[Leha]

Thank you for creeating this topic. I am returning to work in a few weeks and a little worried. DS is 6mths and fully bf but on 3 solid meals a day. He is not great with the bottle but I have been getting DP to give him a bottle every few days so he is getting better.

I really want to BF for another 6 mths so hoping I can make it work.

Anyway will be reading with interest.

Leah

[ShoshieRu]

I went back to work when DD was 2 months old; DH was at home.

Number of working days per week-

4-5 days, from about 9am to 4pm.

Age of baby on return to work-
2 months old.

Baby's diet- ie exclusively bf
For first four months after returning to work, still exclusively b/f. Started solids with gusto at 6 months.

Any preparation before starting work?

No. I did know that I had a good supply though.

How was baby fed in your absence?

I would feed her before leaving, and then DH who was SAHP would give her 2-3 bottles of EBM during the day. Would give her a feed as soon as I came home.

I expressed at night; I could get enough for two full feeds in one sitting using a Medela electric double pump.

How did you manage your breasts at work? ie expressing or not, what type of pump, once or more a day

I didn't bother trying to express at work. I worked at a university which loudly and proudly proclaimed that it was 'Employer of Choice for Women' but didn't offer anywhere in the way of facilities. The fridge at work was always in a shocking state and I just felt uncomfortable about leaving bottles of EBM in there - the so-called enlightened boys' club wouldn't have coped.

I do recall at least one lecture, thinking that all the students were being super attentive and then looking down and seeing that I was leaking! I wore breastpads after that! And on the bus home after work I would cop a few good looks from guys on the bus; my boobs would be huge!

Any impact on bfing, supply and managing bfing when not at work?

No impact at all. DD would happily feed with me when I returned home, and would feed exclusively from me on the weekends, and would then resume her routine of EBM in bottles on weekdays.

I did stop breastfeeding at 12 months though, and now that I am still happily feeding DS at 18 months I know that I stopped b/f DD so early because of work. But hey ... 12 months is still great!

I'm looking for part time work at the moment but already feeling a little nervous about how DS will go - he loves his mama and our breastfeeding times - we'll see!

[JupitersMoon]

Number of working days per week-5 days, gone 6 hours a day.

Age of baby on return to work-7 months. She stays home with DP.

Baby's diet- bf with 2 solid meals a day, increased to 3 meals (more like 2 meals and a snack really) when starting work

Any preparation before starting work? tried to build up a supply of EBM for about 2 months prior, but i could never get much so i ended up with only about a week's worth for 1 feed a day. Also had a couple of days of DP trying to give DD a bottle of EBM but she didnt drink much.

How was baby fed in your absence? mainly solids as she won't drink much from the bottle, after a few weeks she is drinking anywhere from 20-90ml of ebm in my absence, but doesn't seem as upset about it as i thought she would be. we are using pigeon bottle which is now the only one she will take.

How did you manage your breasts at work? express once a day in my break, using avent electric pump. i can still only get 60-90ml when pumping, but since she doesnt drink much it doesnt matter. I have a carspace at work so i pump sitting in my car!! its comfy and more private than anywhere else at my workplace.

Any impact on bfing, supply and managing bfing when not at work? so far (3 weeks in), no, none at all. I bf on demand when home, have not had a supply problems and she still loves her boobie

Also i keep milk in avent storage containers, in the fridge in one of those lunch box cooler bags with icepacks in it (i have a long drive home so i need the icepacks to keep it cool on the way home).

[squirt80]

More than happy to share
Number of working days per week-5

Age of baby on return to work-3 months

Baby's diet- When I first returned to work DS was on only breast milk and I was expressing 80ml per feed genrally in the period I was away he had two feeds and I feed him prior to leaving him and immediatly after picking him up, At six months we introduced soilds and DS had two feeds of 120ml a feed.
at 9 months he was having one bottle of 180 mls, at this point I decided to mix feed and he had one bottle of formula during the day when I was away and breast milk in morning and night and on weekends. I am still feeding DS is now 18 months and he has BF at night and in morning

Any preparation before starting work?
I did stock up on extra milk and kept it frozen and read the Australian Breastfeeding Associations guides on expressing and how much.

