Comments on: Milk Routine for the Working Mom http://ewokmama.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/ Parenting Left of the Middle Thu, 17 May 2012 11:52:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Oz http://ewokmama.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/comment-page-1/#comment-984 Oz Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:15:22 +0000 http://ewokmama.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/#comment-984 Great post - it's really helpful to read about your experience before I head back to work! Great post – it’s really helpful to read about your experience before I head back to work!

]]> By: Eilat http://ewokmama.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/comment-page-1/#comment-986 Eilat Sat, 01 Dec 2007 04:27:32 +0000 http://ewokmama.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/#comment-986 Gosh, my son barely sleeps through the night even now :-( Though he has been night weaned since 20 months. He just loved his milk, I guess ;-) Gosh, my son barely sleeps through the night even now :-(
Though he has been night weaned since 20 months. He just loved his milk, I guess ;-)

]]> By: ewokmama http://ewokmama.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/comment-page-1/#comment-988 ewokmama Sat, 01 Dec 2007 03:03:11 +0000 http://ewokmama.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/#comment-988 Hey ladies - thanks for sharing! Eilat - that is amazing that you did the hands-free bra in the break room. For some reason I have no problems breastfeeding in public but I just don't know if I could pump in public. Kudos to you! For those who don't have access to a sink or time to wash parts, Medela makes wipes. Like I said, though, I didn't bother washing between sessions since breastmilk can stay at room temperature for so long and has antimicrobial properties. Eilat, did you son sleep through the night early? I know that can make a different in milk intake during the day (since the child then has less hours to get all the calories in). My son sounds about as big as yours (he was 20 lbs. at 5 months) and he had totally average milk intake while at daycare. Hey ladies – thanks for sharing!

Eilat – that is amazing that you did the hands-free bra in the break room. For some reason I have no problems breastfeeding in public but I just don’t know if I could pump in public. Kudos to you!

For those who don’t have access to a sink or time to wash parts, Medela makes wipes. Like I said, though, I didn’t bother washing between sessions since breastmilk can stay at room temperature for so long and has antimicrobial properties.

Eilat, did you son sleep through the night early? I know that can make a different in milk intake during the day (since the child then has less hours to get all the calories in). My son sounds about as big as yours (he was 20 lbs. at 5 months) and he had totally average milk intake while at daycare.

