Two days away from EBF baby (14 weeks) - how do I go about this?

[Sarahlou8]

Hi,

I have been asked to go into work just for two days in a couple of weeks time. I'm happy to do this, just not sure how to go about it.

DD will be 16 weeks old. My hours are likely to be 9-6pm. I'll be able to express when there.

How much should I leave for DD each day?

I'll obviously sterilise my pump before I go but how do I keep it sterile whilst there? Is it ok to use repeatedly while there to top the milk up? (I wont be able to wash/sterilise in between.)

And my most important worry - I'm well aware I can't express anywhere near the volume that DD takes, so if I just take off as much as poss, will my supply recover when I'm back at home?

(I have a freezer stash to use up so expressing to feed isn't going to be a problem)

Thanks.

Can you meet your baby during a break to bF?

I may be mistaken, but I think employers are legally obliged to accommodate this.

Re sterilising, most workplaces have a microwave, so could you take a microwave steriliser?

I shouldn't worry too much about supply if BF is established. It will come back as your baby takes it, and two days shouldn't make too much difference, as long as you are feeding morning & night. (Although I have been back at work for about 5 shifts and already I don't have giant boobs by lunchtime.)

Babies this age take an average of 25oz in 24 hours (think I read this on Kellymom which is reliable and evidence based) so depending on how often you feed you should be able to work out how much a feed is. Maybe add an extra 1oz to each bottle.

Re sterilising, I think that with a 4 month old baby you will be fine if you sterilise in the morning before you leave each day, then just thoroughly wash all the parts to your pump during the day, and your hands etc. And keep in a clean plastic bag inbetween pumping. I have a five month old and have stopped sterilising at all now, though I do often use the dishwasher.

Re your supply, as you will presumably be feeding your DD in the morning and evening, your supply shouldn't be affected too much I don't reckon. If it were an entire 24 hour period then yes, but you should be fine. You may find you just need to feed a bit more often for a couple of days once you're back home. If your supply does drop, it should increase as quickly as it decreased just by feeding more often.

Chickin', that's very interesting about how much babies take. I have often wondered, but thought it was one of those mysteries I would never solve!

What's more interesting is that (apparently) the amount that bf babies drink stays the same between one and six months, then starts to decrease as they are started on solids.

Hi; my LO is a wee bit older (21 weeks) and I went in for two days this week (keeping in touch days). I got my mum, who was looking after her, to bring her in at lunchtime for a feed then, and that was really good. I didn't express at work though - am fed up with expressing generally cos I get so little out and it can get a bit sore with trying. I did leak a bit while at work, though I had a muslin in my bra .

One thing my mum suggested which was good - I didn't do two days consecutively, but rather I did Mon & Wed, so that both me & my LO had a break in between which was nice.

By Friday my supply seemed back to normal so it did adjust itself quickly.

Babies take different amounts and there are several estimates you can use. My midwife gave me a rule of thumb of one sixth of the body weight in 24 hours (i.e. across however many feeds the baby has) and a quick calculation just now (as my dh is bottle feeding dd ebm!) that seems pretty close for us.

Perhaps you could give a feed yourself with expressed milk during a day before you go to work to gauge how much your baby wants to take at that time and make sure you leave enough plus a bit extra as chickin suggests.

Also agree that sterilising in between isn't necessary as long as the pump is clean and sterilised at the start of the day. Daily sterilising is fine, it takes time for bacteria to breed. Surely you can rinse the pump in in the washbasins in the ladies room during the day?

On a separate not but related to chicken's comment, I am concerned by the amount of times Kellymom.com is cited as wisdom on this forum. I have used it myself and think it's a great source of info, but people seem to treat it as gospel. It's just a website and as such should be treated with a degree of scepticism unless you have personally checked the evidence cited and her qualifications or had the advice corroborated by a healthcare professional that you know is appropriately qualified. There is a lot of conflicting advice and evidence about breastfeeding and kellymom has undoubtedly selected the advice that supports her own points of view. Thats not to say it's wrong but it doesn't mean that it definitely applies to everyone, nor that there isn't other evidence out there suggests something different. For example, lots of people swear that the mother's diet can affect the babies poo and nappy rash etc, but if you believe the evidence on kellymom then virtually nothing in the mother's diet can be passed on through he breastmilk.

Sarahlou if you know you can't express enough for a feed thats on thing, but if you nly think that because kellymom says then it might not actually be the case. It depends how good you, your body and your pump are at expressing milk. E.g. I usually get 140-170ml of milk in a single express with a double electric, more than enough for a single feed for my dd.

