Nursing and work?

Lisa wrote: Hi i'm new. Does anyone else bf and work full time??

I do and its hard to get to pump all the times i should. My supply is down because of that. I'm trying the mothers milk tea and oatmeal. i saw someone say beer too. Maybe i can stomach a little of that LOL.

How does your work treat your "breaks" when you pump. I have to take my time off of my lunch hour.

kit_kats_mom replied: just wanted to say that there are quite a few ladies, one especially, who pumped for almost two years! I work from home so I never had to worry about it & I've been nursing for almost two years now! I know that kellymom.com is a wealth of info for the bfding moms!

amynicole21 replied: I pumped until Sophia was 12months, then I gleefully threw the pump into the closet I was really lucky to be able to take 2 breaks a day to pump. I think that most places are supposed to allow you a 15 minute break for every 4 hours you work. What do your co-workers who smoke do? Do they have to take time out of their lunch for that? I'd talk to your HR department and explain that this is something you are doing for the health of your child, and it absolutely requires you to take some time out of your day. It is better for you to nurse and have a healthy child than to be taking tons of sick time off for a sickly kid, right? I take it your boss doesn't have kids... or if s/he does, I'm sure they didn't bfeed

I found that taking fenugreek was more helpful than the Mother's Milk tea. You have to drink A LOT of the tea to get much of an effect, and it was just easier for me to pop some fenugreek pills a few times a day

Glad you are pumping for your little moo! Keep up the good work

coasterqueen replied: Hi there! Welcome! I quit pumping at work just about a month ago or so. I worked and pumped for 19 months and my DD was 21 months when I quit. I pumped 3x a day, once in morning, once at lunch, and once in afternoon. I just took a smaller lunch hour to make up for the 2 other times I pumped. I usually get an hour lunch. Although if I needed that hour, I took it, but I don't always need the hour so it really wasn't a big deal to me. I was greatful that I *could* pump at work.

I didn't even discuss with my boss about pumping. I just did it. He gets a bit *embarrassed* you'd say about issues like that so he didn't dare ask and he always knew when I was away pumping, lol. I was more worried about him making comments about how long I pumped in the end but he didn't. I'm not sure if he even noticed I quit, lol.

I didn't really have supply issues til I got AF back which was a bit after 6 months. I had to add in extra pumping sessions at home, middle of night, etc to get enough milk to send to daycare for Kylie. I even would pump driving on the way to and from work, lol. I just pumped whenever I could. And the 3 sessions at work I had to increase my pumping time from 15 minutes to 20 minutes to get that extra letdown.

How long are you pumping? And are you pumping 3x a day? If you can elaborate more maybe I can give you some more pointers. You DEFINITELY need to pump at every session. I know it's hard, but you need to fit them in if you plan to pump for very long. This is a common mistake many women make and they end up having to quit.

I never tried mother's milk tea, fenugreek or the others, I just pumped, pumped, pumped, lol. Good luck!

maestra replied:
I found that too. Makes you smell like maple syrup when you take the right amount, at least according to my lactation consultant. It really did help increase my supply when I had been lazy about pumping at work for a few days.

I pumped at work until Jaci was about 9 months, then I went on Summer vacation, so when I returned she was 11 months and my one pump before I left for work was enough since she was eating a lot of solids by then.

aspenblue1 replied: When I was pumping my worked made me take it as FMLA time. but of course they also make you take FMLA time to go to the bathroom while pregnant.

amynicole21 replied:
Huh? What kind or cr@p is that? So did you have to fill out time cards for potty breaks???

Lisa replied: thansk everyone.

Well my boss doesn't have a problem. I have 2 bosses actually. I work at a college with 2 campuses. I work at the smaller campus. Soooo I have a sirect supervisor here and another person i report to at our other campus. Kind of confusing. They both support it its just they have to go by what my HR says. As staff employees we dont' get 2 15 minute breaks and instead get an hour lunch break with 30 minutes paid. Soooo My super asked them what i had to do cause he didn't want others complaining that i was getting "special treatment". I don't blame him. I don't even mind taking it out of my lunch hour. My biggest problem is that esp right now i don't have the opportunity to get to pump more than 2 times a day. THere is only me and my coworker in this office then 2 student workers. My coworker is out for another week and a half and one of my student workers is out for a bit too. Soooooo its really just me with one other person and she's not here all that much.