]]> By: Eilat http://ewokmama.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/comment-page-1/#comment-990 Eilat Sat, 01 Dec 2007 02:23:57 +0000 http://ewokmama.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/#comment-990 Hi, I have read your blog a few times, but this is my first time commenting. These are good tips. I pumped for my son for 10 months, from 4-14 months. He is 27 months old, and still nursing, but we weaned him off the bottle (he sort of weaned himself, lost interest in favor of more food) around 14 months when I stopped pumping. Anyway, my method was a bit different from yours, but highly effective so I thought Id put it out there. I too pumped 3 times a day. I am in academia and my job was very relaxed about pumping breaks so I didn't restrict my time. I pumped until the milk stopped flowing, which usually took more like 15 minutes. I used a medela pump-in-style and had a little cooler bag in which I took 6 bottles home each day. My boy drank A LOT. He was 19lb at 4 months before ever drinking a bottle, so I know he just had a huge appetite. I tried to bring home 16-18 ounces a day, and I froze the milk immediately for fear of wasting it. I used the storage bags (gerber, lansinoh, whatever was cheap). They were expensive, so I combined the bottles to make 6 ounce bags, usually. At first I had a really hard time getting that much milk out. I took fenugreek and pumped every 2 hours for the first week of work to get my breasts used to it. At first I was getting 8-10 ounces/day, but with increased stimulation I was getting the full amount by the time he was 5-6 months old. Cleanup, as you mention, can be a pain. I used the medela steam bags which sterilize the parts in the microwave. They are good for 20 uses per bag which made them last about a week and a half. After each pumping session I would quickly rinse the parts off and put them in the bag with the requisite ounce or two of water and nuke it for 90 seconds. After that I would place the parts to dry on a towel near my desk. The hot parts would usually dry in minutes and be ready for use the next session. (when I first started pumping I would wash the parts each time. that took almost as long as pumping, so I found the steam cleaning bags to be a real time saver!) One thing that really made pumping a breeze for me was the hands free pumping bra. I would wear my nursing tops & bras to work and would get the pump assembled over my clothes and the hands-free bra was on the outside keeping everything attached. This made it possible for me to pump in the lounge of the womens' room in my building, and while there was traffic and people saw what I was doing, I was not exposed and could actually chat to graduate students about breastfeeding etc. It also enabled me to bring an article or my laptop to work while I pumped which made it much easier and more efficient. In the last few months, I dropped one pumping session as my son took less at daycare, and then another session until I was done at ~14 months. I ended up with an extra 250 ounces which I was able to donate to a local milk bank (although it was a huge hassle! see my husband's blog post at http://rattlingthekettle.com/2007/05/24/never-do-a-good-deed/) Anyway, your system sounds great and Im glad it worked for you. I know so many women who found pumping at work to be difficult and needed to supplement at daycare. Hopefully these tips can help another mom give her baby as much breastmilk as he/she needs while she is at work. Peace, Eilat Hi, I have read your blog a few times, but this is my first time commenting. These are good tips. I pumped for my son for 10 months, from 4-14 months. He is 27 months old, and still nursing, but we weaned him off the bottle (he sort of weaned himself, lost interest in favor of more food) around 14 months when I stopped pumping.
Anyway, my method was a bit different from yours, but highly effective so I thought Id put it out there.
I too pumped 3 times a day. I am in academia and my job was very relaxed about pumping breaks so I didn’t restrict my time. I pumped until the milk stopped flowing, which usually took more like 15 minutes.
I used a medela pump-in-style and had a little cooler bag in which I took 6 bottles home each day.
My boy drank A LOT. He was 19lb at 4 months before ever drinking a bottle, so I know he just had a huge appetite. I tried to bring home 16-18 ounces a day, and I froze the milk immediately for fear of wasting it. I used the storage bags (gerber, lansinoh, whatever was cheap). They were expensive, so I combined the bottles to make 6 ounce bags, usually.
At first I had a really hard time getting that much milk out. I took fenugreek and pumped every 2 hours for the first week of work to get my breasts used to it. At first I was getting 8-10 ounces/day, but with increased stimulation I was getting the full amount by the time he was 5-6 months old.
Cleanup, as you mention, can be a pain. I used the medela steam bags which sterilize the parts in the microwave. They are good for 20 uses per bag which made them last about a week and a half. After each pumping session I would quickly rinse the parts off and put them in the bag with the requisite ounce or two of water and nuke it for 90 seconds. After that I would place the parts to dry on a towel near my desk. The hot parts would usually dry in minutes and be ready for use the next session. (when I first started pumping I would wash the parts each time. that took almost as long as pumping, so I found the steam cleaning bags to be a real time saver!)

One thing that really made pumping a breeze for me was the hands free pumping bra. I would wear my nursing tops & bras to work and would get the pump assembled over my clothes and the hands-free bra was on the outside keeping everything attached. This made it possible for me to pump in the lounge of the womens’ room in my building, and while there was traffic and people saw what I was doing, I was not exposed and could actually chat to graduate students about breastfeeding etc.
It also enabled me to bring an article or my laptop to work while I pumped which made it much easier and more efficient.
In the last few months, I dropped one pumping session as my son took less at daycare, and then another session until I was done at ~14 months.
I ended up with an extra 250 ounces which I was able to donate to a local milk bank (although it was a huge hassle! see my husband’s blog post at
http://rattlingthekettle.com/2007/05/24/never-do-a-good-deed/)

Anyway, your system sounds great and Im glad it worked for you. I know so many women who found pumping at work to be difficult and needed to supplement at daycare. Hopefully these tips can help another mom give her baby as much breastmilk as he/she needs while she is at work.

