My plan for expressing at work - please check this sounds reasonable

[popsycal]

BAck to work on monday just for 4 days then 6 weeks hols!

The plan:
bf at home around 7
express briefly at work at 10:30 for as long as I can
express or meet up to feed ds2 around 1
rush home for 4 to feed

DS2 will have a bottle at around 10ish and 1ish
I am going to leave 3 4oz bottles - will this be enoguh? I may try to leave an extra one.....he has only taken 3oz from a bottle so far

now for the pump..is this right
Sterlise it the nigth before. Wrap in clingfilm and put it in cool bag....use it at work, wash with washing up liquid and bottle brush. wrap it up again. put it and milk in cool bag with ice packs.
when i get home, put it in fridge for use the next day
is that safe?

thanks
am very very anxious about leaving ds2.

also on thurs we are off on a school trip and i wll only get the chance to expres at lunchtime (if i am lucky).....apart from exploding....my supply will be fine the next day wont it????

I went back to work when DD was 10 weeks old. I breastfed exclusively till she was 10 months old. I expressed at work and kept in fridge at work. Then used to give to the childminder who put in ice cube trays. Each cube was about 1oz of milk. Childminder sterized the trays and did the rest. It worked great until I got really bad mastitus as 10 months.

I found something that smells of my baby helps produce the milk and thinking about breastfedding helps the initial process. However I could express at all for DS. It just didn't come.

I never bothered with washing my pump in between times - just put the lid/covers back on and put the qhole caboddle into the fridge ready for a later expressing session. Washed it properly in the evening.

I also just used to express on top of previoulsy epxressed milk in the same day. I'm sure the booklet I got said you could (the Scottish one seems to have been quite generous in what hyou could/how long you could store EBM, becasue of its natural antibodies)

You'll fine on the day away - and the day after. You might want to express a bit when you get home/as soon as you can, rather than offer ds2 an exploding boob. That'll also help your supplies - both of EBM and your "own" milk production. Your ds2 will still get plenty even if you feed him stragiht afterwards.

You will succeed!

i will
i am a taurean

Hi Popsycal. Glad what I wrote was some use to you.
As far as the 'comments' at work goes I've not had anything bad - just a few people who think I'm mad (too much hassle) & one or two who seem to think expressing must be a bit 'pervy' cos it involves breasts ! Sad immature types. They just look embarrassed though - they don't actually say anything nasty to me - wouldn't dare - I can get pretty fierce about these things! I've also had women say they really admire what I'm doing. Most people though just ignore it.

I think there's actually legislation in place that says your employer must let you b/f or express on work time and even provide a place for you to do it. (I usually just find an office when someone's out and sneak in there & lock the door - I've expressed in all the company Director's offices and they don't even know!).

I have to say my company has been pretty good. We had an away day at a hotel recently & they even booked me a room to use at lunch time.

I'm sure if your company is half way decent they will be fine about it and so long as you can relax you'll have no problem. ALso worth remembering it's not the end of the world if you don't always get a bottle full at each expressing. My DD has the odd bottle of formula (about one a week) but breast milk the rest of the time so she's still getting the benefit even if I can't always keep up with her demand.

This is what I did if it helps.

I used cool bag with ice packs, packed 3 sandwich bags and two small faceclothes each day.
I sterilised bottles and pump the night before and put them all in cool bag.

I expressed at 12.30 ish sometimes filling one 4 0z bottle sometimes filling 2 bottles. I used the face clothes to put under my breasts to catch any drips whilst expressing and put the breastpump in a sandwich bag to stop it getting any milk anywhere. i had no access to a tap.

I then kept it in ice bax till I got home to put in the fridege.

I never managed to express anything in the evening.
I fed dd in the morning before leaving and fed her as soon as I got home. Dh used breastmilk and supplemented with ready prepared formula in cartons.

hth

You can express on top of expressed milk. Bm can stay at room temp for a good few hours although I guess not in this heat!

You can express on top of expressed milk. Bm can stay at room temp for a good few hours although I guess not in this heat!

