Are you heading back to work a few short weeks after you have your baby?
Are you sweating out the idea of pumping milk at work?
If so, you aren’t alone. So many women have walked in your shoes when it comes to this issue. I know because I was one.
When I was pregnant with my first baby, the thought of taking my breast pump to work and finding a place where I could use it had me so nervous. The office I worked at wasn’t kid friendly and that wasn’t going to change just because I had decided to have one.
But, as nervous as I was, I knew I wasn’t going to stop breastfeeding my baby just because I was worried. I had to power through my discomfort and be the best mom I could.
So I talked to other moms and did some cyber searches until I had a plan in place that made me feel slightly better about my situation. I’m happy to share what I’ve learned to spare any other moms from the dread I felt.
With the exception of my one trailblazing coworker, my workplace wasn’t a kid-friendly one. It was filled with men who didn’t have kids and many of the women there didn’t either. So perhaps they didn’t understand why breastfeeding is so important or that they shouldn’t mess with a stressed-out mom.
Here are some of the uncomfortable situations you might encounter at work.
Your breasts can have a mind of their own when you start to push back your pumping session. You can become engorged and before you know it, milk will leak out, making your shirt wet.
This is one of the most embarrassing parts of being a mom. Your best bet is to stay on time with your pumping sessions and hope this doesn’t happen.
But you should be prepared just in case. You can wear breast pads in your bra to absorb any leaks. You may also want to toss an extra work shirt into your breastfeeding bag for any emergencies you’ll have.
Some people just don’t get it. Whether they’re socially awkward or just have no sense of proper boundaries, you might have a coworker or two who makes you uncomfortable with their comments.
Some things they say may just be a lame attempt at a joke, but other times they make inappropriate, creepy comments.
If it becomes a problem for you, talk to your human resources department or your boss. You shouldn’t have to put up with that kind of harassment in the workplace.
Breast pumps don’t fade into the background -- they let people know they’re there. Whenever I would pump at work, I would do everything I could to muffle the sound, but I still felt like it was so loud that everyone was annoyed with me.
To avoid so much noise, search for a quieter breast pump and keep the door closed in your private pumping room. If your pump is still too loud, try lightly draping a baby blanket around the pump to somewhat muffle the sound.
If you want your pumping session to be successful, you need to relax as much as you can. Oftentimes, that means being the only one in the room.
So if there are any other breastfeeding moms in your workplace, you may want to consider a sign-up sheet for the private room so it won’t be double booked. That would defeat the purpose of a private room.
You might also want to consider letting people know ahead of time what you’re going to be doing in that room, or putting a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door so that you don't end up with the awkward situation of one of your coworkers seeing your boobs.
Pinterest has a great selection of free printables.
Before I went back to work, I spent a lot of time and energy trying to figure out the answers to the big questions I had. Here are the ones I was most concerned with.
How Frequently Should I Pump When I Go Back to Work?
In order to keep your milk supply up and express enough milk to feed your baby, you should pump every three hours while you’re at work (source). That can work out to be twice per work shift or three times per work shift, depending upon how long your work day is and how long your commute is.
You’ll need to work out an exact schedule with your boss, but it helps to use your lunch break for one of the pumping sessions. The other pumping times will depend upon what your busiest work hours are or if you have any paid breaks you can take advantage of for pumping.
How Much Milk Will My Baby Need Every Day?
You’ll need enough milk to feed your baby for a full day. The exact number of ounces will depend upon how old your baby is and how much he’s drinking.
But, on average, you’ll need about 25 ounces of breast milk a day (source). If you’d like to aim a bit higher just in case your baby is a big eater, 30 ounces should keep you covered.
How Should I Contain Breast Milk and Store It?
You can store breast milk in storage bott l e s or bags in the freezer so they’ll last longer than they do in the refrigerator.
The night before you work your first day of every week, you should take a container of milk or two from the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw. You can divide it up into a day’s worth of bottles the next morning so your baby’s caregiver is ready to go.
The breast milk you pump at work the next day will be kept in the refrigerator until your baby needs it the following day.
The milk you pump on the last day of your work work will be frozen until it’s needed.
Welcome to the weird world of pumping breast milk at work. While it may feel strange at first, you’ll eventually think it isn’t a big deal at all. By the second or third month, I no longer felt strange about it and I don’t think anyone else did either.
My milk supply never suffered and my baby was successfully breastfed through the first year of her life. I can’t stress enough, though, how important organization was during this time in my life. If you stay on top of things, it will make your life much easier.
When you feel stressed or overwhelmed, just keep in mind why you’re doing this. It’s for that sweet little baby who is counting on you to be strong and fearless.
Let me know how you’re doing with your goal of pumping at work and if there’s any other questions I can answer for you.
Original article and pictures take momlovesbest.com site
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