Can I continue to exclusively breast feed without pumping at work?

[Honeymonster]

So I'm returning to work in 6 weeks my LO has been exclusively BF and will be 7 months old when I return, I will be returning 2.5days and am trying I work out the best plan for whether I can continue to soley Bf with expressing or if I should introduce formula for the feeds I'll miss.? And would this really be so bad if she's still being BF by me twice a day?

I currently express and give her a bottle if we go out as she is too nosey to feed from me out and about. I could express at work and discard the feeds she'll miss then add an extra pumping session in at night every night and this would get stored and make up the 5 feeds I'll miss over the 2.5 days. However I worry that with my job being very hectic I may struggle to fit this in.

Does anyone know what would happen if I didn't express but still fed her at these times on the days I'll miss? I expect either my milk supply would diminish or I'd be really full and uncomfortable!.. So that won't work:

Another option is to somehow express enough to completley phase out these daytime feeds and replace with expressed bottles from a different pumping session?? Even as I'm typing this it sounds like a total faf!

Anyone have experience of this that could comment.. I've just read some quite worrying stuff about formula and how much rubbish is in it... Is it really that awful,, it has corn syrup in it I just read.. Really?

[~*Nicole*~]

I only did this type of thing for a couple of months but here are various things you may find helpful:

Around 7 months, your LO may have started eating some foods and may slightly reduce how many feeds she takes in a day. So say she takes 4 now, she may consolidate a midday feed to only have one bottle. It fluctuates at what age this happens but it is a consideration that you may only be missing 2 or 3 feeds as opposed to 5 by that point.

Babies can begin to have yogurt and some cheeses around 7 months or so depending on any allergy or protein intolerances, etc. If your DD tolerates those things, they can provide some of the nutrition she would get from nursing without the yucky stuff of formula and help hold her over until you are home after work. http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/tipYogurt.htm#.U8Enr0C4NiI

The other thing is, as your LO gets older and as you follow your work schedule more your body may regulate itself and produce a bit less when you're not around and a bit more when you are home. You may feel full the first week or so and need to express a little bit to relieve some pressure but not do a full pump while at work. Then when home you may still be able to BF as you are now without having to do full pumping sessions at work. I actually DID do this when I first returned and DS was only around 4 months old. I wore nursing pads and expressed a bit into the bathroom sink when I became uncomfortable and otherwise did not pump. He took any BM I had already pumped (while I was still home before returning to work...so I did NOT pump at night when I was back to work for example...just used what I had in my frozen stash that I built up a bit beforehand) in a bottle while my mom watched him and I BF him those feeds on the days I was home. It didn't take too long for my body to sort of "figure it out" and I felt more comfortable at work and stopped having to express at all.

You have 6 weeks now that if you want to pump some extra sessions and freeze the milk, it might carry you through when you first go back to work. If your LO still BFs more often when you go back to work you may want to try to keep an extra pumping session each day to freeze and store but you can probably decide that at the time and I don't think it would have to be while you're at work. If she's taking in some solid foods, eating cheese/yogurt, starting water in a sippy cup, etc. You may find that you do not need to do any pumping.

So, my thinking is that if you don't really want to pump at work that you won't really have to.

[*Ali*]

How many feeds is your LO currently having in 24hrs and at what sort of times? At 7mo I would expect a baby to be having at least 4 daytime feeds and probably a DF or NF as well. I certainly wouldn't plan on cutting it back to any less or you'll probably find she starts waking more at night to feed instead or overcompensates with solids which don't offer the right balance if nutrients at this age.

Depending on your work hours, I know some people who fed in the morning, when they got in from work and then again at BT. That way LO was only missing one feed in the daytime really. Depends how long you have from getting in and BT though I guess.
 

[~*Nicole*~]

Ali-You probably have a LOT more BFing experience than I do since I stopped so young. As such, Honeymonster, please take my post with a grain of salt because I did not continue nursing beyond 6 or so months with my LOs.

The reason I mentioned fewer feeds was only for the days you would be at work, as you'd still be home for more feeds for 4.5 to 5 days each week. so I thought the 2.5 days you were at work wouldn't be a huge deal if you tried to sub a normal BFing session with alternatives that were age appropriate, while still offering the usual amount of BFs the days that you were home. It seems it would balance out in terms of quantity and not drastically reduce the nutritional value. And if you had milk frozen you could give more feeds if she still needed them on the days you were not home. My experience past 6 months was totally different as mine moved to formulas by then.

