Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I can continue to breastfeed when I return to work?

66 replies

aimingtobeaperfectionist · 14/12/2012 14:09

My maternity leave is due to finish at the end of January and either I go back to work or I have no money.
My DD will be 8.5 months and up until now is still breastfed.
I had always assumed I would be able to continue this until I/we felt it was right to stop. This would possibly mean me having to pump during working hours. My thoughts were that I would be able to do this however having read a lot online it seems many people don't agree mothers at work should be allowed to do this. I woul be quite happy to use my breaks to do it but I'm concerned I'm going to meet some prejudice. AIBU? Am I just being overly concerned? Has anyone dealt with this situation with or without success?

OP posts:
Original poster
aimingtobeaperfectionist · 14/12/2012 16:59

Thank you all for replying. Just read a few articles today that said it was 'selfish' and I should either stay at home with baby or shouldn't have had one at all Confused

OP posts:
Welovecouscous · 14/12/2012 17:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thereonthestair · 14/12/2012 17:07

Sort out your hours and then go for it.

for what its worth I carried on pumping at work for about 6 months, then DS droped the feeds. But in that 6 months I also pumped in a court building (I'm a lawyer) and the staff there were very accomodating, gave me a private locakable room, and offered me a fridge. (I had a freezer bag so didn't need it). But it is much more widely done than you might think

moodymai · 14/12/2012 17:58

I carried on breastfeeding for a bit after my first dd. I told work and they arranged for me to have a private meeting room to express in. I decided as my baby was in a nearby nursery that it would be easier to go and feed her. That was my first dd. With the subsequent 3 dds I did not express at all, sent them to nursery from around 8 months with a dummy, bottles and formula "just in case" but they wouldn't take it, and really just weaned them to a sippy cup (the plain, cheap kind, not one with any fancy valves). I continued to breastfeed them morning before work and evenings for as long as they continued to want it. (maybe up til around a year??)And that worked for us!
If you wish to express you have a legal right to, and work should give you chance to make arrangements for that. I think there are special rights for breastfeeding mums under Health and safety legislation.

moodymai · 14/12/2012 18:00

you're not being selfish, you're trying to give your baby the best start in life that you can x

Beamur · 14/12/2012 19:37

FWIW - it's also a very nice and bonding time to come home from work and have a snuggle and a feed with your baby.
Working Mums are a reality & if you and your baby are happy, don't let anyone else make you feel guilty or second best.

BertieBotts · 14/12/2012 19:41

At 8 months you may find you don't need to express, you can just feed when you're around your baby and he can have food when you're not.

But your employer is supposed to provide space for you to express if you need to.

maddening · 14/12/2012 20:47

I went back to work for 5 weeks after mat leave and before redundancy.
I had a double electric medela Freestyle which has hands free.

My employer provided a room with a lock so I took 2 long breaks each day ( equivalent to my lunch and 2 break ) to pump. I could use my phone to internet and eat lunch etc - it was easy and worked - though I missed catching up with friends at lunch. So I fed morning. He had 2 5oz bottles of bm during the day then fed when we got home and before bed (and random comfort bfs)

peaceandlovebunny · 14/12/2012 21:25

You are right that you can continue. You don?t need to pump ? though doing so at first will help you to avoid being over-full and at risk of mastitis. Who is going to know if you do it or not?

I haven?t breastfed whilst working but I have counselled women who did. They just put the baby to the breast when they came home. Bottle fed by minders during the day, breastfed by mum at night. It gave mum and baby a very special experience of being together, reassuring for both.

Original poster
aimingtobeaperfectionist · 14/12/2012 22:46

I think it worries me that a) I'd become too 'full' although I know that would settle and b) I'd end up losing my supply if I didn't feed her during working hours (expressing). She doesn't feed at night so we only do about 6 feeds a day as it is. She's not on solids properly yet as she doesn't seem that bothered to have them, she prefers milk.
I think I worry too much and get myself upset over it more than I should. It's not that I don't want to work, I'm just dreading leaving her. I know it'll be fine but just thinking about it now makes me cry. Bf is the one thing only I can do for her and I love it and I love that she loves it. I'd be devastated if I had to stop just because of going back to work.
Thank you all for replying.

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 14/12/2012 22:51

Your supply should be pretty robust at 8 months, easily enough to go the full day - you might find she starts having night feeds again, though, or feeds more often in the evenings to make up for it.

You probably will feel engorged to begin with but as you say it will settle down.

ImagineJL · 14/12/2012 22:59

I did it with both my kids, having returned to work when they were 8 months old.

I started expressing at home about 3 months before I went back to work, to build up a supply in the freezer.

While I was at work I expressed once or twice a day, depending on how long my day was and what opportunities I had to do it.

I had a manual breast pump, and used microwave sterilising bags.

They drank the frozen EBM, and I would replenish the supplies of this with what I expressed during the day.

When they were a year old I stopped expressing and they had cows milk while I was at work, but I carried on breastfeeding when I was home. I breast fed DS1 for 15 months and DS2 for 20 months.

