Working moms who pump

[ja14]

I have 12 weeks of maternity leave. I plan to at least pump until I return to work, but I keep going back and forth on if I'll continue then. Everything I read says you need to pump at least every four hours, and that's just not going to be realistic for me.
I would be able to breastfeed or pump around 7am, then I have a lunch break at 1pm, and I would be able to breastfeed or pump around 6 pm. The other hours I would be with my baby and be able to feed as needed. Would this schedule be okay? I imagine that my body would adjust, but like I said, everything I've been reading just has me worried.

Another thing I worry about is I work at a pediatric dentist, so I hear a lot of children cry throughout the day. From what I hear, this will defiantly cause me to leak a lot of milk! Would this be an issue?

 

[noon_child]

Are you currently pumping extra to build a stash? If so, my main worry at first would be your own health and comfort as you will be producing more than baby drinks but having to hold it in for 6hrs.

Is there anyway you could wake your LO for a feed a bit earlier (might depend on the usual pattern) and then plan to get to work, say, 15minutes early and pump as soon as you get there? I cant tell from your post what time you start work but if for example it is 8:30am, you could feed LO at 6am and then pump at 8:15. Then you've only got 4 and a half hours till you can next pump.

It is so hard when work is fulltime....I hope others have better suggestions.

 

[MerryAnn]

oo this is so difficult to do

 

[ja14]

I'm still pregnant, just thinking about how everything is going to work out. I start work around 7:35.

 

[noon_child]

Would your work place be open to negotiating a split shift for you or part time working?

 

[icegurl470]

It's okay if you can only pump once at work. Your body will adjust to the new schedule. You may have to supplement with formula because you probably wont be able to pump out enough milk in that one session to sustain your baby for the entire time you're at work, but every little bit helps. Would they let you take a 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon? If you're in the US, employers are required to provide a place and reasonable time for a nursing mother to express breast-milk under the fair employment act. If not, just do the best you can. Research shows that even just 2oz of breast milk a day proves beneficial, so even if you can only pump once, it's certainly worth it!

 

[Lirpa11]

If you are away from baby 7am - 6pm I would try to get in 3 pumping sessions a day if possible. I am away from my baby 7:30am-5:30pm.

I have had two schedules for BFing and pumping. DS is 7 months old and I have been working FT since he was 4.5 months.

Up until a week ago, my schedule was BF at &:30am, Pump at 9:30-10:00am, Pump 12:30-1:00pm, pump 3:30-4:00pm. BF at 5:30pm I would only pump 10-15 minutes at a time and get 3-4 ounces per pump session. If i needed more milk I added in a pumping session at 5:30-6:00am and one before bed.

Now I have just cut down to two pumps a day and it seems to be working well. I BF at 7:30, Pump around 11-11:30am and then again around 3:30-4:00pm. I then BF at 5:30pm. I am getting anywhere from 5-8 ounces within my two pump sessions, and again I pump when I get up or before bed if i need more milk.

I only pump for 10-15 minutes at a time, but I also have my own office so it is easier to close the door and keep working. Hopefully they will work with you!

Even if you can only do once, try it out! maybe it will work Our receptionist used to pump for an hour during her lunch break once a day.

 

[ja14]

It is only a law in the U.S. If your company has more than 50 people, which mine doesn't. I'm sure if I mentioned it they would go along with it, but I can imagine the issues that would be brought up. Also there isn't really a comfortable place for it either. I'd be very unhappy.
I'm okay with supplementing as long as my body worked with the schedule I had.

 

[AmandaBanana]

I feed my son at around 7 am. And pump the other breast and remainder of breast he ate on. I get more than 6 Oz.
I get home around 130pm and then just nurse him the rest of the day. it works just fine for me.
My body almost knows as if to produce lots at night because I demand a lot in the morning and the rest of the day is fine.
Sometimes o pump when I get home too if it's sore. But rarely is.

Baby barely goes through 4oz when I'm gone. I have a huge stash. Huge.

 

[RaquelDee]

I feed my daughter around 10am before leaving for work, and again a bit after 4 when I get home. I don't pump at work at all, just (like the pp) after our first feed of the day (around 7.30am) to get enough to feed while I am gone. My daughter is almost 8 months and we have been doing this since 5 and a half months, my supply adjusted fine. If you are starting this at 12 weeks, though, you might find the first week or so pretty uncomfortable while your body adjusts.

