Did your employer make any special arrangements with regards to you still bfing and being back at work?

[HeadFairy]

I realise I've phrased that a bit weirdly... I'm going back in a couple of weeks and I'd like to keep feeding ds in the morning and late feed, but my job is really all over the place, not office based (out on the road anywhere and everywhere in the south east) has really irregular hours (shifts are set out but can change at 24 hours notice). Should I inform my employer that I'm still bfing? The job I'm going back to is a new one, and they were good enough to put it on hold for a year while I was pg and then on mat leave so I feel a bit cheeky insisting that they make allowances for me when everyone has to put up with the irregular hours etc.

I think the breastfeeding allowances stretch to a private room, a fridge and breaks. The hours would come under the flexible working thingy.

No - I told HR that I'd be using the first aid room to express in, but I didn't change things otherwise. I was office based when I first went back at 4.5 months(am now homebased), but travel around UK and worldwide. Have expressed in some very funny places, including airport loos, plane loos, on customers site, and in the back seat of my car. It all worked though, and am still bfing at 22 months.

maybe it works to your advantage that you are community based - out and about. could you drive to stores with baby room facilities and expess using a pump, store in an insulated cool bag

are you autonomous? can u manage to fit in expressing eg JLewis, or retail stores

would anyone actually know you were expressing?

Thanks for replies... I'm not autonomous (I'm a camerawoman) so I have to go when there's a job to do, and when there isn't I will be hanging around the office waiting for a job to come up. TBH there's not much hanging around, in theory I could be standing outside a court all day or I could have 8 different jobs. However I will have a lunch break somewhere, so perhaps expressing in the lunchtime would be a possibility, although like cmotdibbler it'll be in lots of wierd places (I reckon the car might be the most likely, just hope I don't have a journo with me all the time!) We do have a fridge at work, so if the milk hasn't spoiled I could pop it in there.

Blimey I'm going to have to be organised! I'll have to take a sterilised bottle and my pump to work with me I suppose. I was hoping there was some legislation that might mean I would be able to work more regular hours. I'm just hoping they don't put me on nights!

You can request more regular hours headfairy, see here, even if it's not a reduction in hours you were looking for it would still come under the flexible working regs.

all employers are legally bound to consider a request for flexible working when you have child under 6yr, but (and here is the rub) they don't necessarily have to honour it. if it does not suit contingencies of the post

If you take a coolbag and iceblocks, then you can cool the milk down and keep it in there with no problems. I found a wine rapid ice sleeve was excellent for getting it down to a good temperature quickly.

Hand expressing can be really quick, and very portable if you keep a sterile bottle with you. Its even possible to do it straight into a bm freezer bag with a bit of practice (with the restrictions on taking bottles through airport security now, I had to find a solution, other than expressing into a Starbucks cup and dumping it).

I also developed a very thick skin about telling people that I needed to pop off and express at lunchtime. Now its much easier as I'm down to one feed a day, and I'll even skip expressing that if I'll feed the next day,

You could ask HR if you could do more regular shifts, but I don't think you have any legal right to do so.

thanks for that link flowerybeanbag. I think I'm going to ask for regular days at least, so I'll always know which days I'm working. We kind of do compressed hours already, I do 12 hour shifts, and 20 days in a six week period, which works out roughly a 7 day fortnight. But currently my boss can't tell me what hours I'll be working as he says it depends on the jobs available that day. Ostensibly I have an early shift 0700-1900 or a late shift 1100-2300, but they're always changing those hours. Obviously what I'd really like is to stick to those hours, but I'm not sure I can insist really.

Do put in a request. Couple of tips - consider what every possible problem/objection could be and come up with a proposal as to how this could be addressed - don't wait for them to object first. Put about how the arrangement you want would positively benefit the business, rather than just being helpful for you.

get a cooler bag (store ebm), sterile bags, breastpump. it is do-able

consider union representation too

I will have to get really organised scottishmummy won't I? I've got an insulated bag with an ice block, that should do shouldn't it? Whenever I've used it the iceblock seems to melt pretty quickly but it's still very cold. I didn't think about the sterile bags, that's a good idea, much more portable!

Thanks for the advice flowerybeanbag. You're right, I think I need to approach it like a job interview and sell it to them. I may not get every concession but maybe if I can persuade them to stick to me working the same day every week that'll help. At least I'll know where I am! That and travelling everywhere with my trusty pump (and about a million batteries!) I should be ok. DS will be almost 8 months and I really wanted to bf until he's one, so really it's only four months of carrying all that paraphernalia with me!

insulated picnic backpack, cooler gel packs (you store overnight in freezer)cool for morning, ebm bags, consider electric pump

headfairy, good luck with it all. i am worried about my return to work - i find expressing v difficult.

i thought you had the right not to work nights if bf a child under 1 yo. would your later hours be covered by this? however, i looked for the rules on this yesterday and cannot find it. anyone know?

is your pump one you can get a car power adapter for?
I guess it won't always be possible but might save you some batteries

thanks for checklist scottishmummy I'll have to write myself a list on my first day!

The pump i've got is an Avent Isis IQ Uno. I'll have to have a look to see if I can find an in car power adaptor for it MrsB, thanks for that.

Weasle, when do you go back? I've had a medela double pump on hire since ds was four weeks old, and even though it's costing me £40 a month I think I'm going to keep it on for a bit at least so that if I get home really late I can express really quickly. It's worth the investment, it's brilliant. I'm not sure about my late hours, I knew about the nights, and sadly I will be returning to nights when ds is over a year old, so I can't weasle out of that (so to speak )

ah, now you can get an in-car adapator for the Medela (assuming it's a Lactaline)

You might find you don't actually need to express for four months. If you can express lots in the next few weeks to build up a stock. Then DS might only need one feed or so while you are out, he can have water and lots of food (calcium rich) and he might be ok.

I have got a supply in the freezer bumperlicious but I'm not sure it's enough. I've only got two weeks before I go back to work and I think doing loads of expressing might upset my plans for winding down feeding. When I do go back I'll be out of the house for 14 hours and if I express masses in the next two weeks when I go back my boobs will hurt like crazy.

I'm not sure I could take my medela symphony to work with me every day, it's a bit big! I'll just have to pinch batteries from work [gasp! naughty headfairy!] and use my avent pump in desperate cases. I'm hoping I can get to the situation that I can do a feed/pump session in the morning and one in the evening, and I'll take the pump to work just for emergencies (boob explosions notwithstanding!)