MummytoKatie · 15/12/2012 03:45

I went back when dd was 11 months. I was down to 3 feeds a day so didn't need to express at work. On "off" days (I work 3 days a week) I would feed her at 7am, 4pm and 7 pm. I would then express just before I went to bed most days. (So 11 pm.)

On work days she'd have the expressed milk from a cup at 4pm.

So I don't have any experience of expressing at work.

After a few months we dropped the 4pm feed which made things a lot easier as I just fed her myself then. I kept feeding until 27 months and she never had formula. (Although she obviously had had cows milk once she turned 1.) I never really had a problem with engorgement although my shirts would get tighter through the day!

Obviously there's a big difference between 8.5 months and 11 months so it was much easier for me.

However, there's also a big difference between 7 months and 8.5 months so if you are down to 6 feeds now you'll probably be on 5 or 4 before you go back.

Arithmeticulous · 15/12/2012 13:06

aimingtobeaperfectionist That's why I said something upthread about expressing at work being time set aside during the day to think about DC, it's supposed to make letdown easier as well.

And she may well reverse cycle and want to feed off you all night to make up for not seeing you during the day [bitter experience]

I've also sat on the floor at nursery at 5.30pm feeding.

catkind · 15/12/2012 13:17

Good for you. and it prob will be easier than you think. When i went back to work i expressed the first couple of days, then only if i had a particularly long day. Baby still fed 2-3 times in "working hours" if I was home and supply adjusted no problem. He wouldn't take a bottle or milk in a cup, just wanted to drink water at nursery and caught up in the evenings.

Welovecouscous · 15/12/2012 13:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

catgirl1976geesealaying · 15/12/2012 13:57

I managed it

It was fine

Start pumping before you need to though as it took me a fair few gos to get it

Good luck

Original poster
aimingtobeaperfectionist · 15/12/2012 16:37

Welove yes, unless I go back to work I won't have any money coming in at all. I don't get any benefits so work it has to be.
Thank you all for making me feel better about this and you're right, her feeding will have changed again by the time I go I'm sure.
I've been expressing since she was 3-4 weeks old so she will take a bottle and I can express but I hate doing it.
I'm going to sort out my hours and Childcare and then think about it again!
Have started my freezer supply though.

OP posts:
roseum · 15/12/2012 16:55

I went back to work 6 weeks ago, when DS had just turned 9 months. I don't express at all at work. The first few days I was uncomfortable by the end of the day - and then my supply adjusted and it is no longer painful and I don't get so full by the end of the day (if you go for this approach, make sure you have decent breast pads the first few days).

So I feed my son lots in the morning, from about 5/6am in bed and once I'm up in between getting ready for work - last feed as late as possible before I'm out the door. Then I go off to work, and then feed him as soon as I get home, and a lot during the evening.

During the day he will occasionally take some milk in bottle/ sippy cup (formula or a little bit of cows milk) otherwise he just eats food and has water (he suddenly got much more interested in food at about 8-9months anyway, so you may find the same with your DD - it was as though he suddenly 'got' what this funny squishy stuff we kept giving him was for).

He does feed a lot more at night than he did, so I am pretty tired, but overall it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be (and no expressing, which I hate). If you did it this way, you may find your DD goes back to wanting night feeds, I suppose, (my DS had never given them up, he just increased the frequency!).

peaceandlovebunny · 15/12/2012 17:03

of course you don't want to leave her - that's normal, don't give yourself a hard time about it.
you're so committed that i'm sure you'll be able to work it out.
do you co-sleep? if you do, it will make it all so much easier.

Guitargirl · 15/12/2012 17:03

I went back to work after both children when they were 8 months and continued to feed them both until 20 months. I never expressed, would just feed them before I left the house in the morning and as soon as I got home. They did feed quite a bit during the night though - I think to make up for it. I found that I didn't even need breastpads - unless I looked at a photo of them and then leaked loads!

GreenPetal94 · 15/12/2012 18:15

A lady in our offices did this and they put a small fridge in one of the meeting rooms and booked it out for her twice a day. Sounds ideal, but everyone noticed the fridge and asked what it was for and soon everyone knew it was full of X's breast milk. If I had been her I wouldn't have been very happy with this, just seemed very unprivate.

Original poster
aimingtobeaperfectionist · 15/12/2012 21:40

Oh god, night feeds? This will be my penance for her sleeping through from 8 weeks, won't it?!
Im not bothered who knows at work what I'm up to I'm just not good at dealing with negative attitudes. However, I feel much better reading this that there may not be many.

OP posts:
maddening · 15/12/2012 22:05

Definitely look at your breast pump - I had a single electric pump from ds being born - didn't use it much and I didn't like it but my medela one was fab and the hands free function meant I could mn, email and internet and eat lunch so it wasn't that bad - plus it took 20 mins to get 5 oz :) it came with storage bag and freezer pack and a shoulder bag - it was excellent for use at work.

JugglingMeYorkiesAndNutRoast · 15/12/2012 22:10

As your baby gets older feeding morning and evening may become more of a possibility from my experience. These were the times my DC's were most attached to BFing. Good luck - hope it all works out well for you

Swipe left for the next trending thread