I will be trying my dangdest to pump every 2 hrs today. I also need to set my alarm and pump at night too. Rhayan sleeps all night so i can do that.

I'll try and get some fenugreek soon. I plan on calling my doc though. Maybe she can help. She's very pro breastfeeding.

Thanks again. I'll use your suggestions and pump pump pump LOL.

coasterqueen replied: Lisa,

I know how you feel. I work in an office of me, a coworker and the boss. That's it. So when she would be gone it was soooo difficult for me to go pump because we both answer the phones. It was so stressful. Do you work in an area of the campus where you can put a sign on the door "Be back in 15" and go pump?

Also, you don't have to pump every 2 hours. I'd suggest pumping every 3 if you work an 8 or 9 hour day. Good luck and let us know how it goes .

amynicole21 replied: Is there a semi-private place that you could go to pump and still work? I used to answer emails sometimes when I pumped - but only when the boss was out and I could close the door to our office.

Lisa replied: thanks. unfortunetely i work in the records office which needs to be open at all times. sometimes i do have others who can come over and cover for me but thats not often.

I really appreciate the responses. I really want to keep doing this. I ddin't stick it out for my son and really want to this time.

DansMom replied: Hi, I know you've already got lots of answers---I'll just add mine quickly. I stopped pumping at work about 2 weeks ago. My son is about 20 months old. I found I could make do with two pumping sessions a day, but my supply did have a lot of ups and downs. During the second year, two pumping sessions would get me about 4 ounces total, and at some point this went down to about three ounces total. I think three times a day would have been better for my supply, but I just couldn't manage it with my job. Instead, I nursed like crazy in the evening, overnight and weekends---on demand, to keep my supply up generally. Daniel was always modest in the quantity he drank for the naptime bottle, so I was lucky that 4 ounces was usually enough. Daniel now has soymilk for his nap, but I still BF on demand when I'm with him.

Boogarbearsmom's commitment is phenomenal---she deserves a major supermom award!!! I couldn't do all the pumping she did without collapsing or going insane. But that is the best way to get your supply up---imitating a great demand. Stress about your supply can make things worse though---I know that I lost sleep over my supply issues and then being exhausted made them worse. Give yourself permission to do your best without stressing too much about it.

Lisa replied: Amy, there used to be a place where i could have gone to pump and work at the same time. But our campus has space issues bad. we used to have a closed office in our office area but that now gets used my counceling and veterens affairs when they come to our campus. Probably the only day it isn't used is on fridays. Thats what i had planned on doing when i got pg.

Tracy, thanks. I'm going to pump as much as i can and nurse her as often as i can. I'lll give it at least a week and if it hasn't improved then i'll call the dr.

You gals are great. Thanks soo much for the advice.

aspenblue1 replied:
oh yes we have to account for every second of our time.

Lisa replied:
Holy crap! thats crazy.

Heather replied: I go back to work September 3rd. I am not looking forward to having to pump at all. I hope it all works out. I work in a hospital, and carry a beeper so I can imagine how hard it is going to be for me to pump. The good thing is that I work nights so I might not have to pump as much.

I hope you can get it all straightened out and it works out for you in the end!! Wishing you the best. I know I am going to need it!! HUGS>

Lisa replied: thanks Heather. I hope it works out well for you too.

jem0622 replied: If you have trouble finding a place to pump then do consider an Avent Isis. I have a Medela PIS (the original, not the advance one) and an Isis. I couldn't use the petal insert but let me tell you it was just as efficient as my PIS. I love them both!

ITA with pumping every 3-4 hrs. Not every 2. You could do every 2 for a week to help get your supply back up. If you take fenugreek then try 4 tabs/4x per day. Your armpits should smell like maple syrup.

BUT...be warned that if you are allergic to peanuts then you shouldn't use fenugreek. I found out a week or so ago that fenugreek is in the peanut family.

Lisa replied: thanks. I do have a place to go pump just not necessarily the opportunity.

I think i'm gonna go get some fenugreek here in a few days when i have some money