support thread for working breastfeeding mums

[Reallytired]

I thought I start a thread for those of us who are working and still breastfeeding.

My daughter refused all milk at nursery and prefers to breastfeed 4 times a night. She is 10 months old. I don't bother with expressing at work because I take an hour to express 1 oz.

Hi, I have been thinking about this issue. Still at home on mat leave at the moment with my 8 week old dd but will be planning on getting back to work before the age I want to stop breastfeeding. With ds1 I felt my BFing was cut short due to shift work at the time and although I had hoped to carry on for longer just found it very hard going with the work pattern and gave up after a few weeks back at work. Since then changed to part time day/non shift work and carried on feeding ds2 for longer. I have found expressing milk in past really difficult.

I went back to work when DS was 3 weeks old - but I took him with me! We ended up BF until he was about 15 months when he self-weaned.

Clearly this isn't an option for most, but, if there's any chance you can have your baby at work with you, it's a great option.

I'm not suggesting it as a solution to the problem, more something to thing about if it IS possible.

Hello - this is a thread for me.

I have a 2.5wk old DD who I am EBF and we are both loving it. I am going back to work in four weeks and from the point where she is about 2.5 months old I will have to travel for work (I am in France so that is the sum total of my mat leave).

I have just realised that I will not be able to express during the afternoons when I am work due to the fact that I am never in the same place and the afternoons are when all my meetings take place.

I am really not sure what to do. I can look into a car charger for my pump but I don't fancy sitting in car parks in a city centre expressing...

Expressing is going ok so far - early days.

I can't take my baby to work.

Bit of a sensitive issue here am feeling a bit fragile about it. I have found breast feeding to be the single most rewarding choice I have ever (not consciously) made. I am not sure I am going to be able to continue after 2.5 months.

Just wanted to say good luck to you all. I went back to work when dd was 3 months old and ended up expressing twice a day until she was about 10 months old when I dropped to once a day. It was hard work but I loved getting home and feeding her straight away sitting on the sofa. It helped asuage some of the working mum guilt that I felt about leaving her so young. It also helped to have a sympathetic boss who didn't mind me sloping off into the first aid room with my cool bag. Must be harder when you can't express. Could mixed feeding be an option?

I went back to work at 9 months and expressing is not an option where I work. It hasn't been too bad although I do get very engorged by the end of the day. My daughter won't drink milk at nursery and prefers to feed a lot of the night. We survive by co sleeping. She likes to feed about four times a night.

I think that exclusively breastfeeding and working must be really tough.

((flyingcloud)) I hope you find a way

Going back in 2 weeks, DS will be 25 weeks.

just marking my place

Flying cloud I'm sure you'll find a way. I went back to work at 6-8 weeks, but am freelance so don't always have to be out every day. I find that if there's no time to express I can do 5 mins in the loo with a hand pump (quieter and smaller to carry discreetly) just to stop the getting engorged and keep the supply going. I don't keep the milk when I do that of course! Ds is now 7 months and is starting to drop day feeds but even in the beginning he would tend to have minimal amounts of bottle and wait till I got back for his big feeds.

Thank you so much - yes that might be a good plan.

A bit masochistic - but when I go back to work could I reverse my pumping - so do more at night and less during the day or would that really send me into a tail-spin? Can I make up my own expressing schedule that doesn't correspond with dd's feeding times or would that mean that weekends and the days I'm not working I would be struggling to feed dd when she wants?

I am back full time and still managing to ebf without expressing... DD is now 9 months. We basically have three mammoth feeds a day and she is now sleeping through (I know I am very very very lucky!)...

I get up early so she has about a half hour feed in the morning and the she has another big one when I get in about 415 (I am quite engorged so it floods out) and then another big one before bed.

I was really worried that this wouldn't be enough but as long as she is eating lots of foods with calcium etc during the day and drinking lots of water, she seems fine. She is gaining weight fine and seems happy.

I just wanted to reasure those ladies feeling guily about returning to work and also to show it can be done. However, I know my DD is older than a lot of yours and she is also weaned so able to get extra goodness from her food. I think this thread is a good idea though as it can be really hard!