As far as leaking goes, I've only ever experienced it first thing in the mornings with really full boobs, and even then only sometimes. Hearing crying never triggered it for me. I know other people leak a lot, though. I'm pretty sure it's something that varies a great deal from person to person and you'll just have to wait and see what happens. Maybe stock up on breast pads just in case? I have two boxes of the damn things that are totally unused and just taking up space in my bathroom cupboard.

 

[misspriss]

It is only a law in the U.S. If your company has more than 50 people, which mine doesn't. I'm sure if I mentioned it they would go along with it, but I can imagine the issues that would be brought up. Also there isn't really a comfortable place for it either. I'd be very unhappy.
I'm okay with supplementing as long as my body worked with the schedule I had.

With all due respect, what makes you happy or unhappy may be different once your baby arrives. Things that seem of utmost importance now will not be so then, and things that you think will not be a big deal ("I'm okay with supplementing") may seem like a much bigger deal than you imagnined.

Basically you are saying your company would be fine with you taking pump breaks, but you are worried about issues that they would not be? Like what?

 

[icegurl470]

It is only a law in the U.S. If your company has more than 50 people, which mine doesn't. I'm sure if I mentioned it they would go along with it, but I can imagine the issues that would be brought up. Also there isn't really a comfortable place for it either. I'd be very unhappy.
I'm okay with supplementing as long as my body worked with the schedule I had.

My company allows us to pump but they dont pay us for "pump breaks" So I have to squeeze it in my regular hour break in the bathroom because the "designated pumping area" is at least a 10 minute walk from my work area.. If I go over, it comes out of my paycheck, so I do 20 minutes mid-morning pump and 40 minute lunch break and pump in which I have to eat as quick as possible.. It's not easy but my first baby had a sensitive tummy so I needed to do it. A lot of people I work behind a "barrier" and have to change in and out to pump, which takes too much time so they only pump once when they come out for lunch and they make it work, so I know it's possible. You body will eventually adjust as long as you stick to whatever schedule to fall into. Just do the best you can, that's all you can do!

 

[Em260]

Hey, Ja. I had a similar situation to this when I went back after maternity leave. I was only able to pump during my lunch hour because I often had a full schedule of patients in the afternoon and it was impossible to get away. I saw a lactation consultant while on maternity leave and she gave me some tips that really helped.

I was so worried about not being able to pump more during the work day but it actually ended up being just fine. Your supply will be pretty well set up by 12 weeks so hopefully it won't be as big of a deal that you have to go that long between pumping or feeding sessions. Everyone is different but I think it would be much harder if you were trying this right away before your supply is established.

The first feed of the morning I would feed my daughter from one breast and pump the other. You produce the most prolactin while you sleep so you can often get the most milk in that morning session. That helped me build up a freezer supply while on maternity leave and then once I went back I used that milk for one of the feeds that I would miss during the day.

I would try to feed her again right before I left for work or I would pump if I was really in a time crunch. My daughter was a slow eater. If you're driving to work you can even pump in your car using a hands free pumping bra on your drive there. I live in NYC and take the subway so that wasn't an option for me

My next pumping session was during my lunch hour. I pumped for as long as possible, sometimes up to 45 minutes. I would keep pumping even after the milk stopped flowing to signal to my body that I needed more milk.

One I got home around 6 or 7pm I breastfed her. After she went to bed but right before I went to sleep I would pump again, even if there wasn't much milk flowing. Again, you're sending the signal to your brain that you need more milk and it will help increase your supply.

Drink tons of water during the day and make sure you're eating a lot too. You need calories to produce milk. I also ate a huge bowl of oatmeal in the morning.

In terms of the leaking when hearing children cry, that only happened to me in the very beginning, probably 0-3 months. But I still wore disposable breast pads every day because sometimes I would randomly leak for no reason. And I was using nipple cream almost every day due to the pumping and breastfeeding so it would stain my bras if I didn't wear the pads. Everyone is different though I have friends that never had issues with leaking.