BF and working

I am trying to work out how I can bf for as long as possible, ideally I will
return to work after maternity leave. DH can do his work from home so we
feel it would be best if I return to work and he remains at home with the
Baby. Is it possible for me to continue to bf once I am at work. Obviously I
can give morning and evening feeds, but I will need to sleep at night, in
your experience is there enough time between getting home and going to bed
to give the baby all the feeds it needs and express enough milk for the
night feeds? Can I then express enough milk in the morning to get through
the day?

I will also need to express milk while at work, is there anyway I can save
this milk for the baby for when I get home? Can it be refrigerated, which
would be a bit of a problem, I don;t think people would appreciate me
putting bottles of milk in the fridge with their sandwiches etc. Would a
cool box be enough?

I am all very confused about the whole thing, I really don't want to have to
put my baby on formula unless I really have to, it seems living in the UK is
one of the worst places in Europe to be a working nursing mum!

Hi -

It *is* a bit harder to nurse when you go back to work, but yes, you can
do it. You'll need to take 1-3 breaks during the working day to express
milk (get yourself the best pump you can, for both speed and efficiency)
and you'll need to nurse several times during the evening, possibly once
or more during the night, and definitely in the morning. You'll also
need to nurse as much as possible on weekends and holidays.

But remember, your baby won't be living exclusively on breastmilk
beyond, about, the 6-month mark. (How old will your baby be when you
return to work?) So the difficult part won't last that long. After
that, your baby will be starting solids and will gradually decrease the
percentage of his diet that comes from breastmilk.

Yes, you can refridgerate your milk during the day. I kept mine in an
insulated lunchbox in the fridge at work. No one needed to know what
was inside. I also put an ice-pack in for travelling home.

There's a very helpful book called "Nursing Mother, Working Mother"
(... or is it Working Mother, Nursing Mother ...) If it's not available
in the UK, you can order it from amazon.com in the US.

I went back to work when my kids were 12 weeks old. My first nursed to
about 10 months, with increasing supplementation with formula over time
as well as the transtition to solids. My second nursed to 13 months and
would have gone longer (almost no formula) but he started to simply
refuse. He was too busy running around to hold still for nursing when
he could just drink out of a sippy cup and keep exploring the world!

I hope this helps,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

"Thee_Psycho" wrote in message
...
Baby. Is it possible for me to continue to bf once I am at work. Obviously
I
can give morning and evening feeds, but I will need to sleep at night, in
your experience is there enough time between getting home and going to bed
to give the baby all the feeds it needs and express enough milk for the
night feeds? Can I then express enough milk in the morning to get through
the day?

I will also need to express milk while at work, is there anyway I can save
this milk for the baby for when I get home?

Why are you planning to express for when you get home and night feeds? Are
you going to exclusively bottlefeed EBM? You can give EBM for daycare and
BF while home. I did it with DS. Sure, you may not get as much sleep, but
I found I did okay with less sleep anyway, just a mom thing, I think. Now
that DS is older, I can't imagine doing it again, but it was doable when it
was necessary. In fact, I always find BF'ing to be so much easier than
giving EBM. I expect to be suffering from lack of sleep again when DD
arrives. Try it a bit before giving up on the idea. If it's not doable,
then we'd all understand.

Hi,
Just to start:
There are a number of websites devoted to the working mom who pumps for
her baby when at work. Will sumeone please URL, I don't have them handy
right now.

See additional comments imbedded in your post.

Thee_Psycho writes:
: I am trying to work out how I can bf for as long as possible, ideally I will
: return to work after maternity leave. DH can do his work from home so we
: feel it would be best if I return to work and he remains at home with the
: Baby. Is it possible for me to continue to bf once I am at work.

Yes, working moms who continue to breastfeed exclusively, and continue to
breastfeed until well after the baby has started solids is quite common.
There is no reason why you cannot continue to breastfeed for a year or more.

: Baby. Is it possible for me to continue to bf once I am at work. Obviously I
: can give morning and evening feeds, but I will need to sleep at night, in
: your experience is there enough time between getting home and going to bed
: to give the baby all the feeds it needs and express enough milk for the
: night feeds? Can I then express enough milk in the morning to get through
: the day?