On the plus side, I had got all worked up about returning to work and once I did, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I think the key is to focus on some of the positives (being able to finish a cup of tea being my number one!) Best of luck though and will keep checking in - unless I win the Euromillions as can then jack it all in

Hi,
Me too DS is 11 months old and I will soon start work 3 days a week. 2 days are normal 9 to 5 days but one day is 7 to 7! Im usually in quite a pit of pain by then... on the train too so its not always easy to go to the loo with your laptop and everything to express!

this thread has just come at the right time for me.

i started back to work last week and i am expressing on my lunch hour. i am very lucky in that i dont have any problems with the actual expressing or breastfeeding itself.

my problem is my colleagues. i toyed with the idea of asking to split my lunch hour into two half hour breaks so that i could express at pretty much the same time as i would normally be feeding but i didn't and right now i am glad i didn't.

i returned to work at a new office and teh staff are a very young team. the manager is an older lady but seems to have no time or sympathy for those of us that have children and might need time off or to leave early for anything so i am holding off on telling any of them that i am breastfeeding. i was quite shocked on friday when 4.30 arrived and a selection of alcohol was produced (apparantley this is a friday ritual) i politely (sp?) refused because i drive home but all of them do as well and couldn't understand my hesitation. i just dont want to alienate myself anymore than i have to so for the time being i will keep quiet about breastfeeding. this may change when i get to know them a bit more.

oh, i should say, ds is 9 months and i work 3 days.

Just thought I'd join in (DP is away so am taking advantage of having the laptop to myself to get on MN)

I work 4 days a week and bfing my DD who is 14 months. I don't express any more as she is down to a morning and night time feed but did so from when I returned to work when she was 6 months til 10months. I also combined bfing and full time work when I had my DS who is now 3.

Boo, I found the best way of dealing with sceptical collegues was just to stick my chin in the air and treat bfing/expressing as the most normal thing in the world and people just tend to leave you to it! I had a few comments at first but now they just accept it as normal. It might actually be in your interests to let them know that you are bfing as you have (a few) more rights. Sadly not as many as you should have though!

It was hard work combining bf and work at first but you do get into the swing of it and I'm so glad I stuck it out.

Wow, Boo - sounds like a tough situation for you but as Spiggy says, you just have to be the trailblazer I guess...

I work for a huge UK company (employing many thousands) and yet my manager had to basically educate the HR team as to my rights. As far as I know, you are entitled to have a private room (not the toilet) and somewhere to store the expressed milk. I do think, however, that this is a kind of 'optional' law and therefore wouldn't know how you would enforce it (I also feel a bit bad as my manager went to all that trouble and I don't actually express but at least I know I can if I want, although I don't get much which is why I am going the route I am)

The bonus of your situation is that at least the team is young and may be more interested than you think - everyone who has had the balls to ask enquired how I'm getting on, have seemed genuinely interested once you explain and surprised that you can go beyond 6months!

Well, back to work tomorrow after a lovely three day weekend - bring on Easter

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm going back to work in May when DS will be 10 months.

I wish I could take him with me DH, who will be looking after DS while I'm at work, says he can bring DS to work once a day so I can feed him.

I will try to express but still looking for a decent breast pump. Any suggestions?

I will be watching this thread

I love my medela electric double pump but it really depends on whether you are pumping for comfort (just reducing engorgement) or to replace a bfeed. If it is just comfort then I really liked the tomee tipee hand pump but that was just too much hard work for actually providing feeds!

You might find that your DS just rearranges his feeding times to accomodate your working pattern which does make things easier! If he eats a lot of solids you may not need to pump as much as you think you will.

well, i had to tell a couple of the girls yesterday as i had to go on my lunch hour to feed ds (my breast pump has gone on strike again) and they were asking why i had to go halfway through my lunch hour.

i didnt really get a response. one of them just said "oh right" and then all was quiet and i left so i dont know what they thought of that really.

i think you are right, if it comes up i will just say it like it is nothing to interest themselves over.

hopefully it wont be a problem. like you skilboo my company is huge but are very lacking in any kind of consideration for flexible working for parents or anything.

