he went back to sleep.

For the record - I'm now a week in to work and we're doing fine on this day-to-day pumping. Remember, when you're actually at work, you're not having to pump in addition to feeding him - you're pumping what he (hopefully) would have fed from you. So, if you pump an ounce or two per day, you should have enough for your first day on September 6th.

I know, it's nerve wracking not to have a freezer stash - but you don't want to get into the habit of supplementing from there anyway (that's what I keep telling myself). Everytime you take an extra 2 oz from your freezer stash, it's like using formula in that it tells your body that's 2 oz LESS that your body needs to make for that day. Before you know it, you're going down a slippery slope, and your supply is dwindling (like what happened to me when I pumped for my daughter).

You will do great!

 

[noon_child]

He went to sleep 2 hours ago so I've just pumped on one side (as I want the other side 'full' in case he wakes up soon)

Sigh. And he just woke up (30 minutes after I pumped) and is definitely not satisfied. How am I supposed to pump when it interferes with his normal feedings?

Your best bet for increasing your milk supply (if you want to build a stash rather than pump what he needs day to day) is to not to worry about whether you are feeding him from full or empty breasts. You want emptier breasts most of the time as this increases your supply and tells your body to make more. Yes it will be tough for a few days - it will basically be like a growth spurt and he'll complain about not getting his food as quick as he is used to - but your body will adapt to needing to produce more and your LO is going to be much better at getting the milk out of an emptier breast than a pump is.

Have you also googled power pumping? This imitates cluster feeding so is supposed to be better at upping supply.

 

[PeachSalsa]

I went back to work when LO was 6 months. I didn't supplement with formula. From what I recall I'd breastfeed in the morning before work (6-7am), pumped 4 times during work, breastfeed when I got home (7-8pm) and 1-2 times at night. I weaned him at 15 months and at that point we gave him coconut milk (he had a cows milk allergy). I did worry after going back to work about supply as I wasnt pumping a whole lot but I think me breastfeeding before, after and at night helped keep him full as well as him eating other things at that point. He was very plump and is now a very healthy Kindergartener!

Don't worry mama - you will be fine!