First, you will have to pump during the day at work. If you are working a
normal 8 hour job, and your are able to nurse on your lunch break you will
need at least one other pumping break, perhaps two. In order to make it as
short and efficient as possible you will need either the Pump-In-Style or
the Purely Yours double pumps. Your employer should provide you a place
to pump.

Second, your should plan on feeding just before your leave home for work
as soon as your return home, during the evening, at bedtime, and at least
once or twice durign the night. In order to make the night feedings as
unobtrusive as possible, it is best if you co-sleep so that you can latch
the baby on and doze while the baby nurses.

: I will also need to express milk while at work, is there anyway I can save
: this milk for the baby for when I get home? Can it be refrigerated, which
: would be a bit of a problem, I don;t think people would appreciate me
: putting bottles of milk in the fridge with their sandwiches etc. Would a
: cool box be enough?

I would suggest refrigerating the milk as soon as it is pumped. You can
get one of those cool packs to put the bottles in so you can put it in the
fridge and no one can tell what it is without looking inside the pack.

: I am all very confused about the whole thing, I really don't want to have to
: put my baby on formula unless I really have to, it seems living in the UK is
: one of the worst places in Europe to be a working nursing mum!

This is not rocket science, and a lot of mothers have done this before,
include a large number on this group. Just ask all your questions, and I'm
sure everyone will be glad to give your helpful advice.

Larry

Thee_Psycho wrote:

is there enough time between getting home and going to bed
to give the baby all the feeds it needs and express enough milk for the
night feeds?

I couldn't. But I can nurse essentially in my sleep. Baby
twitches, I lift shirt and poke nipple towards her, she
latches on, I go back to sleep. It took us about 3 months
to get good at it, but I was slower than most people and had
some initial nipple damage from sleeping through a nursing
with a bad latch, so was hesitant to risk more.

I suspect that trying to develop a good nursing relationship
with 2/3 of the feeds by bottle is likely to end in 100%
bottlefeeding.

Can I then express enough milk in the morning to get through
the day?

You'll need to pump at work, but you've already figured that
out.


I don;t think people would appreciate me
putting bottles of milk in the fridge with their sandwiches etc.

They wouldn't even know it. Put the bottles in a paper sack
with your name on it.

Phoebe
--
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"Thee_Psycho" wrote in message
...
Obviously I
can give morning and evening feeds, but I will need to sleep at night, in
your experience is there enough time between getting home and going to bed
to give the baby all the feeds it needs and express enough milk for the
night feeds?

If you want to keep your supply up, it would be in your best interest to not
give bottles while you are at home. I wouldn't worry too much about the
night feedings...After the first 2/3 months most babies know its nighttime
and will wake up, feed, and go back to sleep. In my case, that was 15
minutes maximum. Or, if you cosleep, you may not even need to fully wake
up. Just my 2 cents.


I will also need to express milk while at work, is there anyway I can save
this milk for the baby for when I get home? Can it be refrigerated, which
would be a bit of a problem, I don;t think people would appreciate me
putting bottles of milk in the fridge with their sandwiches etc. Would a
cool box be enough?

My pump (a Purely Yours) had a cooler hatch and came with ice packs. Its
supposed to keep the milk refrigerated for up to 8 hours. I never used it
that way, though. I would recommend just putting hte milk inside a lunchbag
in the fridge. No one needs to know what's in it.

Good luck,
Nancy

"Thee_Psycho" wrote in message
...
I am trying to work out how I can bf for as long as possible, ideally I
will
return to work after maternity leave.

How old is your baby now and how old will he/she be when you return to work?
For how many days and hours will you be working? Is it in an office?

DH can do his work from home so we
feel it would be best if I return to work and he remains at home with the
Baby.

OK but you need to consider that he'll have very, very minimal time to work
and much time spent with the baby. This option is only viable if he either
has help with the baby or can get away with doing only 1 or 2 hours work a
day.

How do you feel about him being the one to stay with the baby? Are you happy
about this? Do you want to return to work? Have you costed out childcare in
case it doesn't work out with DH staying home? Would it be worth you
continuing to work if you had to pay for childcare? These are all things
worth considering.

Is it possible for me to continue to bf once I am at work.

Yes.

Obviously I
can give morning and evening feeds, but I will need to sleep at night, in
your experience is there enough time between getting home and going to bed
to give the baby all the feeds it needs and express enough milk for the
night feeds?