[Honeymonster]

thankyou both for your comments.

Nicole i get what ur saying and i'd kind of hoped my body may regulate itself a bit and get used to it, im just worried about my supply decreasing as i had a bit of a scare the other day when one side felt like it dried up.. combination of me being tired, dehydrated and LO refusing that side for a bit. a few extra pumping sessions (and litres of water) and its back to normal again thankfully.

Ali currently she has feeds at 7 am, 11am, 2.30/3ish and then before bed she has one side before her bath and the other side about 30-45 mins after. She doesnt get a dream feed as shes been so close to sleeping through and has on a few occasions i thought id just put up with the night feed until shes ready to drop it. so she currently has one night feed anywhere between 1.30 and 4. to be honest im not sure she really needs this.. you would think she would but the past two weeks she hasnt been very hungry on waking up and is never really starving in the morning. sometimes she wont even take a top up when she wakes if her night feed has been closer to 4.  im quite guilty of feeding her if she's up having a cot party so shell go back to sleep or sometimes shes mantra crying but it seems to go on forever! she never screams to be fed.

I'll be working roughly 9-5 and my half day will be an evening so OH will put her to bed that night with a bottle which ill probably just express before i leave the house. its not unmanegable i dont suppose!

[*Ali*]

Are the working days consecutive? If not then you will probably be more likely to get away without pumping on those days.

[Honeymonster]

they are im afraid, mond eve then tue, wed days. i could manage to pump i just know its going to be hectic once im back as im pretty much going to be doing my full time job in half the time. it will be a case of sitting in the toilet and pumping and binning :-( seems like such waste but i think i'd struggle to keep it and get it home still cold. we have a fridge but no freezer in my work, i dont live far though,

[Honeymonster]

oh and i meant to ask, when you mentioned stocking up.. i thought that your milk changes often to meet babies growing needs. how far back is it suitable to give them milk from?

[Khalam's Mama]

Hi there.
Not sure where you live but in the uk your work have to provide you somewhere clean and private to pump (not the bathroom!) and somewhere to store milk. You could certainly store the milk in the fridge in a lunch bag with a freeze pack in to travel maybe, or similar then freeze when you get home or keep in the fridge for the following day.

With those work hours I would aim to feed before work, when you get in and then before bed. If she is also having a night feed that is probably enough feeds but if she isn't eating much to go 9to5 with no milk you could pump one feed. I would also suggest trying to get a stock up before you return so you have some breathing space.

I went back 3days a week and found my supply adjusted quickly and I was able to feed 4x on days off and 3 on work days with no trouble and no pumping even when my lo was older. I was firm and a little uncomfortable for a few days and then fine.

Good luck.

[Katet]

When I went back to work DS1 was 6mo, I would express in the morning & evening & once during the day, but DS1 would take 2 bottles & it was made up of the 3 expressings. I did that for about 3-4 weeks & then managed to regulate myself enough to be able to express morning & night enough to do daytime feeds from expressed milk... DS1 didn't take big feeds from the bottle & he did actually introduce a night feed (unfortunately) but I managed to stop feeling the need (body wise) to express in the day.  By 9mo I actually decided that as DS1 had cut back so much even on the expressed milk I'd just go to formula as I hated hearing that daycare had thown out 50ml or I had to throw out some too(I gave bottles on days I didn't work as it was easier than feeding out & about)

it will be a case of sitting in the toilet and pumping and binning :-( seems like such waste but i think i'd struggle to keep it and get it home still cold. we have a fridge but no freezer in my work, i dont live far though,

Seriously would you be expected to do it in the toilet? That is horrible.  In Australia it is law to give an employee a private room - I just shut my office door & put a sign on it & 2 days a week another Mum would come & join me as we found talking about our Babies helped us express more & we worked those same days. 

