pointless moan about expressing

[curlyclaz13]

I work ft and still by ds 10 months old. I have to spend nearly all lunch expressing in order to send milk to nursery. I hate it, I want an hour to relax and read a book but I don't want him on formula and am happy be at home so o just have to suck it up. I think it would help if I got a decent amount off quickly but struggle to get 120 mm in about 40 minutes, worse since a sickness bug 2 weeks ago.
Completely pointless as there is nothing I can do but needed a moan.

curly, expressing is a bore :( Here's a couple of ideas you might not have tried:

• double expressing, so both breasts are 'done' at the same time

• aim for two shorter sessions of 30 mins each, or 3 shorter sessions of 20 mins each - might be more productive

There are some tips here:

www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-eating/breastfeeding/while-working/19-tips-better-pumping

Shameless hijack.
I'm about to go back to work and plan to express to give my 9mo bm for nursery.
Op I was wondering if you could share your experiences a little more? It sounds like it takes up all your downtime. Do you have the option to fit your working day around it, rather than the other way round? Are work supportive, or at least understanding?
I work for a huge (~8000 workers) company, but have struggled to find a room to use. It will mean a 10 minute walk across the site to the medical centre. The occupational healthy nurse only remembers one other mother doing this in her long reign. Is it really that uncommon?

Thanks

I did this from 6 months, it was terrible as DD was also a bottle refusenik and most of it went down the drain, spent every lunchtime in a store cupboard (only room with power socket and a lock on the door), this is a huge banking firm, i was quite the novelty, it's hard but I fed her for three years in the end, it can be done

Why not just give one formula feed during the day and bf the rest of the time?

Oh you have my sympathy OP, pumping is soooo dull. I keep trying to think of a reward for myself that I can have only while pumping, but since I am very frequently trying to pump and amuse a baby simultaneously anything else would be a bit of a stretch.

I have just stopped expressing after 4 months of expressing 4-6 times a day to mix feed Ds. I know how frustrating it is so you definitely have my sympathy!

So sympathize. I used to express regularly and had a freezer drawer of 50ml bags as that's all I could manage in one sitting, despite having EBF'd a 75th centile boy and a 91st centile girl without any supply issues whatsoever!

In all honesty, when I went back this time DD (10mo) got sent with formula. I don't like it, but I still BF at home and somehow I don't seem to have any supply problems on the days she's not at nursery.

Sympathy here too. I agree with a pp - double pump with a pumping bustier, that way you can do 2-for-1 hands-free and get on with work or reading a book or whatever at the same time.

I found 2 sessions of about 25 mins each enabled me to keep up with DD's needs at the cm on days we were apart.

Just to add another perspective. I went back to work when dd was 11 months old. I used to leave a 4oz bottle for the feed that she would miss due to me being at work. Expressing this was a real struggle as I only have 30 mins lunchbreak. For the first few weeks it was gratefully accepted however she's now (at 17 months) not fussed either way so I just leave cows milk. I don't get upset when the caregiver pours unwanted cows milk down the sink

Definitely try a double pump, or even just a better pump - I can get 120ml or so in 15/20 minutes with my Ardo Calypso even in single mode, and it's quiet/comfortable enough that I can just read emails/news on my phone while pumping.

I went back at 9 months and my employers (well, the HR person in my department) couldn't have been more helpful. They booked a meeting room for me as often as I wanted it. I took my double pump and a paper (the scientific sort) and sat down 15 minutes three times a day (when I arrived, lunch time and before leaving - I have a 90 minute commute) for the first few months.

We still used formula for the days she was at nursery, but DD had been mixed fed from the first few weeks anyway. The days she was at home with DH she got EBM.

Once she got to 12 months, I went down to twice a day, then once, then stopped. DD had cow's milk when I wasn't around.

I work for a small business and am the only person in my role so can't really go and pump other than at lunch. I already have a good pump, medela swing but can't stretch to a double pump.
He doesn't seem to take much milk during the day which isn't a bad thing considering I struggle to get much off.

I am hand-expressing when I am at work, and usually stop at 260ml, which is from 2 briefish sessions. I'm curious, would pumping yield significantly more?

Varies from person to person, but certainly I wouldn't get significantly more with a pump. Some people are really good at hand-expressing!

Madratlady that is impressive - well done.

Just a thought, but 11mo DS wouldn't drink milk from a bottle or cup, so nursery gave him extra yoghurt with drinks of water instead, to make up for the lack of milk in the day. He then made up for lost time when we got home....