bf and not pumping at work

[pierogigirl]

I go back to work next week. I am a poor responder to the pump so even if I pumped at work, I would not get much. I have a freezer full of milk to, hopefully, get him to a year at daycare. I pumped a lot while on maternity leave, but I've slacked off in the last week. I know kellymom says my body will still make milk for the times I can nurse, but does anyone have first hand experience?

[fortmyersbride]

How old is your LO and what times do you usually BF? I can go 8+ hrs without BFing or pumping during the middle of the day b/c I have adjusted to Bfing mostly in the mornings, evening, and night for the last month (DD is now 11 mos).

[froggy76]

I think it might depend on how old your LO is. DD is 9 months and I only pump 1x at work now, but I am still able to nurse during the day on the weekends. I don't think my supply would have held up as well if I had done this a few months ago.

[oukapu]

I reduced pumping and the rest of my supply tanked. She probably only gets 2 to 3 oz. She is 11 months and we have 35 bags frozen, so I am just switching to wcm when we run out (might be the week before her birthday).

[pierogigirl]

He will be 9 months when he goes to daycare full time. The first two weeks, he'll be part time.

[livinitup]

I never had success pumping between BF sessions, but I did just fine at work. Oddly, I did best when I could *think* of DD's cry. Some people used a baby photo, but my boobs responded to the cry. I actually discovered this one night during a very dry spell of pumping - DD gave-out a single yelp and *poof* I shot-out milk like a champ. Weird but true. Plus, pumping during typical nursing sesssion was so much more productive than anything I did while around/in between DD's schedule. Good luck! Eat oatmeal.

[mrshandy]

You should be ok. But you never know if not nursing all day will make your supply tank.

But have you ever pumped when you've been away from the baby?

You might give pumping at work a shot before you decide it won't work.

[anna7602]

Depends on your body. Even when DD naturally dropped a BFing session, I had to pump and gradually reduce how much I pumped for that session or else I would be miserable and engorged. If I had tried to go for a whole work day without pumping, I think I might have started leaking all over the place.

[karinothing]

Have you had an opportunity to pump when you were not nursing throughout the day? I tried pumping on maternity leave and rarely got anything becuase DS was still nursing throughout the day. It was much better when I got back to work.

[greekypie]

I stopped pumping at work when DS was 9 months old. We only made it about 3 weeks of morning/evening nursing before it was obvious I was leaving the kiddo hungry so obviously my milk supply didn't keep up. But everyone is different.

[ijack]

It's possible, but like the others said it depends on how old the kiddo is and how your body reacts.

[h]

I agree that it depends on your body, your kiddo, and your kiddo's age. I would guess that by 9 months you would be able to go 8 hours without pumping and still nurse morning, night, and weekends, but there are no guarantees. By that age I went without pumping that long for a business trip or something here or there without issue.

I quit pumping at work at 12 months with each kid, and they still nursed at home in the mornings and evenings until 25 months and 28 months, respectively. I know several other moms who quit pumping at a year but nursed for substantially longer.

[Deleted]

I returned to work at 12 months and haven't pumped. We're still breastfeeding and haven't had any problems despite me being gone about 9 hours a day. I started 4 days a week but have been 5 since July. We nurse any time he wants that we're together, so on weekends or vacation I have no problems nursing in the day. I was pretty full/engorged the first few days, but it doesn't really happen any more even when it's Monday.

I would say try pumping, perhaps, but if you've got enough milk to get to a year anyway... try not pumping. I just went cold-turkey and was fine, but I've had no boob issues before with plugged ducts or mastitis.

[cjeanette]

I didn't pump at work. I went back when she was 9 weeks. I feed her in the morning and as soon as I got home from work. I didn't have supply issues but my boobs would hurt by the end of the day. I couldn't go out to a HH or to run errands until I went home and fed her.