[Honeymonster]

Sorry i think I misrepresented there, no of course they wouldn't expect me to do it in the toilet if I was keeping the milk. My work are and have been very accommodating.  I just thought that woul be easiest as I work at a small youth centre and we are busy 24/7 and always fighting over space to meet with youngpeople, parents and social workers so I just think I would struggle personally to need to book out one of the two small meeting rooms that can be private once or twice a day. I think my colleagues would be fine but we already fight over the space as it is. It's probably my own issue to get over and I just need to make this a priority, I do single side feeding so I suppose I could just do one pumping session a bit later in th day and pump both sides at that time. That would probably work. Our fridge is always packed out with food for the groups and clubs we run but I suppose I just need to be better at being selfish and saying I'll need a space in there. I suppose two bag of milk doesn't take up much room. She currently doesn't take masses from the bottle when I'm not about so I won't need to leave much to keep her going.

Currently I'm trying to work out how to cut this night feed out as she's not been hungry in the mornings at all. So it's not going to be great if I can't give her a big feed before work. Last night she woke for a feed at 12, don't even seem too hungry but she wouldn't go back to sleep without it, she thn slept until 7.15 and is currently happily playing on her mat not remotely interested in her feed.

Thanks everyone you've helped me clarify things in my own head. I think in making it into a bigger deal than it is. I have a little thermos lunch box so can pack my lunch and ice packs in that.. Then at lunch I could take my lunch out pump then put the milk bags back in my lunch box with the I've packs! I may also try and start a bit of a stockpile just now, my milk is currently quite high as I've been pumping a bit so I can get 5 Oz from one side just now which would be the most she'd take in a bottle through the day.

[*Ali*]

You can keep milk in the deep freezer for up to 6 months and I think at this age that would be fine. If she were 1mo when you pumped and you'd be feeding her milk at 7mo then there would be more difference. But at he end of the day although it isn't ideal it is still better than formula or solids

[Honeymonster]

Yes this is true Ali :-) I spoke to OH about it last night andirons thought he'd be keen to use formula as he gets frustrated sometimes depending on me for milk etc. but his response was.. Of course you should pump, I'm not paying for formula when you have perfectly good milk in your boobs! Oh well that's his support then. :/)

[*Ali*]

It's true. Maybe try it and if it is too difficult to keep up you can revisit the options again

[shivi]

she has feeds at 7 am, 11am, 2.30/3ish and then before bed she has one side before her bath and the other side about 30-45 mins after. She doesnt get a dream feed as shes been so close to sleeping through and has on a few occasions i thought id just put up with the night feed until shes ready to drop it. so she currently has one night feed anywhere between 1.30 and 4. to be honest im not sure she really needs this.. you would think she would but the past two weeks she hasnt been very hungry on waking up and is never really starving in the morning. sometimes she wont even take a top up when she wakes if her night feed has been closer to 4.  im quite guilty of feeding her if she's up having a cot party so shell go back to sleep or sometimes shes mantra crying but it seems to go on forever! she never screams to be fed.

Hi there
Its been a long time since I went back to work, ebf, but I help others in a similar position and can still remember the early days back at work with my two.

With DD, who never took a bottle but drank water out of a straw cup, I went back at 7,5 mths. I fed before leaving 7am, worked 7.30 to 3.30pm and fed again on getting home at 4pm, for bedtime and would also pick her up and feed from the breast at 11pm...she was a distracted LO so this was one of her best feeds...always.
During the day she would have breakfast, some mid morning fruit and yoghurt/cheese, a big lunch with protein, then depending on naps and where she was at with sleeping she'd have some little bit of rice cracker or smth small if she was already awake when I got in. then bf when I got home, teatime meal, bf at bedtime and the df so still four feeds in 24 hrs.

I really don't know many bf little ones who STTN without the DF before 10 ish months so I kept it up till then with both of mine as I needed my sleep and also logically for me it was better for baby to have a full 8 hr sleep at that time than from 7 to 3am or smth...and then to be properly hungry for the morning feed, drain me properly before I'd go to work and start the day full of breastmilk....

Like I say, DD never took a bottle and I never really pumped beyond 6-7 weeks with her after initial growth spurts....I pumped for DS for almost a year and was really happy not to be dependent on it for DD.

Around 3-4 weeks before I went back to work I started to cut out the 11am feed with her and using ice packs on my breasts as I knew this would be the feed that I would be missing through work. It meant she actually "ate" the solids offered to her rather than played with them - BLW - and she also drank a decent volume of water at this time...yes, all for fun but also because she was ready at 7 mths for more than playing with tastes and textures alone. By cutting out the feed gradually I could see that both my body and hers were ready for this change which was coming whether we wanted it to or not.

HTH as a different perspective,

Siobhain.