Thanks girls!

I am a teacher so am pretty restricted as to when and where i can express,

I am going to speak to my boss in this next week and tell him that i plan to do this still in september and can he find me a room (er there are none....) with a locked door and no windows (there are none)
oh well
wish me luck!!!

can i express on top of expressed milk that has been kept in cook bag though?

This is my plan:

sterilise stuff the night before and pack into cool bag with ice packs and separate bottles for each expressing session.
Express at least twice (my timetable is quite flexible next week at least).
Put expressed milk into cool bag with ice packs.
Wash pump with washing up liquid, rinse with cold water and wrap in cling film and return to cool bag when not in use
Put all stuff in fridge wheni get home to use the next day.
sterilise pump on an evening
on a thursday (last day at work) freeze the milk for use the following week

Not sure why but I would feel better expressing into a fresh bottle each time and only adding one to the other if they're all cold. just prefer fridge temp to room temp I guess!

haven't read the thread, so this might have been mentioned but your employer is legally obliged to supply you with a fridge to store milk in and a private (not the toilets) place to express.

Look for materntiy Alliance website and they have the details

eve 0 thansk for that!

I am back for just 4 days before the summer hol and will speak to him then in preparation for spet

at you UK girls and your rights. Our rights end when baby is 6 months old!

where are you chipmonkey?

Ireland, popsycal, not too far away, but slightly less generous laws!

wish me luck girls

Do you start back tomorrow then? (sorry if you said already & I missed it).

Good luck. Sounds like you won't need it though cos you are mega organised [grin. Give yourself a major pat on the back for going to the trouble of expressing & b/f at this stage. You deserve it.

Bet you'll look back in a couple of weeks & think 'what WAS I worrying about'!

Oops.

Meant . How

Yep - back tomorrow.....but!!!

I am a teacher so only 4 days to do then 6 weeks off.

September is when I am PROPERLY back!

Best of luck, popsycal!

So how did it go then ?

dreadful
I was sooooo unrelaxed expressing....the first time, I was disturbed 6 times by children! the second time, I hijacked the deputy heads room and shut the blinds and was a little more relaxed but could hear people walking past and coudln't relax much. Only managed to express a total of between 4 and 5 ounces at work i cried all the way through expressing

anyway - when i got home, i fed ds2 straight away and expressed at the same time and got 5 oz...and just got another 2 ounces at his bedtime feed.

Going to express once more tonight.

He took 4oz and 6oz from the bottle with my mum

will post a bit more later

thanks so much for your support girls

Popsy, can you make a point of hijacking that room? Can it be locked? I think you did great and by the end of the summer your ds will probably be eating more proper food and less reliant on milk. Hopefully will be better tomorrow. Once you're in a routine it will all come more naturally. When ds1 was a baby, I had to express in a room with another member of staff present. Luckily she was a mummy and had bf her ds and gave me great praise for the feed I produced even though I thought it was paltry! Now I'm so hard-necked I think I could express in front of the pope! ( Well maybe not Ratzinger, John Paul would have been better!

I suppose i did ok.

The first time I only got 2 ounces and spent the next thre hours pnacking that I wouldnt have enough to feed him tomorrow.

But since I have got home I have expressed 8 oz.

I can't always get that room as the deputy uses it, but shouldbe able to get it tomorrow as she is on lunch duty.

I have also found another little hidy hole which may be even better......and has a fridge

I think it is the uncertainty of where will I express, will I have time etc.

I am going to put something in writing this week as the head seems to think that as i have told him that ds2 will now take a bottle that i amnot feeding him. Need to put him right and try to organise something for one lunchtime session in September.

Quite a few women saw me washing the pump etc and most were really nice but a few said how their supply dwindled rapidly after getting back to work. I spent the whole journey home crying my eyes out about this.

I so want this to work. DS2 shows no signs of being bothered by the bottle and readily acceots the breast when I am there. Roll on Friday

Im back to work tomorrow, so wish me luck too!