Peace,
Eilat

]]> By: liz http://ewokmama.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/comment-page-1/#comment-992 liz Fri, 30 Nov 2007 08:45:20 +0000 http://ewokmama.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/#comment-992 Hopefully this won't apply to very many people, because it's a pain in the butt, but i have an excess of lipase in my milk. Lipase is an enzyme that breaks down the fats in milk and keeps them dissolved. Having too much is not bad for the baby in the slightest and doesn't make a difference while nursing; however, the lipase is actually activated somehow by cold temperatures, so if it is too refrigerated for too long (in my case, more than 24 hours in the fridge, or after freezing, though every mama is different and some notice it almost immediately upon cooling), the milk starts tasting soapy and awful. Again, not bad for the baby, and if baby will drink it, that's fine. However, it gets this horrid soapy metallic taste, and some babies don't like it. (Quite right of them, it's nasty. You KNOW if you have lipase issues upon tasting stored milk, easily.) How to fix it: I'm doing the pump frantically to build up a freezer stash because i'm not sure how regularly i'll be able to pump when i go back to work at 4 months. After pumping, the milk gets scalded - heated until it is just not quiiiite boiling. I do it on the stove because we don't have a microwave, but moms have also successfully used the Avent bottle warmer - i guess it heats to a specific temperature, and that's enough for some. This degrades the lipase and the milk can then be refrigerated or frozen without going funky (not spoiled, not rancid, not even bad really, but funky). Sadly, scalding also degrades some other things (notably the antimicrobial properties of the milk, so it needs refrigeration afterwards) but it's still breastmilk and still yummy. :) Hopefully this won’t apply to very many people, because it’s a pain in the butt, but i have an excess of lipase in my milk. Lipase is an enzyme that breaks down the fats in milk and keeps them dissolved. Having too much is not bad for the baby in the slightest and doesn’t make a difference while nursing; however, the lipase is actually activated somehow by cold temperatures, so if it is too refrigerated for too long (in my case, more than 24 hours in the fridge, or after freezing, though every mama is different and some notice it almost immediately upon cooling), the milk starts tasting soapy and awful. Again, not bad for the baby, and if baby will drink it, that’s fine. However, it gets this horrid soapy metallic taste, and some babies don’t like it. (Quite right of them, it’s nasty. You KNOW if you have lipase issues upon tasting stored milk, easily.)

How to fix it: I’m doing the pump frantically to build up a freezer stash because i’m not sure how regularly i’ll be able to pump when i go back to work at 4 months. After pumping, the milk gets scalded – heated until it is just not quiiiite boiling. I do it on the stove because we don’t have a microwave, but moms have also successfully used the Avent bottle warmer – i guess it heats to a specific temperature, and that’s enough for some. This degrades the lipase and the milk can then be refrigerated or frozen without going funky (not spoiled, not rancid, not even bad really, but funky). Sadly, scalding also degrades some other things (notably the antimicrobial properties of the milk, so it needs refrigeration afterwards) but it’s still breastmilk and still yummy. :)

]]> By: Dawn http://ewokmama.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/comment-page-1/#comment-991 Dawn Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:35:26 +0000 http://ewokmama.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/milk-routine-for-the-working-mom/#comment-991 I also found that just pumping one ounce a day and putting that back helped get me a back up supply - Alex never missed 1 ounce, and to get a bottle back up every 4 days... bliss.. (granted this is while I was primarily pumping, before he freakishly started nursing again.) I also found that just pumping one ounce a day and putting that back helped get me a back up supply – Alex never missed 1 ounce, and to get a bottle back up every 4 days… bliss.. (granted this is while I was primarily pumping, before he freakishly started nursing again.)

]]>