Returning to work full time & pumping

[c2lane]

I will be returning to work at the end of April and plan on pumping while at work. For those of you who pump at work, how often do you pump? Also, I'm nervous about getting all of us of ready to leave the house in the morning. The daycare doesn't open until 7:30AM & is 10 mins from home with the daycare 10 mins from my office. What type of routine do some of you do to get yourself and baby ready in the mornings?

TIA
~Carrie
mommy to Dillan Rose 01/02/04

[hez]

I got "Nursing Mother, Working Mother..." and read through that a couple months before I went back to work. I also paid close attention here-- there's lots of pumping moms of which to ask questions.

I pump 3x's a day at work-- 8:30, 12 & 3 (give or take a 1/2 hour). The other women who use our pumping room vary from 1-3x's a day. Depends on the age of the baby, # of hours the moms are working, etc. Early on it would take me ~30 minutes with my routine, and I'm down to 15 per session (clean up included). Your routine gets better as you go.

My morning routine started like this:
5:15 up and in the shower
5:30 pump
5:45 get dressed & do my hair
6:00 wake DS, change & dress him
6:15 feed DS
6:30 get us prepared to walk out the door
6:45 drive to sitter's
7:30 arrive at work

It now looks like this:
6:00 up and in the shower
6:15 pump
6:30 get dressed & do my hair (while DH dresses/changes DS)
6:45 feed DS
7:00 help DH get out the door with DS
7:15 leave for work
7:30 arrive at work

I got much more efficient at everything when I realized I could sleep later. Also, I was doing drop off & pick up, and now DH does drop off and I do pick up. Much nicer compromise now-- he works a little later, and darn it, I just have to go home on time :)

HTH!

[farsk]

Carrie,

I have been back at work for five months now and pumping is still going well!yay! I pump twice in the morning, once before going to work, and the other time at work, spend lunch break with Ellen where I nurse her, and then pump one to two times more in the afternoon.

I am lucky that my work is very flexible, and usually get to work (when I go to my office....I spend most of my time traveling!) around 8:30. DH doesn't have to be at work until 10, so he plays with Ellen and gets her ready for the day, and I take her to school.

Completely OT....I love my Medela disinfectant wipes and microwave steam steralizer bags for my pump parts at work. I highly recommend investing in them!

Good Luck!

[c2lane]

Thanks Heather. I figure I'll need to get up at 5:30 to start off and hope to get more efficient as we get into a routine.

OT was it really difficult going back to work and leaving your baby? I'm dreading the day.

Thanks again!

~Carrie
mommy to Dillan Rose 01/02/04

[c2lane]

Thanks for the suggestion on the wipes and sterilizer bags. I'll have to look into them.

~Carrie
mommy to Dillan Rose 01/02/04

[hez]

It was and it wasn't hard... This is long but I wanted to be thoughtful in my answer.

At about three months I was ready for more adult interaction. I went back to work at just over 4 months and was immediately overloaded. I got three of my old projects back, plus a couple new ones, and am only working 4 days a week. It helps to be so overloaded-- except for my time in the 'Nursing Moms' room at work, I don't have time to think about DS a whole lot during the day. Too much work to do. The times I post here during the day are when I'm taking my short breaks while I eat lunch at my desk-- all in the name of shortening my work day :)

The other thing that helped is that I really like my sitter. I did some trial runs the week before I went back-- she watched DS while DH and I went to dinner so she could get to know DS a little by himself. Then, I took him for a morning and an afternoon. I also started back on a Tuesday, I don't work Fridays, and the second week had a Monday holiday. So, two 3-day weeks before I was up to 4 days. Helped break us in slowly.

I could write reams about how wonderful everyone at work has been. There was a cake, a framed collage of DS's pics, and a welcome back banner in my cube. Knowing how missed & appreciated I was at work really helped, too.

I cried the first day. And I get twinges of regret that I'm not home. I was almost glad DS and I were sick last week-- we got to cuddle together for 4 1/2 days in a row. It's some of the most complicated emotions I've ever felt, and the other new moms at work seem to have similar thoughts on the subject.

It sounds like you're a planner like I am-- if so, planning the details ahead might let you take the time to experience the emotions of missing your little one without feeling overwhelmed by all the 'stuff' that needs to be done. At least it did for me.

[barbarhow]

I went back to work when DS was 3 months. Initially I pumped 3 times a day-about 3 hours apart and would nurse DS when I got to daycare to pick him up. Jack is almost a year and I now pump just once a day. I cut back to 2 pumping sessions when he was about 9 or 10 months and then about a month ago I realized that I was only getting around to pumping once a day.
The first day at daycare was awful-not for him-for me. I cried all the way to work. Then my obnoxious boss (I am a psychiatric nurse practitioner) sent me to do an evaluation on a woman with depression. (she was depressed because she had just that day given her baby up for adoption) He wanted to get me "right back into the swing of things". So yeah the first day sucked. It has gotten so much easier. Now if we are away and he isn't at daycare-he gets very excited and squeals as we go in on the first day back. You and he will adjust.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03

[c2lane]

Thanks Heather for your reply.

My first day back to work will be a Thursday and that Friday would normally be my day off (I work an extra hour a day to have every other Friday off) but I plan on working and taking the following Friday off. This way I go back to work for 2 days, I'm off for the weekend. Return to work for 4 days, 3 days off and have another 4 day work week with 3 days off before I have to do a 5 day work week.

