Anyone else working and breastfeeding? Fancy sharing your stories here to make me feel less lonely?!

[kveta]

I've just started back at work 3 weeks ago after nearly 8 months maternity leave, and am expressing once a day for DS (7.5 months). Although I'm only away from him 8-3 daily, he's only taking my expressed milk to drink and the max I'm getting is 3 oz a day, so I'm worried about him! Then yesterday 3 different people told me DS looked gaunt/ill/thin (although my lovely postnatal thread pals on here assured me he's anything but!!) Combined with the fact that NOBODY I know has gone back to work and still breastfed, and all my breastfeeding chums have been able to hand in their notice at work so it's not an issue for them.

I'm feeling very lonely, so any success (or otherwise) stories would be lovely, or if anyone else fancies a bit of a rant about expressing in a cupboard that's be nice too

I went back to work in Nov when my son was nearly 9 months. I work 3 days a week. I would express once a day and the amount I got varied from an once to 3 oz's. I luckily had a freezer stash of milk so would normally leave 5 oz at nursery and normally I would try and express in the evening a few times a week to try and top up the freezer stash.
Luckily he got on really well with BLW and by Christmas we managed to wean him off the feed he would normally have at nursery.
By then I would feed am eve and once or twice in the night.
He has always been good at drinking water so had no concerns about dehydration.

Even expressing once a day was hard work but pleased I did and he is still BF now at 14 mths.

I hope it gets easier for you

i have gone back to work full time twice. the first at 20 weeks and the second at 7.5 months.

the first took ebm (reluctantly at first) from a bottle. the second never took it from a bottle and refused all liquids for over a week so I went in at lunchtimes (nursery was only a 5 min drive away) and fed her. I also fed her on dropoff and pickup. She had rice crispies, etc in EBM when I wasn't there, yoghurt and whatever at first to keep her hydrated. She really took to her solids around 10 months and has never looked back.

I have co-slept with both so they fed/feed at night too.

I was expressing queen with dd1 who is allergic to egg and dairy and breastfed exclusively to 13 months. It wasn't till she was 16 or maybe 18 months that I dropped expressing at work.

It is a very lonely thing to do but it is a vocation.

I am bf my twins who are nearly 8 months now and going back to work in 4 weeks. We did BLW at 6 months (+ spooned porridge and yoghurt) and we've been really lucky that they've taken to food really happily.

Currently feeding 1-3 times a night, 7ish am, 4ishpm, 8pm. Breakfast at 8ish, snack at 11ish, lunch at 12.30ish, dinner at 6.

I've been pushing back the mid- morning feed for the last 4 weeks or so (still giving it if they've wanted it, but introducing a snack at 11ish so mostly they're not bothered about the milk) and they've dropped it now - they still have a mid-afternoon feed at 4ish but they don't seem all that bothered and it wouldn't surprise me if they drop that too, soon .

My work has let me do flexible hours so I will be able to be home by 4pm till they're a year old. I have lots of EBM in the freezer but they don't really like it from a cup and they won't take a bottle.

How is your LO with food? Maybe he is getting more fluids than you think through his food. Also, mine took a week or 2 of trying to use the cup at every meal before they got the hang of it and started drinking - they still only have about 75-100mls of water but have lots of wet nappies etc.

I wouldn't worry as long as your LO is still putting on weight and has lots of wet nappies. You are doing great with the feeding - it may be that DS starts 'reverse cycling' where he feeds lots more at night to make up for getting less in the day.

Good luck with it all

I went back to work at 7 months and my son had breast milk morning and night before and after work and didnt ever take to bottled anything and he was fine. My milk supply seemed to adapt fine to the new regime.
Hope it goes OK with you.

Hello,

I have been back at work about 2 months, my DS is now coming up for 8 months old.

He has EBM in a bottle from DH while I'm out - I am away about 9 hours as my work is only a short drive away.

I have been expressing twice a day so far, hoping to cut down to once as his second milk feed is getting closer to when I get home... He is getting the hang of food and is very good with a cup of water.

I can normally get at least 4oz each time (expressing both sides), but I don't express twice a day at the weekend so Monday is sometimes difficult! We have a little freezer stash for emergencies.

It is kind of lonely being the only person that I know doing this, but my work have been really good about it which helps.

My HV has suggested me doing a wee talk to the baby group later this year about how I have got on with expressing and working

Best wishes to you, hope you get on ok.

it's so nice to hear others are managing! DS seems to have got the hang of it a bit better now - he's only been feeding twice in the night, but we've not been giving him solids for breakfast, giving him a feed instead. hopefully we'll gradually introduce breakfast once he drops one of the night feeds, but at the moment he tends to feed at 2 am and 5.30 am, then has another feed at 7 when the alarm goes off, and another at 8 before we leave the house - if he can stop with the 7am feed, maybe he'll eat breakfast! We are BLW but with varying successes - he's eating more and more at lunchtimes now, but tends to be too tired in the evening, no matter when he's offered it. Need to work on that one.

I haven't been able to get a freezer stash - well, I have one, but it seems to have gone off between being frozen and being thawed. He won't touch it anyway! I'm not too fussed about him having formula when I can't express enough, but obviously it's much more expensive than making my own milk

Work has been really good at getting somewhere for me to express - it's an old first aid room that they've renamed a 'lactation suite', but it does get used for storage too, so there have been a couple of times I've had to sit on a table to express. There is another woman who uses it sometimes but I haven't had the opportunity to talk to her.

my La Leche League group are quite excited that I'm expressing, and have made noises about a talk - I've only been back 3 weeks FFS!! who knows how long I'll be able to keep it up!

I believe some people's milk can saponify in the freezer, I read about it on here but there might be info on Kellymom or you can google of course.

Sounds like my DS is a similar age to yours He has breakfast a bit later on I think, between 9 and 10 I believe and dinner at about 6. Lunch is a bit hit or miss - it depends on when he is sleeping! He feeds in the morning any time between 1 and 5 at the moment, depending on the time of that feed, I offer him a feed before I go out at 7.30.

I also work shifts which is good in a way as I get to spend some mornings and afternoons with DS (and DH!) but means a bit less of a routine for DH at home. DS seems to adapt ok to getting bottles at different times different weeks.

My freezer stash is only a few feeds - just ones I don't need but have expressed at work to avoid discomfort e.g. if I am not working the next day.

It does feel like hassle sometimes to do this, but it is great to be able to keep bf when I am not at work, and it would feel strange to go out and buy milk now when I have my own free stuff!

I went back to work when my ds was 6 and a half months (he's now 9 months). He always refused a bottle of ebm so I just stopped bothering to express. He kind of worked out himself that he had to fill himself up with solids (we're doing blw) whilst I was out of the house and my dh gives him water from a cup. I'm out the house from 14:30 until 22:15 and our routine is

8:00 bf and breakfast
11:00 bf
14:00 bf and lunch
19:00 dinner
22:15 bf

He feeds at least a couple of times in the night too.

Hope that helps and hope you're enjoying your return to work.