How was baby fed in your absence?
He was fed with a bottle

How did you manage your breasts at work?
I expressed at lunch in my supervisors office, my advice is to talk to your employer and ask then for a and comfortable place to breast feed. I took a little esky with me with an ice brick to keep my breast milk in for the day and refridgerator as soon as I arrived home.
I orginally used a manual pump which was fine for the first 3 months as I had ample milk, after three months of expressing I used a double eletric pump, in additon to pumping at work I also pumped at 9.30 at night to gain enough milk for feeds.

Any impact on bfing, supply and managing bfing when not at work?
Expressing did no effect my supply or cause me any problems with my breasts as a result of working and breast feeding in fact I have continued breast feeding longer than my friends who were stay at home mums.

It did get tiring and there was moments when I felt like I should just give him the bottle but I am so glad that I continued. He and I have a lovley bond and I felt like feeding him at the end of the day was such a nice way to reconnect.

This post has been edited by squirt80: 26/01/2011, 06:38 PM

[nen-c]

Number of working days per week-2 days, gone 8ish hours a day.

Age of baby on return to work-7 months. He is either at home with MIL or at my cousin's house.

Baby's diet- bf with 3 solid meals a day

Any preparation before starting work? I expressed and froze milk and tried to encourage more consistent bottle feeding from DS. Prior to starting work he was very hit and miss, would refuse or drink up to 50ml in one sitting.

How was baby fed in your absence? I would give him a bf and solid brekky before I left for work and then leave 2 bottles of 100ml EBM each. In the first week or 2 he only took about 1/4th of the milk I left, (and was starving when I returned) but he then gradually started taking more until he was drinking about 80ml of each botttle. He was also having a solid meal at lunchtime.

How did you manage your breasts at work? express once a day, using avent manual pump. I was offered the use of a sick bay (when vacant) or a shower cubicle, I took the latter as it is closer to my office and is a relatively large and private room. I generally express about 200-250 ml in 10-15 mins. My DS always has a big BF when I get home, otherwise I would need to express a 2nd time as well (and I think if I was working a more than 2 days I would probably get an electric pump and express 2x per day). The milk goes in a freezer at work and I take it home in an esky with freezer blocks.

Any impact on bfing, supply and managing bfing when not at work? No, so far so good.

[tntisme]

6 days a week... own business when bub 8 weeks old...

i expressed... handed him to clients... they fed him

was fed until 12 mths old.

hand expressed with avent breast pump.

all went well.

now have a very confident outspoken 5 yr old,

[madles]

Number of working days per week-5 per f/n for the first 3 months, then 3 days per week after that

Age of baby on return to work- 6 months

[b]Baby's diet- ie exclusively bf- bf with introduction of solids- no of meals and size of meals[/b]
We introduced solids 2 weeks before I started back at work (starting with breakfast, then lunch and every two weeks increasing the size in meals) as he was a 2 hourly feeder right up until this point and I was worried that DS3 would be hungry all day. He started off with just one solid whilst at day-care and increased from there.
After a couple of months DS3 was having 3 solid meals at day-care + snacks.

Any preparation before starting work?
I started expressing milk 2 months before I returned to work to get used to expressing as I never really had much luck with it by pump and I wanted to make sure that even if I couldn't make BFing and working work that I would have enough supply to last DS3 a few weeks of BM once I had started back. My plan had also been that if I was able to BF and work that he would have a bottle of expressed milk for one feed at day-care and I would come to him for the other (however DS3 refused the bottle). It wasn't until I started hand expressing a few months after I started that I found this to be much more efficient.

