The expressing clique

[popsycal]

I'm Popsy and I am a pumper

DS2 is 6 months and i am bac at work 4 days a week mon-thurs. I express and lunchtime and get around 5oz.......
He needs 2 7oz feeds during the day but i am hoping to reduce his lunchtime feeds as his solids increase.
BEen back at work properly only one week but am having to express during every feed and every time on my day off to get enough.
my boobs hurt

Who else is in my gang

Popsy, in response to your other thread, I expressed for DD until close to 12 months (can't rememeber exactly when I stopped, but was directly correlated with her being abale to take cow's milk....). I also have a mental block with introducing formula this late in the game... not sure why....

By the way according with three doctors I asked, from a "medical perspective (whatever that means...) if they are over 6 months and receiving three meals a day, there is only need for a morning and evening feed. According with them, if I am available, one in the middle of the day...

i think I am planning around 9 months to drop one of the feeds, and try to pump enough when I'm home.

Savanna - i'll cat you....

i tried to drop his mid morning feed - so effectively have morning afternoon and bed time (and what ever his majesty requests during the night....)
but because he feeds loads in the night, he takes so little in the morning and needs something mid morning....i think

oh, I know how hard is to make these decisions!
I was just giving you the offcial story in case it helped you. When I'm home is still "open buffet" during the day....
I just know I'll get tired at some point though (I did it with DD), and then I'll clutch to the doctos advice, ISWIM....

Thanks Lua
we have open buffet when i am home too - thoguh it is becoming less open now iyswim

and the night was one HUGE open buffet but I am making inroads into making it a bit more of a 3 course meal

what we do for these children

Hi!
I will answre the questions i know first! About freezing milk....you need to freeze milk within 48 hours of expressing....so if you express on an evening it is definitely fine to express in the morning!

I put a link further down the page abotu milk storage times....do look as you can store it in the fridge for longer than you probably think.

Work have a duty to find you somewhere to express - someone will be able to link you to the legislatiopn that says this. I chose not to ask my work to find me somewhere (for various reasons) and express inthe toilets at lunchtime. I know many people are dead against this but it works for me. Is there definitwly no chance of you expressing at work? I would not be able to manage giving solely ebm if I didnt express at work.

However, saying that, one day I forgot my breats pump and expressed immediately on returning home and got abotu 10oz.....not usre if this could be maintained longterm though.

If it helps, my ds2 is 10 months too and he has a 4oz bottle mid morning (which he is just abotu ready to drop) and around a 5oz bottle mid afternoon.

Also, have you considered fenugreek?
alux (now kisi something) has more expereience than me with this, as do a few others. But what it does is increases your supply so that you can effectively create another 'feed' with regular expressing.....

Thsi might help

have you tried the MAM ultivent bottle teat
it is the only thing that my ds2 will entertain

My god, I haven't read the whole thread forgive me but just a few at the beginning had me in awe already. I breastfed DS until 12 months and expressed but he'd never take it from a bottle so never did it much and ended up throwing frozen milk out. I can't imagine how you are all doing it when your at work. It must be so stressful and exhausting. Just wanted to say how great you all are!

probably more mad than great
but thank you for your support

It's been a while again since I posted - moving house, new pc, Christmas etc etc - so I hope all the expressing girls are well.

As some of you know/may recall I exclusively express for dd - and I'm feeling slightly proud of myself that I will have had a relationship with my lactaline pump for the last 8 months.

I go back to work 4 days a week on Mon. Work have finally confirmed that they have a private room for me. I've never had a problem with letdown but am worried that as I won't be with dd so much (she'll be at childminders) that it'll affect my supply.

I want to pump till dd is 1 (I'm quite stubborn and want to prove to MW/HVs that it can be done!) and would greatly appreciate any advice from expressing working Mums.

Shivs, have just been reflecting that with dd coming up to 9 months, I have expressed for half her life as I went back when she was 19 wks. don't know what help I can give as I am in awe of you expressing 100%. if you can do that, then you can express successfully at work.

dd is taking a bit of food and seems to want less milk during the day and finding it difficult to make the mental break to pump less often. I have a panicky feeling inside of 'what if she needs more milk'.

Hi Shivs!
I don't have much experience with the amount of expressing that you do (Mad woman ! !)
But if it is any of help, I don't find any difference expressing at work than at home. So hopefully it won't affect your ability to pump at all!

oh, and I just remembered.
I had a friend that use to surround herself with pictures of her DD. She claimed it helped with her letdown...

Shivs

If it's any help, I work full time and although my baby, who is 9 months old, is at the childminder's while I'm at work, it hasn't affected my supply. I express twice at work and get, on average, 2 6oz bottles for my ds. You've done really well to express full time for so long, I think you'll be OK with expressing at work.

Hth.
savanna

Shivs, just caught up with this thread. I exclusively pumped until ds was 13 months old and worked 3 - 4 days a week. So, yes, it can be done. I pumped at a mid-morning break, lunch and mid-afternoon when I was at work and it worked out just fine.

Thanks Jabberwocky. So my aim of 12 months is definitely achieveable then. You did so well to do 13 months - that's some dedication!
One month in and it's going okay. I'm now only pumping 4 times a day - once at work - so it's manageable. Only thing is that the room I use is so private there are only 2 keys - and I have to be escorted there. I just know that some gossipy sorts will be thinking I'm having some sort of illicit affair as I disappear off each lunchtime!!

lol at your illicit affair! I had to pump a couple of times at an airport and the first time I had to ask where to go. It turns out that they had a family bathroom where you could lock the door. I was impressed - and relieved...

Thought I would ressurect thsi to see how everyone is doing!

I have reduced my hours at work to 2 half days and 1 full day. I am still expressing at lunchtime at work but not much at others times as ds2 is having just one bottle mid afternoon when i am away.

He turned 1 two weeks ago!

How are you al and your little ones!

Hi popsy! I'm just expressing once a week now! Ds gets cows milk during the day and me at night. One day a week I work 12 hours and I don't like going that long without feeding/expressing. But otherwise have given up. Dh and I are going to Bratislava for a few days at the end of April so will be bringing the pump for that.

Hey it's Fastasleep... I expressed for DS till 9 months, but ti was fraught with him having kidney troubles straight away and an op early on and the stress dented my supply permenantly...

Am up to nearly 6 months with DD now, who couldn't BF either, 4 times a day :) I'm happy, DH keeps 'hinting' about stopping lol...

what is fenugreek????????????

dd is just starting to eat a bit more but still not on 3 meals yet. more like one and a half. hence, still pumping 2x a day at work. I have given up doing it at weekends and night tho.

she turns 1 on April 19 and will be in Barcelona for her first birthday. i cannot think of a nicer city to be myself! After easter, I will pump once a day at work and she can have more cow's milk.