success stories or otherwise on expressing at work

[bearhug]

Hi, I'll going back to work full time soon, when DS will be 5 months old. I would like to exclusively BF till 6 months as recommended so plan to express at work.

So far everyone I've spoken to says they soon gave up on that as it is too much faff, and that their DC got formula during the day and BM evening, night and morning.

Is this really inevitable or is my plan possible? I'd be grateful if you would share your experiences with me.

[philmassive]

No, certainly NOT impossible at all.

I went back to work when my DS1 was 4 months old and I expressed morning and afternoon in the staff room with a sign on the door warning people that they would get an eyefull if they came in! I continued to do this every day I was at work (3 days per week) until my DS was over a year old.

Your employer has a duty to look after you re: this and should provide you with a private space to do so. I was lucky as my work had a comfy staff room with microwave for sterilising bottles and pump.

I then froze the milk in breast milk bags and my DS used them as and when.

I found it really useful to take photos of my ds with me and an item of his clothing with his scent on it to help the drop down reflex.

Truthfully I found it no problem at all but you need to be truly happy to do it, don't let naysayers put you off.

Hope this helps, and good luck with going back to work.

[MrsBadger]

def possible

I expressed for dd till she was 1 and could have cows' milk - she only had one bottle of formula (due to freezer failure, grr) in her life.

more later if you are lucky but I am tigh fir time - top tip is buy a double electric pump eg Ameda Lactaline. Best bit of baby kit I ever had.

and you don;t need to sterilise everythign every time - just keep it chilled with the milk and take it home to sterilise in the evening

I got it down to one session a day, used our photography darkroom as it has a lock on th edoor..
and ate my lunch and read a book at the smae time.

I gave up on bags after one split (nooooo!) and bought Axifeed bottles, which were a lot easier to stack in the freezer and never ever leaked.

actually I have posted a lot about this - if you do a search for posts I've writted including the word 'pump' or 'lactaline' you should get an eyeful.

[cmotdibbler]

I went back to work ft when ds was 4.5 months old, he was exclusively bf till 6 months, and bf till he was 23 months old. I expressed at work till he was 14 months old, and it was a great break in the day where I had to sit down

I used the first aid room at work, and like Mrs B the Lactaline is top. I used it working on batteries when out and about for work, and you can get a US adaptor if you pump and travel like I did

[Lyra75]

Hi there, another positive experience here. I went back to work when DS was 5.5 months. I used the ameda lactaline and expressed for him until he was a year. After a MN recommendation I got the axifeed bottles - definitely easier to stack in the freezer. I expressed 3 or 4 times during the day (depending on the length of shift). It wasn't easy for me to keep everything chilled (I had a cool bag that just fitted the milk in) so I bought an extra couple of sets and would take them all in to work. I also found the Medela Quick Clean Wipes very useful. Depending on how and where you plan to express I found the easy express bra really helpful. I remember seeing a photo of it when I was pregnant and thought - who on earth would buy something like that? - turns out, me! It took me a while to be able to switch off from the working world outside but once I got into the way of things I really enjoyed my expressing "breaks".

[MissisBoot]

I expressed at work for about a month or so - they were very supportive which was great. I built up a supply over the three months or so before I went back to work - I went back when dd was 6 months old.

I stopped after a month as I was sooooo tired from commuting for 3 hours and day and working fulltime - this coincided with dd getting teeth and really biting. Breastfeeding came to a natural end, but I think without the commute and exhaustion I probably would have carried on for longer.

[nicewarmslippers]

you need pumping porn:a poicture of dc or a baby magasine. don't try and work while expressing. i did it working 2 days from 8 weeks and full time from 7 months untill 14 months

but it is hard work and takes time. i wonder with this one if i may just not bother but get home earlier

[MrsBadger]

I found having 'baby' things around made it harder to pump as I got all stressed and het up about whether I'd get enough / was dd ok at nursery etc etc

I read Georgette Heyer and ate cake instead

[Milkmade]

I went back (4 days a week) when DD was 14 weeks and excl breast fed till she was a year. To make it possible (esp for that long) I would say
a) a double pump is essential - you just can't find the time otherwise (I used the Medala pump in style - expensive, but propoably less so than 8 months of formula)
b) your partner needs to be fully on board and supportive, as it is a faff with sterilising kit, transporting to creche etc
c) A fridge at work is nice, but if not available the cold bag / ice pack that comes with the Medela kit kept milk sufficently cold for a day
d) tupperware container and milton tablets is quicker than trying to wash kit throughouhly in between pumps
e) There's lots of conflicting advice about how long refrigerated expressed milk is good for - I went with 4 days, and dd was never upset by it - however she would never drink pre-frozen milk without a battle, just hated the taste
Hope this helps - I was lucky in that bizarrely 9 women at my work had babies born within 2 weeks of each other, but work still wouldn't provide more than one pump room, so we got to know each other very well (as you do with around 40min a day sat with your tits out...) but it gave me a great support network