How was baby fed in your absence?
DS3 refused the bottle until he was around 10 or so months so I would leave my place of work at 12.50 everyday and go and BF him, I was lucky enough that his day-care was only a 7 min drive away from my work. Day care would still offer him a bottle of expressed milk but he would hardly drink it (20-30 ml a feed) so he would have solids with expressed milk and lots of water (which I found an odd thisng as DS3 would have water fine from a sippy cup but not milk) I would feed him at drop off, than at lunch and after pick up. I found that he would have a really long (over an hour, I think it was a comfort thing as well) night feed on my working days.

How did you manage your breasts at work? ie expressing or not, what type of pump, once or more a day

Any impact on bfing, supply and managing bfing when not at work?
For the first few months I had to express twice a day + leaving to BF DS3, as we got into the routine of things this settled and I was able to reduce to just expressing once and then not at all as the more he increased his solid feeds. I was using an AVEN hand pump but found hand expressing much more efficient and time saving.

Returning to work had no effect on my supply at all we are still BFing at 15 months (nights only now). I found DS3 would feed more on my days up as if to make up for fewer feeds on the days that I did work. For the first few months DS3 started to work up a lot at night waking for feeds which was really hard as he had always slept right through and I found this really hard at first, sadly this didn't cease until just recently (about a 1 month ago).


My biggest piece of advise I can give is don't stress as you get yourself and bub into a routine your body just naturally seems to figure out what it needs to do to adjust also, I was worried about my supply dropping but it was not an issue at all, my body just new exactly what it had to do and adjusted accordingly.

This post has been edited by madles: 26/01/2011, 07:08 AM

[lucky 2]

I'm bumping this thread to give members a chance to respond, with the intention on making this a pinned thread.
Thanks for the responses so far .

[meljb]

im heading back to work on Monday so it's interesting to read other's experiences. DD started child care 2 weeks ago. So far for us:

Number of working days per week-2

Age of baby on return to work- 9mths

Baby's diet- BLW 3 meals a day plus snacks when needed. bf on demand, usually 5 times a day, sometimes 6 (incl o'night)

Any preparation before starting work? As I know expressing is not practical at work I have spent the last 6 weeks trying to find a formula that DD will drink and slowly re-introducing her to the bottle (she went off it for several months after initally being happy to drink from it) during the day.

How was baby fed in your absence? She eats solids at morning and afternoon tea and lunch time and is offered 2 bottles of formula. To date at day care the most she has drunk from a bottle was 100mls over the course of a day.

How did you manage your breasts at work?
Im hoping my breasts have adjusted suffcicently now so that i'll be able to manage the separation from 7:45am until 5pmish without an issue. Should create some interesting moments in my last period yr 9 classes if they haven't adjusted

Any impact on bfing, supply and managing bfing when not at work?
So far no impact on supply. DD feeds at about 5am and then I bf her anytime from 4pm onwards. She feeds again before bed and then at least once overnight (the last couple of nights it's been 2 or 3 times). Im hoping to keep feeding her morning and night (without the overnight feeds soon please ) until at least 14mths

[liveworkplay]

Ive done this 3 times so here goes:

Number of working days per week- 3, 2 and 2 respectively. I however, work shift work and aon call so I ddi have occasions when I had the potential to be away from my baby from Friday morning until monday evening.

Age of baby on return to work- 12 mths, 10.5 mths 8 mths.

Baby's diet-
- bf with introduction of solids-

Any preparation before starting work? no

How was baby fed in your absence?
expressed milk from sippy cups for DD1 and DD2 and bottle for DD3.
How did you manage your breasts at work? I expressed before work and at lunch times. With DD3 I also expressed in the begining in the mornings as well. DD1 I used an Advent hand pump, DD2 a pigeon elctric pump that I got second hand and DD3 a Medulla swing which was fabulous for frequent expressing and the most successful of the three.

Any impact on bfing, supply and managing bfing when not at work? None. DD2 dropped to 2 feeds quite quickly (she was on 3 when she started) DD3 is still bf at 20 mths and when not working she can have up to a dozen bf in a 24hr peroiod, when working she now is on cows milk from a cup.