Can I express for return to work?

[Stripedmum]

Stayed off for a year with DS. BF him until he lost interest at 10 mo. Easy.

A fantastic job has come up and IF I get it it will mean going back when DD is 4mo. I want to keep exclusively feeding if this is the case. Is this even feasible?

I've not done it but I'm sure its possible.

Hopefully someone will be along soon.....

Yes. I did it.

Loads of advice on the web. Start expressing asap after baby born if poss ( we were in scbu so i had to start by expressing if i wanted to bf) and freeze it. It keeps 6 months, so you can build a good stock up in 3 to s4 months.

Assuming you are in the uk you have a legal right for somewhere quiet and private to express. And the time to do it - they cant penalise you for going off and expressing. Talk to yr employer as soon as you can so they can sort somewhere. I was given free run of the first aid rooms in any of our depots around the county. ( big employer, and my job took me all over) And hopefully they can help you with somewhere to store it. Work was ok with me using a fridge, but coolbags ok if there isn't one or they won't allow it.

I expressed 3 times a day at work to start with, then down to 2x as dd weaned. I stopped expressing at work once she was 1 yo, just feeding her on an evening when I got home.

Didn't stop bf till she was 3 .

So yes, very very do able.

Good luck x

Ps in the states they get very little maternity leave so American sites like kellymom have a wealth of knowledge.

Yes, I did it. Back at work ft when ds was 4.5 months old, back travelling when he was 6 months. He was ebf till 6 months, and stopped bfing at 23 months, not having had any formula.

I used the first aid room at work and expressed 3 times a day at first, then less as he dropped feeds. He was a milk monster, so didn't drop all his day feeds till 14 months.

I got good at eating and expressing - you need a really good double pump to make it work long term, and for me that was the Ameda Lactaline esp as it worked on batteries as well as mains

Cmot - I managed with a hand pump. I found the electric pumps annoyingly noisy. Hospital loaned me a great one (can't remember model) but I actually chose to switch to manual. < now has hands like a bodybuilder>

But yy to eating and expressing!

Respect on the hand pump - I couldn't make them work at all. Was pretty good at hand expressing though, and could have written a book on 'weird places to hand express' inc aircraft toilets and once, memorably an examination room in a swedish hospital when I had to explain to a customer why I needed to take a short break. Being swedish, they didn't bat an eyelid

Love it. cmot. I fed dd in an orthopaedic clinic waiting room, when accompanying DH, but not a patch on you!

I think it was the weeks hooked up to a pump in SCBU, she was tube fed for the first few weeks so I started off on a big hospital double pump. I seemed to have a good let down by the end of that so it came out easily enough once I switched to manual.

I have expressed in a car park at work when on a course, and also excused myself part way through a FirstAid at Work exam to express. They were understanding. Also, a nice one, In the sunshine, In a field whilst out on site visits. yy to in loos when unable to find anywhere better.

Thank you! So glad that it's a possibility :-)