This wouldn't be a typical setup. What would naturally happen is that you
would breastfeed morning and night, with little to no time for expressing, I
would imagine. Often babies whose Mom has returned to work, even those that
were sleeping through the night, will begin night waking again, partly to
fit in extra time with Mom and partly to fill up on milk during the night
hours. What are your sleeping arrangements? How often does baby wake up
right now?

Can I then express enough milk in the morning to get through
the day?

Again, not really. If you want to keep your supply high enough to be the
sole source of nourishment for your baby you will need to express as often
as you would have fed the baby at home. So say right now you do 8am, 11am,
2pm, 5pm and 8pm (ignoring night feed for now), you could do the morning
feed before going to work, pump at 11 then 2, then rush home exploding to
feed baby! Have you start expressing at all? Have you used a particular
pump? What sort of results can you get?


I will also need to express milk while at work, is there anyway I can save
this milk for the baby for when I get home? Can it be refrigerated, which
would be a bit of a problem, I don;t think people would appreciate me
putting bottles of milk in the fridge with their sandwiches etc. Would a
cool box be enough?

You can refridgerate the milk yes. There's always changing guidelines on how
long you can store expressed milk, but the general way that it works is that
you save each set of expressed milk individually to cool alone. Don't add
recently expressed warm milk to cold milk that you have already stored as
this is a breeding ground for bacteria. But once they are all cold they can
be combined to be reheated for baby. Use the fridge at work if possible, I'd
suggest people that don't like it find somewhere else for their sandwiches.
A cool box would be ok I guess, but even more work for you to manage.

You can start expressing before you go back to work and freeze it. Building
up a freezer 'stash' is a good idea before returning to work, for the times
when baby wants more or you've had trouble expressing, etc.


I am all very confused about the whole thing, I really don't want to have
to
put my baby on formula unless I really have to, it seems living in the UK
is
one of the worst places in Europe to be a working nursing mum!

You got that right. Have you talked to your employer at all? They are
legally obligated (I believe) to allow you to express at work - problem is
most firms suggest you do this in the toilets - you must insist on them
providing you with a private and personal and sanitary space and the
appropriate breaks for breastfeeding.

Here's a story from the support organisation with whom I did my
breastfeeding training:

http://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org....d_barbara.html

There's some discussion of expressing he

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/refcap/6420.html

and the maternity alliance should be able to help you with the legalities
and your rights:

http://www.maternityalliance.org.uk/

I would also recommend that you call the BfN on the Breastfeeding Network
Supporterline - 0870 900 8787, it's open 7 days from 9 till 9. It would be
good to establish a relationship with a Supporter who can help you on an
ongoing basis figuring out what to do, and supporting you through the
process.

Good luck, we can talk more if you can answer some of my questions.
Nikki

"Thee_Psycho" wrote in message
...
Is it possible for me to continue to bf once I am at work.

Almost certainly yes. I have three kids. I was lucky enough to be mainly a
work-at-home mom after my third was born, but I worked outside the home
full-time when my other two were infants/toddlers. My son breastfed until he
was 3y2m and my daughter until she was 2y3m. Neither of them ever had any
supplemental formula.

Obviously I
can give morning and evening feeds, but I will need to sleep at night, in
your experience is there enough time between getting home and going to bed
to give the baby all the feeds it needs and express enough milk for the
night feeds? Can I then express enough milk in the morning to get through
the day?

I see what you're trying to do here (maximize your sleep, basically), but I
think it's unlikely that you'll be able to express enough milk to make this
work. Your best bet is really to use expressed milk for feed while you're
gone and just breastfeed directly in the night. I know that probably means
waking up to feed her, but honestly, if you give her *that* many bottles on
a daily basis, I think she's highly likely to start rejecting the breast as
an unfamiliar and more difficult feeding method. It probably wouldn't be
long before you wound up with exclusive bottle-feeding.

FWIW, although night-feedings were somewhat tiring, I found I really enjoyed
them when I was working outside the home. Why? Because I didn't get that
much cuddle time with my babies during the day, the night-feeds were the one
time it was just me and the baby, cuddling together in the dark. I liked
that and was actually sorry in some ways when we finally got them
night-weaned.