One last thing, if you can fit in 1-2 more pumping sessions that you would normally feed then that will help prevent any drop in supply. It should also help your body get better at expressing milk.

Good point Snowcone. But like you, I've only used Kellymom's info as a guide and source of general info and tips - which is exactly what I'm sharing here. Not gospel at all, just more reliable (by my judgment admittedly) than a great many sources of online information.

She does seem to promote the fact she takes an evidence-based approach - which in itself means looking at all relevant research, disregarding any that is not credible/reliable for whatever reason, and also not cherrypicking, doesn't it? Also she claims to have a scientific background so I would have thought she understands how to evaluate whether or not a piece of research is likely to have produced reliable results. And she is non-commercial.

Or should we not necessarily believe everything she says, including what her background and qualifications are?

You talk about healthcare providers being better sources of information, but I've heard some utter tosh from midwives and health visitors in my time. (Of course a great many do know what they are talking about though.)

I went back to work at this age

I would pump at least 2 in the day at this stage. Depending on how long your commute is, maybe 3. Even with two expresses, you will be more than ready to feed LO when you get in.

I second the advice for getting your baby in for a lunchtime feed. This takes a lot of weight off you and also it's lovely to see them during the day.

Expressing can be quite lonely and feels like a chore.

Your supply will recover, just wipe any events of your calendar just afterwards and babymoon for a few days.

Also you'll likely pump more than normal as you'll be missing feeds, rather than pumping in addition.

An 1oz/hr plus 2 for good measure will suffice. Ask whoever is looking after your baby to give food as last resort and let her catch up in the early evening. This will help your supply as well.

The kellymom page on 'how to bottlefeed the BF baby' provides some good tips to leave with the carer to minimise intake e.g. slow teat, continually switching sides and breaking up the feed to make it last longer. This should avoid any bottle preference problems as after working those two days, the last thing you need is a nursing strike. My tip is to offer the milk cold.

Also (aware it's obvious) but feed the baby just before you leave the house and then as soon as you get back to help with him having enough milk while your away.

Also at this age and since it's a one off, the carer can give some water if they know your not far from getting home.

chicken I didn't say healthcare providers are better sources of information, only that you can have confidence they have been trained and are who they say they are. You really can;t do that on the internet although i agree that kellymom is one of the best and most comprehensive sites out there. The practical advice is really excellent.

It just bothers me when i see sweeping statements on mumsnet along the lines of 'all health visitors are terrible' or 'this is true because I saw it on kellymom'. I have a scientific academic background (nothing to do with health and not current) and it's totally normal to cherrypick the evidence. On many topics there is often so much reserch that it's virtually impossible to evaluate every piece. It's not necessarily wrong - as long as the evidence you cite has not been superceded by anything that directly contradicts it, but something like breastfeeding still has so many unknowns that cannot be explained by science that most studies at best can only come up with possible links and general trends, not absolutes and not necessarily findings that are mutually exclusive with previous studies.

I also agree that healthcare profs in RL don't always give good advice, some are terrible and should be complained about! I personally would take any advice from anyone with a healthy dose of scepticism and look for second opinions and value anecdotal experiences (mumsnet is great for that). We are really lucky that these days there is tonnes of advice out there and we are empowered to question people who in the past were authority figures. Though sometime that surplus of information makes it harder to figure out what is actually the best thing to do...

Thank you all for your replies, DH is looking after DD during the two days and luckily I work about a 10 minute drive away so I hope I'll be able to either nip home and feed once during the day or ask DH to bring her in - and express in between.

snowcone I can usually only express 3 oz when pumping and it has to be first thing in the morning. It takes a good 5 minutes (if not more) to get a let down. I never feel empty afterwards and yet just cannot get any more. I can stick DD on straight after and she'll be on gulping for ages!

Penguinarmy We're finding it a bit difficult to get her to accept a bottle at all - we tried with success and Christmas, then left it as there was no need. Now, she's very reluctant, and the milk has to be VERY warm. She's taken it more readily tonight so I'm going to carry on just one bottle every evening from now on.

I've only ever left her for a few minutes at a time and I'm looking forward to having this couple of days at work. (Keep in touch days) just wish it didn't take weeks of preparation!!

good luck, it sounds like you are making some progress with it anyway!

how about a cup. DD got a bit fussy on the bottle at that age but she was fine with the sippy cup

and my theory was if babies are fine because they sleep through, then they'll OK while your at work. Provided we can survive the sleep deprivation of course. DD has gone back to feeding every 2 hours at night (11months)