Expressing at work - supply tailed off?

[Swizzler]

I started back at work last week, and for the first couple of days managed to express 16 oz in 3 sessions. Today I forgot to express in the morning (duh!) and only got 5.5 oz at lunchtime. Is my supply diminishing - would have thought I would get v uncomfy if I didn;t express for that amount of time (last fed DS at 7am).

I do want to carry on bfing, so how can I get my supply up when at work?

can you express at work?

sorry - not masses of experience but going by what people on here have said you need to be really committed to expressing to do it successfully. so the feed that you would normally give to dc you need to express in order to keep your supply up.

what sort of pump are you using?

hi Swizzler, it's me from the Oct thread.

take a look at www.workandpump.com. they actually tell you all about this classic dip which happens in your second week back at work, apparently first week your hormones keep it going, but second week it often goes pear shaped. Same thing happened to me when I went back in Feb. They have great tips on that site, basically I just kept expressing and then bf morning and evening, and sometimes had what I called the 'midnight express' to top up the bottles if not enough. I've found since that basically your supply has peaks and troughs, but you always get enough if you do an extra expressing or feeding session...

please let me know if any questions, not that I'm so knowledgeable but have recently been through it all with regard to working and expressing (still going strong now). sure you're doing great though!

Don't rely on expressing at work - you will always get variable amounts. IME you need to express at home as well. Doesn't need to be large amounts. I always expressed a couple of ounces off a few times a day so that I had a stock of EBM in the freezer

Thanks for the tips - esp that site Gemmity . I managed another couple of expressing sessions at work and got another 10oz. Will try and express at home as well - just find it more difficult to fit it in with feeding, solids, walks etc. Suppose I'll be more confident about things after a few weeks when it all settles down (hopefully)