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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

advice needed for going back to work esp tiktok please

30 replies

hercules · 10/05/2004 19:54

Don't want but have to go back to work in less than 2 weeks and dd is now 7 months. I will be leaving the house at 7.45 and back around 4 ish.
I dont have a steriliser but do have a breast pump.
As i work in a school I really dont want to express there but dd is at the moment not having many solids.
I have under 2 weeks to get her ready to be left with dh during the day.
Do I need to express or can i slowly cut back the feeds during the day?
Can she manage without milk during the day and be alright on solids until I get back. I still intend to breastfeed her for some time yet and dont want to give her formula although will do if need be.
She doesnt take a bottle but drinks well from a beaker of water and I dont want to introduce a bottle now.

Any help or advice much appreciated.
TIA

OP posts:
tiktok · 10/05/2004 22:06

You're right there is no need to introduce a bottle, herc. It's good she can take from a cup - this will prevent her being thirsty.

Honestly, I think you will be best helped by really talking this through with one of the breastfeeding lines...there are several variables, and a lot depends on what you will feel ok about. You don't say how often she feeds at the moment between 7.45 and 4 ish - if more than once or twice, you will feel full and uncomfortable when you are away from her, even if you start cutting back on those feeds now. Is there nowhere you can express at work???

She will be ok nutritionally to have solids only when you are away, as it sounds as if you are fine for her to feed ad lib when you are together, and at weekends (though ad lib feeding at weekends will increase your need to express in the day during the working week....)

HTH!

Original poster
hercules · 11/05/2004 07:44

Yes, thanks!

OP posts:
Original poster
hercules · 19/05/2004 13:20

I am now getting 4-5 oz lunch time but barely an opunce in the evening. How can i increasde my evening expressing?

OP posts:
elliott · 19/05/2004 13:34

Do you need to increase your evening expressing? I've never managed more than an ounce then either. Is the 4-5oz in addition to normal feeds (i.e. you haven't skipped any feeds) - if so I'm sure you'll get more once you are not with dd.
Why not try the morning instead?
I find I can get 4-5oz after a morning away from ds2, and I can also get 3oz or so expressing from the other side during a the first feed. And my milk supply isn't that great so I'm sure you will find a way to get enough.

Original poster
hercules · 19/05/2004 13:47

Thanks elliot. i am feeding dd first thing in the morning around 6.30 am then I have to get two kids up, dressed and ready and I will be leaving the house at 7.45.
I dont feed between and do well expressing at 12.30. Im feeding agai from 5ish onwards and trying to express when dd is in bed from about 8ish with little luck.
Any ideas? She is going to need more during the day than this and I'm back at work next week.

OP posts:
Original poster
hercules · 19/05/2004 13:48

Very difficult to express in the morning and then ressterilise etc.

OP posts:
Original poster
hercules · 19/05/2004 15:59

bump

OP posts:
Original poster
hercules · 19/05/2004 18:18

bumpity bump

OP posts:
Original poster
hercules · 19/05/2004 19:31

I can only get one ounze max in the evening. Is it worth wasting my evenings for this?

OP posts:
motherinferior · 19/05/2004 19:31

Not for an ounce, I'd say.

Original poster
hercules · 19/05/2004 19:34

So what can I do Oh wise one?

OP posts:
elliott · 19/05/2004 20:40

I don't think you should waste your evenings -unfortunately I don't think you will get any more out at that time.
Some further thoughts - are you working fulltime? Could you try expressing some time in the morning on days you're not working?
Or, could you possibly fit in two expressing sessions during the day? Could you express at the end of the day before you start feeding dd - she will extract what she needs much more efficiently than the pump so don't think you need to worry about there not being enough 'left'.
I see the problem about time being at a premium on working mornings (I'll have that problem too!). Re sterilising - I think it would be ok to sterilise the pump once in 24 hours and wash thoroughly in between - you'll be pumping straight into a fresh sterile container anyway presumably.

elliott · 19/05/2004 20:45

btw the way I do my morning expressing - I sterilise the stuff the night before, then as soon as ds2 wakes I leap downstairs and assemble the pump, then back into bed with him on one boob and pump on the other. If I'm lucky dh gets up first and presents me with the pump and my morning tea (yes it did take a little training but he nearly always puts it together correctly now!) That way it hardly takes any extra time at all - and its one of the few ways I can manage a decent amount.

frogs · 19/05/2004 20:47

Hand express straight into a jug or bottle? Bit earthy, I know, and I don't have a milk production quota, as I work from home while dd2 is asleep. but I've built up a reasonable stock in the freezer which comes in handy if I do need to be away.

