moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

Please tell me what you did. I am so torn about whether or not i can continue breastfeeding. I didn't with my other kids.. i always stopped before going back. I work full time and i work 12 hour shifts.. I do have the capability of pumping at work since i work in the NICU and we have the hospital pumps right on my unit. But that would mean he's getting the bottle most of the time anyway..

also, if you started weaning.. when did you start and how did you do it? TIA

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

I went back to work after 8 weeks and was pumping before that. I built up enough of a freezer supply so he could have bottles of BM. He gave attitude about the bottles with me being gone, but he got over it. Pumping at work at first was weird, but I work with all guys, so it was hard for them to understand. I stopped pumping around 10 months and just used freezer stash. He was BF til a year.

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

I went back at 12 weeks. I did the same starting pumping before I went back to work and stashed it in the freezer. While at work I pumped once a day. I did it for about 8 months. She fussed about the bottle at first too but got over it. I still would nurse her at night and when I got home from work. She only got a bottle if I wasn't around basically. I tried all types of bottles until she took to the avent bottles. I tried the adiri bottle, which is suppose to be most similar to the breast but she hated it. Good Luck!

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

I went back at 12 weeks.

I knew I could only pump once at work. I also pumped after nursing in the AM and at night before bed. I never pumped much & knew I had to supplement.

So I weaned him down to BF morning & night and then 3 bottles a day of 1/2 BM & 1/2 formula.

If I had more regular breaks I certainly would have pumped more & used less formula.


ETA that I did the 3 pumping sessions a day for about 6 weeks. I then gave up the AM pumping because I just could not manage in the morning to not feel rushed.

I continued with the at work and evening pumping until he was 7 months old.

I gave up BF when I my supply tanked due to work issues of not pumping when I should have & getting home late enough to miss the night time BF. I could never bring it back up & we switched to formula.

Message edited 5/16/2009 9:33:12 PM.

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

DS was supplemented from day 1. He wanted way more than my body produced during his nutso growth spurt phase (between 1-4 months... where he went from size 3 mo to size 18 mo)

I went back at 11 weeks. I wanted to give him as much BM as possible, but didn't want to kill myself over it. I ended up pumping every 4 hours or so (which lessened my supply... but it was still about 18 oz a day)

That meant 2-3 pumping sessions a day at work... it was manageable... since he was supplemented, he was always used to the bottle, and traded off BFing and bottle BM quite easily

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

I went back to work at 13 weeks. I had a pretty decent supply in the freezer. I made sure before I returned to work that my employer would give me 2 separate times to pump. Luckily, they had no problem with it. Here I am, 7 months later, still nursing and pumping. DS had never had formula and is doing well with just my BM.

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

I started pumping at 5 wks PP to start a stach and freeze it.

Then I brought my pump at work everyday and pumped 3 times there (mid morning break, lunch, midafternoon break). I did it for about 2 months. Then I supplemented with formula and BFd in the morning and at night. It was too hard to keep up with DS need. I was pumping 32 oz per day on top of the BFing the morning and night.

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

i went back to work at 12 weeks. i pump twice at work. i started my dd on the bottle like 3 days before i returned to work and boy was i dumb!! i was really nervous that i would have to quit my job! lol
thankfully she got it within 2.5 days.
i would recmd. teaching her the bottle at 4wks..

as of now, she has n problem going from breast to bottle...

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

I went back at 12 weeks, and as of now at 17 months she still nurses 2x per day. I pumped like a fiend in the beginning and had a great freezer stash. I was also able to pump at work enough for her to have the next day.

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

I continued to pump until I weaned at 11 months (Joseph) and 8 months (Maddie). I had to supplement at 8 months and 5 months respectively.

I would pump during the day & then at home I would pump one side, nurse the other and reverse for the next feeding to boost my supply.

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

I go back next week and DD will be just about 12 weeks. I plan on feeding her in the am before work (around 6), pumping at 9:30, coming home and feeding her around 11:00 am, and then i will be home to feed her again by 3 pm. I will miss the 1:00 feeding, and I can't pump then, but hopefully it won't affect my supply too much, as it will only be this way for a few weeks. September is another story. I don't know if I will be able to keep it up then.

Re: moms who breastfed and had to return to work in 12 weeks.

i went back to work after 12 weeks, and pumped 3 x's a day at work. i started weening about two week before the 6 month mark.