Good on you Booyhoo for telling them. Tw888 I had success with Ameda lactaline electric pump to replace feeds/double pump and Avent hand pump (can't remember the name) for comfort, found could even do a whole feed with that but get a sore hand, so not ideal

I would like to join in too. Ds is 9 months and a boob monster. He doesn't eat much and will drink a little water from a cup but has a cows milk allergy (we're fairly certain big rash when we tried formula, family history etc, waiting to see allergy doc). Anyway I am due to go back to work for a local authority in June. I'm hoping the nursery will let me "pop in" at lunchtime to feed him. Hopefully it wont be too disruptive for him? I'm lucky to have flexi time and the nursery we use is about three mins walk from the office.

My big fear is DS keeping me awake all night making up for the feeds he misses!

not feeling great today. my breastpump has stopped working for the third time so i wasnt able to express anything since monday evening so ds had to have formula yesterday at the CM and i think it has affected my supply. he is feeding less often today and i dont even feel full. i usually would feel quite full by the time he is due his next feed. i'm just having a rant.

Sorry you've been having problems Booyhoo. What days do you work? The weekend is nearly here so just feed feed feed should help get your supply up. With DS I always felt that my supply dipped at the end of the week but after a weekend of big feeds I always managed to get back on track.

mspotatochip, I can't see what problem nursery would have with you popping in at lunchtime, I know mine would have been fine with it. If I'd have been 3 mins from the office I would have done it. Saved me those hours hunched over a breastpump!

I've just had to, for the 8th time explain that I can't do training courses that are on the other side of the country and require overnight stays. I'm lucky that work do change them for me but I am sick of sounding like a broken record. "I'm sorry I can't do overnighters, I'm breastfeeding...just like I told you two bloody weeks ago" aaaargh.

I have a 16 month old DD and went back to part time work when she was 14 months. My husband has gone part time and looks after her those three days.

I work in news journalism and have some pretty early starts (6am) some of those days and the odd weekend, but no nights (DH works 2 gruelling 14-hour news shifts in TV news) and by and large it's been fine.

At first my DH would bring my DD to work for a midday feed, but he's since phased that out and she's fine and isn't a drinker of cows milk or even that much water and seems to be fine. She makes up for it when I get home and feeds at night (we all co-sleep)

My one problem is she tends to latch on about 4.30-5.30 am so I can't extricate myself from bed to go to work if I'm on an early. So DH has basically got to read to her, try and coax he back to sleep.

Also, she's picked up on my complaining over the past year about 'tit' pain and unfortunately sometimes says it (she also says 'milk', 'booby' and 'nipple'). So I can meet DH in a crowded cafe in Canary Wharf and she can shout 'Mummy, mummy, I want TIT, give me TIT!'. Which is, needless to say, embarrassing.

Since I've been back at work I've toyed with the idea of night weaning but to be honest even though on a really bad night I've resented the pulling/pinching/on-off-all-night latching, most times I'm happy to have continued and I'm glad I have this tool to quickly reconnect, comfort and help to sleep.

I should add, I don't express and I drink alcohol (someone mentioned they didn't) but only a few glasses of an evening. I actually don't feel the same at all as I was feeding in the first 7 months before solids. I feel normal, and carry on as normal (eat and drink as normal) but also breastfeed. It's weird, because for about the first 6 months I was obsessed with b/feeding, I had anxiety over weight (she was born at 34 weeks and 5lbs) and focused this all on feeding to the extent that I went a little bit mad.

So it's nice to still do it, but not think about it that much, not care about it that much. So much so that it;s only recently that I've realised that people are surprised I still feed her in public.

Encouraging stuff! Quite a week here on the bf front, can now get through a whole 7 hours without needing to pump as ds cut down on day milk and had a night away working without ds. He had his ebm from dh and it was more or less ok, with me using the double pump whilst away to keep supply up (funny moment when the hotel staffmember came in to restock the minibar while I was pumping with only a cursory knock!). Felt almost like the beginning of a blocked duct by the time I got home but a very long feed by ds sorted it out.

Hello, how is everyone doing?

I am only on day 2 of work, but I went home yesterday with as much milk as baby took while at home with his Dad and I wasn't too uncomfortable.

Was very nervous the first time I went round to express, think I will get used to it though.

I really want to do this and not start the hassle of FF for me and DH at home so I'd better!