The earliest I can drop DD off at daycare is 7:30AM (my hours are 7:30-5PM) I plan on skipping lunch which will allows me time to get to work by 8AM and leave by 4:30 to pick her up. I'm hoping that DH will be able to drop her off at daycare once we get a system going and I can leave work at 4PM to pick her up.

I'm sure I'll be a wreck the first few weeks back to work but I'm really happy with the daycare and I've heard that's half the battle.

BTW I found the book you suggested on eBay and put a bid on it.

Thanks again, I really appreciate your reply.

~Carrie
mommy to Dillan Rose 01/02/04

[c2lane]

Thanks Barbara. I'm sure once we have a routine down it'll get easier. Everyone says it's harder on Mom than it is on the baby. I think that's wonderful your DS loves his daycare so much.

~Carrie
mommy to Dillan Rose 01/02/04

[HallsofVA]

I'm also getting ready to return to work in a couple of weeks, and have a silly question about your schedule. You say that you pump, and then feed your son. Are you nursing him, or feeding him what you just pumped? If you're nursing, but just 30 minutes after you pump, how does that work? Just curious...

[hez]

I pump, then I nurse him after. I started doing this fairly early on (somewhere around 2 months?) per a suggestion from Karen (stillplayswithbarbies). Basically, I trained my body to think DS is a voracious eater in the mornings :) so there's plenty for both the pumping session and for him. I'm not an expert, but I think Karen mentioned something about your body continuing to make milk as long as the baby is actively nursing, so you can't really run out.

The early morning pumping session is what built my freezer stash, and what gives me peace of mind if I have a bad pumping day at work. Between that session & the ones at work I've been able to outpace DS so far, which has been nice.

ETA: I went back to work at 4 months, to be clear, so I started those early morning sessions ~2 mos. before I headed back.

[hez]

Glad I could help. We're starting a 'new moms' support group here at work... Basically it'll be a lunch once a month or so to talk about the issues we uniquely face. Sometimes just knowing you're not alone can really make a difference!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

> Basically, I trained my body
>to think DS is a voracious eater in the mornings :)

LOL yep. I used to say that my breasts think a set of twins comes over for breakfast every morning. :)

I am so glad that I built up that freezer stash early on with those morning pumping sessions. Now, I will be able to stop pumping 2 months earlier than I had planned because I have that freezer stash.


...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[KGoes]

My schedule is a bit different. I feed DD in the morning first thing and then get her ready for daycare and jump in the shower. This way DH is up and can keep an eye on her if need be. When I first started back to work DD was 8 weeks. I pumped in the morning, went to daycare and fed her, and then pumped in the afternoon. If I couldn't get over to see her for lunch, I would pump instead. I kept this up until she was about six months old and then I had to drop the morning pumping session - I just didn't have time to do it. Interestingly, my daily pumping amount only went down a few ounces, which still covers her intake and just impacts the freezer supply, which at this point is not nearly as critical. My supply was very well established by the time I had to drop the pumping session, though. I also pump right before I got to bed. This is really rich hind milk and is ideal for filling her up if we're going to be out or before bed.
As for daycare, the first week was awful for me. I quit every morning on the way to work and was a wreck in general. What saved my sanity was getting away for lunch to feed her and spend time with her. The added bonus was spending time with her caregivers. The daily interaction gives me new respect for what they do; helps them feel a part of DD's life; and enables me to make requests without being lumped into the "demanding parent" subgroup - which means that they go out of their way to help. I cannot believe some of the things that the parents say to these hardworking people - all of whom work without benefits!
But I digress. . . .
You mentioned that the daycare was close to your office, so maybe you could spend some lunch times over there, at least in the beginning.
A small photo album that fit in my briefcase was a gift from another working mom and has been a lifesaver (also a good excuse to show everyone what DD looks like. . . .)

[AvasMama]

For those who use the Medela wipes/sterilizer bags, can you explain how you use them? Right now I only pump once or twice a day and I use the sterilizer bags after each session, but when I am at work and pumping 3-4 times a day, do I have to sterilize after each session or can I use the wipes and just sterilize once a day?

Thanks for all the info on schedules and such -- I am also going back to work in May and I am very anxious about how to make it all work without going crazy!

Robyn

Ava 1-15-04

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I could never figure out how to get the wipes into all the "nooks and crannies" of the parts. What I do is put all the parts in the refrigerator with the milk after the first pumping and then just take them out to use again, and wash just once at the end of the day. (they aren't cold by the time I get the pump set up they are back to room temp.)

I do use the sterilizer bags once a week or so, but I wash with soapy water first. Maybe I just have really "sticky" milk, but if I don't wash first I can still feel slippery milkfat on the plastic parts after using the sterilizer bag if I don't wash them with soap first.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[JLiebCamm]

I nursed DS right before we left in the morning (7:30ish), pumped around 9:30, went to the sitter's at lunch and nursed him, then pumped again at 2:30. My morning pumping session was always the better one for production. If I couldn't make it to the sitter's at lunch I had a small frozen supply.

It might seem overwhelmimg, but you'll come to love your pumping times. They allow you to breathe and think about your baby. Good luck!