elliott · 19/05/2004 20:47

Or you could try to get hold of another pump - they're often going at second hand sales (or I bet the swapshop thread would yield results!) That way you wouldn't have to resterilise.
Ok I will stop addign random thoughts now!

almost40 · 20/05/2004 02:57

Hercules, I would definitely give up the night time effort for just 1 oz. I don't think there's a way to increase your night time express. I think the ideal thing for you would be to find a way to express during the day at work. Is your breastpump portable? It's expensive, but the Medela Pump and Style is really great. I feed right before heading out the door to work - around 7.30, then I express twice a day at work - once at around 11.00 and again at around 3.30. Then feed the minute I walk in the door again. I 'sterilise' the cups and the bottle in hot water. I've done this for nearly 2 months, and also with my first DD from the time she was 6 months until 9 months. Good luck! You'll find a way to work it out. If not, one bottle of formula a day doesn't seem like such a big deal to me.

Original poster
hercules · 20/05/2004 16:08

Any advice for evening expressing tiktok? Thnaks

OP posts:
prufrock · 20/05/2004 20:56

hercules I can sympathise with not wanting to express at work - I gave that up after about 2 days, but I was lucky enough to be able to produce enough the rest of the time.
Could you try expressing at the end of every feed you do from 5 pm onwards? I wouldn't bother cleaning and sterilising between feeds either - just put the cover on the pump and leave the whole thing in the fridge. (but then I'm a bit of a slut)
Mears often tells people who are having problems feeding in the evening to try having a glass of wine - apparently it can help the let down, and even i it doesn't it's a good excuse

tiktok · 20/05/2004 21:07

Herc, try expressing a little later again - two expressings in the evening...and learn to hand express, as it is a lot quicker than messing about with the pump

If this isn't easier or more productive, then skip the evening expressing(s) altogether, and express at work.

Work ought to make it possible for you to do this comfortably and easily.

In time your dd will take more solids, fluids in other forms, and be able to wait for you for her milk intake.

HTH

cazzybabs · 20/05/2004 21:24

As I have said before I went back to work when my dd was 3 months old. She was completly bf until 6 months and is still bf now (2 years) - YOU CAN DO IT!!! My dd didn't drink out of a bottle and only started drinking out of a cup when she was 5 months old. I also teach and can't express in the day, but was luckly to be able to slope off at lunchtimes and bf her. I also didn't hang round at the end of the day. I expressed in the morning before work, whilst feeding her on the other side. I didn't need to express during the day, but you could ask your employer (LEA or head teacher) to find you somewhere to express at lunchtimes if you wanted to - they have to try to do this by law!
BUT DON@T PANIC - for me it wasn't the going back to work but the worry about having to stop bf that made me not want to go back, but you can completly bf your daughter and work full time!

frogs · 20/05/2004 21:32

tiktok, sorry to hijack, but is there a disadvantage to introducing formula post 6 months as opposed to letting the baby have eg. water as a drink during the day and b/feeds morning and evening?

tiktok · 20/05/2004 23:26

Dunno, frogs.....it's a matter of judgement, really, and personal preference. Some mothers are happy to give the baby all their 'milk' needs at the breast and to share the 'fluid' needs with water, if you see what I mean. Others don't feel all the 'milk' needs are satisfied with breastmilk, and so give formula. There's no evidence that babies 'shouldn't' have formula by that age - the bens of excl bf are to six months, really.

hazlinh · 21/05/2004 04:24

i also gave up expressing at work after a couple of days, didn't know how to sterilise the pump in between feeds and didn't enjoy putting a freeziing cold pump to the boob!!

ended up sneakin off home whenever I could, which is a pain as home is abt half an hour away by car (notwithstanding traffic) and end up taking 2 hr lunch breaks! boss not pleased...

can anyone give me some tips on hand expressing??have no idea how it works..

can 3-mth old babies be given just water in a bottle??I didn't know this

hazlinh · 21/05/2004 04:27

oh sorry, it's 'post-6 months', I see. Doh

frogs · 21/05/2004 06:49

Hi again, hazlin

hand expressing is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. There are some old threads on it, mears has given good advice, but the mnet search engine couldn't find it so you'll just have to trawl for it...

Essentially you use your finger and thumb (slightly lengthwise like scissors, rather than the tips) just behind the areola which mimics the baby's jaw action and pushes the milk out. You can work your way round the breast like the hands of a clock using as many angles as you can comfortably reach, IYSWIM. Using both hands on one boob will also sometimes reach the milk that one hand won't. You get the best results by alternating boobs a bit. Depending on how good your aim is, you can express into a clean jug or straight into a wide-necked bottle.

It sounds harder than it is try it in the bath and see! It is a bit earthy for some people my mum squealed in horror when I mentioned it in passing once -- but frankly breast pumps make me feel like Daisy the cow too...

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