Breastfeeding and returning to working

[Lavenderdreaming]

Hello
I don’t return to work till June however Iv done a few 4 hour kit days and pumped milk for my daughter. After just the four hours I’m quite uncomfortable and could do with pumping but haven't done this at work yet. I’m doing a full day in April so will be gone around 8 hours and will need to pump. I have no idea how to keep my pump sanitised at work. We don’t have space of me to take my cold water steriliser. I’m also won’t be ready to give up breastfeeding when I return in June.
Can anyone who pumps at work help me out?

Do you have access to a microwave? There's microwave steralising bags that work well.

I used a microwave sterilizer

Yes to microwave steriliser bags- we use these whenever we go away. They sell them in Asda and Boots. Good luck, my DS is 1 and still breastfed, I'm doing my first full day next week... have increased gradually from 4 - 6 hours and will be doing 9 away from him!

I have been sterilising at home (using the microwave bag sterilisers) then taking the sealed bag into work so it remains sterile until I’m ready to express, I pump once in work around lunch, which means it’s 4 hours between feeding and pumping and that seems to be ok for me. I found this less stressful than trying to sterilise everything in work

You'll likely only need one pump, two at a push.

You can micro sterilise if needed. However some pumps you only need a clean bottle and the rest is fine washed up.

Can I ask if any of you had issues getting child to take bottle? My DD is now 24 weeks and is outright refusing to take bottle. Has been EBF since birth. Have tried tommee tippee and mam bottles. No success.

How old is baby now?

I returned at 12 months and didn't need to pump - but woukd have got uncomfortable when baby was 8/9 months so you may adjust if baby is older when you return

Could you just get a second set of pump parts so you just wash them and put them away after use and then sterilize everything at home overnight?

I'd also advise pumping to take the edge off things and taioliring slowly off - what you don't want to do is return home from work with 2/3 bottles worth of milk - and the desire to breastfeed.

I'd advise taking non sterile small hand pull to work the first few weeks to relieve uncomfortable feeling - but let your body adjust. I fed until nearly 3 by doing mornings / 'snack' when reunited / bedtime and occasionally night time settles. I also fed freely at the weekends. My supply got to exactly where it needed to be to feed a 12-36 month old. I wouldn't have wanted to be pumping (or even feeding) every 3-4 hours from 12 months for 7 days per week

Both mine were bottle refusers. Never took them no matter what I did. Started them on Munchkin Miracle 360 cups from about 4 months old.They also refused any other cup, i spent a fortune. Got the Munchkin ones from Tesco, but that was years ago.

As people have already outlined, microwave sterilizer could be a solution but honestly a good wash with cold water, keep in a ziploc bag in the fridge and it should be fine. I transfer the milk to a thermos flask to take home, then scrub and sterilize the pump parts when I'm home.

My day away from 9 month old is like this:

7am feed DC
10/10:30 pump
1/1:30 pump
4:30 feed DC

DC is fed expressed milk around the same time as I pump. If I'm working from home I add in a third session of expressing, my supply is dwindling a bit and I want to keep ebf for a year so needs must :(. If you want to keep your supply you'd ideally need to be expressing every 3 hours at most but obviously it depends on the age of your baby as to how much you'll need.

I’d love to hear how it goes next week and any helpful tips once you’ve returned

@takeasadsongandmakeitbetter this was in response you your comment 😅new to mumsnet still getting use to it

I have sympathies as I am going through this currently, tried everything and nothing has worked at all. Baby has taken the sippy cup (a free flow one, not one they need to suck) and so am sticking with this. Maybe this might work for you? Good luck!

Yes my youngest absolutely refuses a bottle from me or his dad, childminder manages to get about 2oz in him some days... (we use the lansinoh bottles- only ones our eldest ever accepted) youngest DS is 1 now and id really like to wean him off breastfeeding but massively struggling with that so any tips would be gratefully received!!

@Lavenderdreaming I've been here years and can't work out replying to posts half the time! Will keep you posted!

My daughters just about to turn 6 months and will be around 8 months when I return
I think I have some microwave bags which I totally forgot about but the microwave at work isn’t the cleanest
would it stay sterile if I microwaved it at home and kept it in the bag till needed?

Do they actually need to be sterile for an 8month old or just very clean?

@nats2010 iv found my daughter is better taking a bottle from anyone but me if she is really refusing but she needs a feed she’s been spoon fed milk a few times and is quite content with that although not ideal

Just checked NHS site, seems they are recommending sterilizing all feeding equipment until 12months. Sorry, I thought it might be less onerous after 6 months. 4 years ago (in Europe, not France) I was told clean was important and sterilzed was unnecessary for breast milk.

This is what I am doing, I think as long as the bag is sealed after sterilising it should be fine and stay sterile? Double check in case I’m wrong, but I think the guidelines are 24 hours but I have been sterilising in the morning and then using a couple of hours later.

Hi can I take wellwoman multivitamin whilst breastfeeding? Has anyone actually done so?