I will also need to express milk while at work, is there anyway I can save
this milk for the baby for when I get home? Can it be refrigerated, which
would be a bit of a problem, I don;t think people would appreciate me
putting bottles of milk in the fridge with their sandwiches etc. Would a
cool box be enough?

Actually, freshly pumped breast milk is "good" at room temperature for up to
10 hours, IIRC. Of course, if you actually kept it at room temperature for
that long, it might not last *as* long after that as milk you refrigerated
straightaway, but having it chilled immediately isn't really essential.

The Pump-In-Style has a cooler pouch inside it for milk storage. I always
just used that, although I'd occasionally forget to freeze the freezer
packs, so it would be really cold, just cool, and I never had a problem with
milk spoilage.

Good luck and HTH!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [19mo] mom)

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Rejuvinate your skin." -- Hydroderm ad

Daddy: You're up with the chickens this morning.
Aurora: No, I'm up with my dolls!

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

"Circe" wrote in message
news:%sapb.52207$hp5.42275@fed1read04...
"Thee_Psycho" wrote in message
...
Is it possible for me to continue to bf once I am at work.

Almost certainly yes. I have three kids. I was lucky enough to be mainly a
work-at-home mom after my third was born, but I worked outside the home
full-time when my other two were infants/toddlers. My son breastfed until
he
was 3y2m and my daughter until she was 2y3m. Neither of them ever had any
supplemental formula.

Obviously I
can give morning and evening feeds, but I will need to sleep at night,
in
your experience is there enough time between getting home and going to
bed
to give the baby all the feeds it needs and express enough milk for the
night feeds? Can I then express enough milk in the morning to get
through
the day?

I see what you're trying to do here (maximize your sleep, basically), but
I
think it's unlikely that you'll be able to express enough milk to make
this
work. Your best bet is really to use expressed milk for feed while you're
gone and just breastfeed directly in the night. I know that probably means
waking up to feed her, but honestly, if you give her *that* many bottles
on
a daily basis, I think she's highly likely to start rejecting the breast
as
an unfamiliar and more difficult feeding method. It probably wouldn't be
long before you wound up with exclusive bottle-feeding.

FWIW, although night-feedings were somewhat tiring, I found I really
enjoyed
them when I was working outside the home. Why? Because I didn't get that
much cuddle time with my babies during the day, the night-feeds were the
one
time it was just me and the baby, cuddling together in the dark. I liked
that and was actually sorry in some ways when we finally got them
night-weaned.

I will also need to express milk while at work, is there anyway I can
save
this milk for the baby for when I get home? Can it be refrigerated,
which
would be a bit of a problem, I don;t think people would appreciate me
putting bottles of milk in the fridge with their sandwiches etc. Would a
cool box be enough?

Actually, freshly pumped breast milk is "good" at room temperature for up
to
10 hours, IIRC. Of course, if you actually kept it at room temperature for
that long, it might not last *as* long after that as milk you refrigerated
straightaway, but having it chilled immediately isn't really essential.

The Pump-In-Style has a cooler pouch inside it for milk storage. I always
just used that, although I'd occasionally forget to freeze the freezer
packs, so it would be really cold, just cool, and I never had a problem
with
milk spoilage.

Good luck and HTH!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [19mo] mom)

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Rejuvinate your skin." -- Hydroderm ad






Thanks all for your advice, just to explain a bit more we are trying to get
our lived in order for having a baby. I am not too sure howflexable my
employer would be on me working part time, so we wondered about dh working
from home and me returning to work. We realise he will not get much work
done, but its nice to know we have some back up income if we need extra
money for soemthing that he can do soem freelance work.

One other option was for us to both work part time, has anyone tried this? I
assume a baby vcan understand more easily that during the day mum isn't
around so its dad with a bottle, but what happens if I were to work say 3
days a week, can baby cope with such a broken up routine. From what i have
been reading routine seems crucial to having a happy baby.

So many questions and I am not even pregnant yet!

Thee_Psycho wrote:

One other option was for us to both work part time, has anyone tried this?

I work mornings and Allyson works afternoons. Sometimes
Caterpillar takes a bottle while I'm gone, and sometimes she
waits. We both get lots of baby time and some work time, so
it's good for us.


So many questions and I am not even pregnant yet!

Don't borrow too much trouble now, then.

Phoebe
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