Will i be able to combine exclusive BF and return to work?

[tunise]

Having a bit of a panic about the future. DD2 is 10 weeks old and is my 4th child but the only one i have managed to get this far into breastfeeding. With the other 3 i did try but i think looking back introduced mixed feeding too early / didn't have the belief in myself / didn't have access to so much help and knowledge etc and had moved over totally to formula by 4 months each time.

Anyway Hurrah, is all going much better this time and i am actually enjoying the experience and the weight is falling off me, bonus!
I have to go back to work just before she is 6 months old, have to for the money , but will work 3 days a week 7.5 hr shifts with travelling time of about 30 mins each way.
DD2 will happily take a bottle of EBM and i have been expressing a few times a week so the older children get a chance to feed her and i get a tiny tiny fragment of 'me time'.
Can express about 120ml from one side and less from the other. is this normal?
Anyway, when i go back to work will i be able to continue feeding her? could i express enough for the 3 days? should i be expressing more and trying to build up a frozen store of BM? What sort of things would help and what should i avoid to prevent it from going wrong this time?
Thanks in advance for any help x

Definitely stash what you can now. I went back when ds was 7ms and my stash sustained me. I do 3 days in a block, longer hours away from baby than you by a teeny bit. I expressed once a day at work, midday, and then expressed once a day in the evening on my 4 days off and froze all the milk.

I found in the first few weeks that for the feeds I missed at work I could get several ounces off. But I won't lie, 6 weeks in I found it hard work. I had already had a bad experience expressing for dd1 who I left at 6ms, same hours and job. But this second time I managed to eke it out and the freezer stash saved me.

I left 2 5oz bottles when I went back, and as my supply dropped and baby got older I left less milk per bottle and then dropped a bottle nearer a year. Then left cows milk from a year.

I fed as normal on my days off and we fed to 2.5years altogether! Also, and I know this varies, but I found a manual pump better for me than an electric. Mad but true.

Hey Tunise. My DS is 3 months old and I go back to work in 2 weeks. Already back 1 day a week at the moment. I have a freezer stash built up and on my days at work I express in the morning before work, at lunch time in work and then when I get home.

I started a thread on this last week called back to work and bf and there were some really useful tips from people.

They assured me that I could express when at work and then feed normally the days I'm off. It'll be tough but I'm prepared :)

Good luck!

Thank you both, it's really helpful to hear positive stories. I'll have look for that thread peanutbutter.
I think some of the worries are more related to going back to a job i dont want to do and actually i'd like to stay at home a bit longer, but that's another thread...
So if i expressed some everyday and freeze- is it 3 months it can stay frozen for?

Yes, 3 months in your normal fridge frezer. I think only 1 month in the old style ice box and 6 months in a deep freezer.

DS sleeps through the night now so I manage to express between 5 and 6 oz every morning before his feed. I have those boots bm storage bags which are great.

DH just pops them in a saucepan of boiling water to defrost them and warm them up. Easy peasey :)

I managed with DS2 - went back to work when he was 7 months, had a stash of expressed breast milk in the fridge and expressed once at work and froze/brought home in cool bag. He didn't actually take much of the expressed milk when I was at work, and saved himself for huge feeds morning and night. I fed him during the day when I was home - worked 3 days a week too. Carried on breastfeeding till he was over 2 as well!

Went back at 4 months (with part time before that). We're now at 7.5months.

Can post a little later about our routine if you want, but currently about to go out for dinner with the hubby.

Oh and we have not used any of our 100oz freezer stash so far.

I went back 4 days a week, 11 hour days with the commute, at 5 months, and EBF until my daughter was a year, so yes, it can be done.

Congratulations on your daughter, and on successful breastfeeding, that's great!

I went back full time when ds1 was 5 1/2 months, left him from 7.30 until 5 five days a week. I expressed at work twice a day which made one feed for him and fed him in the morning and before bed and then as normal at weekend but expressed once between feeds to keep frozen stock up! Fed him until 15 months without problems of supply. Hope it all goes well :)

It can definitely be done! Express at least twice if you can as you'll be away from your DD2 for nearly 9 hours if you include travel time (did i understand that right?) and be prepared for a long feed as soon as you get home (or lots of short ones). Night time feeds also help with both supply and keeping her full. Good luck!

Fantastic-thank you all so much, i do feel more positive about it now.
Climberchick- any additional info about routine would def be welcome.
Also thinking about pumps, at the moment i have a cheapish manual one which so far seems to work fine, what are the benefits of the expensive electric ones, are they really much better?
There should be no reason why i cant use a private room to express at work at least twice during my shift- it might be quite nice, i'm thinking hot cuppa and book break! Can employers request a time limit or take it out of your lunch breaks i wonder?

I'm thinking of doing this too but ds is refusing to take a bottle. He cries loads and is unsettled after a bottle if he does have any. Worried I won't be able to get him onto a bottle when I go back to work next year.

tunise I don't think they can, but you may have to do some research.

My Routine: To start I expressed twice a day, and fed her just before I left and as soon as I got back. Over time, I wasn't bursting when I got in and I just slotted in with her routine more. Would get out 9-13 oz

Now at 7/8 months, I express once at work (6-7oz) and when I get in (or an hour after feeding her) to get out another 1-4oz.

This has and still allows me to express a little more than she takes, then if she eats more if doesn't impact stock. If we had built up some over the week, then DH would feed her on sat morning to give me a bit of a lie in.

LOs Routine:
Before weaning DH would offer her 1oz/hr as otherwise she would just eat whatever she was offered. So day 3 hours since last feed would get given a 3oz bottle. If she cried for more, then she was offered an oz at a time. This meant that I didn't have to worry about expressing loads, and she could catch up in the night if needed.

Now she gets offered 2oz a time, but is on 3 meals a day. Really playing it by ear.

Pumps: It depends on how well you express. I can say that having a double (I have a rental, but that's provided by work) is loads easier. The manual can get tedious quite quickly, but there isn't much increase output with the electric and hospital ones (Well for me anyway). The double one means you can be quite hands free to do some reading or relaxing. It's not like they're hard or long to get, so if you want you can just see how you get on.

Before work: I fitted in a couple of expresses a day, just to build up my supply and put some in the freezer. I avoided giving her to LO, as this wouldn't then increase my supply. In the beginning, I would have booster session at the weekend to try and increase supply if I felt I was expressing less at work.

normal (after 6 weeks). range of milk that bf babies have is 25oz (19-30) and this doesn't increase with time.

hth