Tell me about going back to work with a small free

[Ashley&Scott]

I started with a decent stash but rarely tapped into it. Try not to stress, remember to drink lots of water & eat while you're at work. Make sure you have some pics & video on your phone to look at while you're pumping. It will all work out

[livinitup]

I had great success with EBFing while working full time and I went back to work with little to no stash. Your stash sounds enormous to me. I had very little luck producing extra milk in between feeding times.

I was successful to EBF because I pumped when DD would be eating at child care (at first 2x a day and then 3x during a growth spurt). Mon-Thursday, I delivered that day's pumping for her to eat the next day. On Friday, I brought it home to freeze and bring to care on Monday. The bonus was that she had fresh BM 4 days. I also made them warm smaller bottles so as not to waste. Somehow my body kept pace with how much she needed from day to day. I also think she changed a little and ate more when we were together, so I didn't need to produce as much when I was at work. Nature is wonderful. And formula is food, too. I always had my free samples around. My mom gave her a little bottle of formula when I was late geting back and I almost passed-out from shock. But thought "Oh right, this is good food for babies, too." It didn't ruin her or affect our awsome BFing.

[h]

I had less than 50 oz. in the freezer when I went back to work with each kid (and my stash never exceeded that at any given time). I went back to work full-time when they were 14 and 18 weeks old, respectively. DS1 was EBFed with the exception of 3-5 oz. of formula a day for about a 6 week period around 8 months old when I just couldn't keep up with him. DS2 never had a drop of formula. I pumped twice a day at work, then pumped before I went to bed at night and a couple times over the weekend.

[fortmyersbride]

I went back to work with 20oz in the freezer when DS was 7 wks old. The most I ever had in the freezer while I was pumping for him was probably 50-60oz. We still made it 13 mos BFing, with me working 70-80hrs/wk and being gone from him 12-24hrs at a time. I perhaps could have stocked up more milk but I was so tired of all the pumping I did at work that I never wanted to pump at home! If you're pumping 3x a day at work you should be in good shape.

In contrast, I went overboard pumping ahead for DD. I had 200oz in the freezer when I went back to work and have donated 500oz over the course of BFing her. But I achieved this with one extra pumping session a day (everyday) from the beginning, so I don't regret it.

[Deleted]

I went back with about 20 ounces when I started working last week. I'm eating lactation cookies every day, lots of water and just started drinking mother's milk tea. Last week I actually netted an extra day's worth of milk by Friday. Not that that's a lot, but I am only able to pump for about 10 minutes 3x a day...so I was really concerned I wouldn't make enough. Depending on what time DD wake up in the am, some days I use my hand pump before I go to work ...that way I don't have to repack my pump in the morning.

[Mushe]

I had almost zero stash when I started work at 16 weeks pp, and we made it!

At that point, my baby was taking only one side at a time, so I pumped the other side in the morning while I got ready, and got quite a lot. At the highest point, right around then, I was getting 9 oz from that side. It took me about two weeks of pumping consistently at that time to get there, though.

Occasionally I had to pump an extra session at night, but we made it through without having to supplement and started building a stash.

[Mushe]

Ms Starry, just to clarify, I've never had some awesome huge supply, and this still worked for us. Baby is just over a year now, and I'm just now cutting out the More Milk Plus and one (of two) work pump sessions), but still eating oatmeal every day and taking fenugreek.

[curbsideprophet]

Honestly I rarely have any idea how much is in the freezer at any one time. 45 oz sounds like an okay amount to me. How much do you plan to send to daycare on a given day?

I think you will see a difference in pumping when you are pumping in replace of feedings instead of just trying to work in extra sessions around feedings.