Returning to work and BF

[NaNaNatman]

Hi everyone,

I am returning to work soon and as yet haven't spoken to my employer about expressing at work and was hoping you could give me a helping hand with what to say?

Some background,

I am a support worker who works 3pm-10am but 11pm-7am I am 'sleeping in' we have seperate bedrooms. My DS will be 8.5 months old when I return.

I am hoping to express when my sleep in starts and before it ends, so 11 and 6 to start with, I don't need to ask for a private room because that is already provided. Do I need to tell my employer I plan to express if I don't need additional facilities? And do you ask your employer or tell them?

Thanks in advance

Ask them if you can express or tell them you intend to express, is what I meant by the last bit

I express at work. I haven't told anyone, as I'm happy to use the disabled loo that no one uses. If you don't need any extra facilities I don't think you need to.

How many days will you be working per week? At 8.5 months your little one will only need one or two feeds during the time you are away.

It's worth telling your employer because you will need somewhere to store the milk - I'm presuming there is a fridge on site? It also means that you will feel more supported.

It was around the 8 - 9 month mark that I stopped expressing during the night and only fed DD in the mornings, evenings and weekends. She is with GPs from 6.30 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. at night, 5 days a week and I went back to work fulltime when she was 14 weeks old. She was fully breastfed throughout, though I did have excellent support from work, my family and breastfeeding support workers. There is something called "reverse cycling" which a lot of breastfed babies manage, and it may be that your LO doesn't need a feed at all when you're away, though of course the carer should provide water in case of thirst.

I wrote a letter telling them I was intending to express at work. They wrote back noting the request and nearer the time we discussed the finer details! They bought me a fridge for my office, and I had 2 or 3 expressing breaks built into my day. And that was it really, the only problem was people knocking on the (locked) door looking for me but I ended up making a sign with a picture of a baby and a breast pump on it saying that I was busy! I took a cold water sterilising unit to work that I kept in my office. It was a very positive experience, my work were very accommodating.

Thanks for the replies.

I will only be working 7 shifts in 4 weeks, so 2 a week.

It might be I only need to express in the morning rather than morning and night but will see how we get on, his feeds have dropped dramatically now anyway. Well his daytime feeds have

I'm assuming with the reverse cycling he would just nurse more when we are together as I will be away from him at night?

Yes, that's what reverse cycling comes down to, a switch about of feeding pattern. I don't know how old your LO is at the moment, but there is a massive change between 6 - 9 months as they start eating more solids, and getting liquids from other sources too. My DD started having a drink of cows milk in the morning (no allergies in family), water with lunch, and then a feed as soon a I walked through the door in the evening.

Well done for continuing feeding worldgone I can only imagine how hard it must of been at times.

Thank you for the advice, if you did it with a 14 week old I can certainly do it

Thank you - I couldn't have done it without the amazing support I had around me, it made all the difference.

My manager was amazing about it all, so supportive, I don't know why I was worried!

Brilliant news. Hopefully one day it will be seen as the normal thing for women to continue breastfeeding when they return to work. Having great support makes all the difference.