i am trying to decide how much maternity leave i should take before going back to work. is 10 weeks enough? i am planning to breast feed for as long as possible so what happens when you go back to work??? how often do you have to pump during the day? my office is only 10 mins from home so i'm thinking i can nip home at lunch time to do this. but also my big question is whether i should extend my leave for a couple more weeks? months?
any advice is much appreciated!
cheers
:)
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crj
19 yrs ago
If your job will allow it, and you can afford it, I would extend your leave as long as possible.
And when you go back, try to arrange for flexibility so you can continue to breast feed.
Since you live so close to the office, maybe you can arrange to go back 2x day for feeds, and pump once in office. Or have maid bring baby to you for feeds.
Of course, this all depends upon your office allowing you to breastfeed and/or pump and having somewhere private to do so, and having somewhere to store the milk.
You need to discuss with them your requirements ASAP to see what is possible.
I worked at home the first 6 months back (going in to town for meetings), then went to the office 2 mornings a week, increased to 5 mornings a week
I breast fed for 13 months, baby never had any formula.
Oh, and after 8 months it is often harder to pump, so you need to start building your freezer supply now.
And if it just doesn't work out, you can always BF 3 x a day and supplement with formula if you have to. All of us working mums have to make sacrafices and do the best we can.
But I will add to that, you need to know YOUR priorities, and where you will draw the line. Don't let your company push you into doing something you really don't want to do (if you have a choice).
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Sky
19 yrs ago
I went back to work after 10 weeks of maternity leave. I breastfed baby in morning and at night, during the day I pumped twice at the office usually at noon and around 3-4 p.m. then breastfed baby when I got home. Ideally, you should pump every 3-4 hours to keep up the supply or you will produce less and less milk. I have always supplemented my supply though with one feed of powdered milk as I didn't seem to have enough for the baby. Now after 7 months, I am still pumping though just once in the office as I weaning him and will eventually just give him powdered milk.
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even though i had a hospital grade pump (medela), not much came out, so for the first 6 months i did:-
7.30am B/F before work
10.30am bottle
13.00 dash home in a taxi to B/F, then back to work
16.00 bottle
19.00 dash home after work to B/F
22.30 B/F
it can be done as i only had the min. 10 weeks leave. i had no time to do anything for myself, but it was so worth it.
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I had 16 weeks off before going back to work and made sure that I had a freezer full of milk b4 I went back. As Crj says make sure your manager knows what you intend to do when you return - makes it easier if they are on board. I pumped at the same time every day at around 11am and then 3pm which gave me enough milk to last the following day. I was forever drinking mother's milk tea, 2 litres water a day and having plenty of oatmeal (which seemed to work but maybe I just had a good supply anyway). ALSO I always read a book whilst I was pumping - if I got stressed or had nothing to do for 20+ mins I got bored and it really did seem to affect milk supply.
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It takes 4 to 6 weeks to establish breastfeeding and find the balance between supply and demand. Give yourself as much time as possible. Extending your leave, starting back at half days or going back half way during the week on a Wednesday are all good strategies for easing back into the work force while continuing to breastfeed. You will need to replace your baby's missed feeds by expressing milk at work. Ensure you have an effective hospital grade double setup breast pump.
If you can breastfeed before work in the morning , return home for lunch to breastfeed, then continue breastfeeding on return home in the evening, you may only need to express once or twice during your work day. Expressing extra milk and freezing it before returning to work is also a good idea.
Breastfeeding Clinic 2849 1500
Matilda International Hospital
Hong Kong
http://www.matilda.org
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Well2
19 yrs ago
Hello, I have a medela PIS adavanced pump. And i am planning to BF + bottle (expressed milk) when going back to work after my 3months leave, but only do part time from 2pm - 6pm.
Here is my plan. I shall start it when bb reaches 8 weeks old.
7:00am BF
10:00am BF
1:00pm bottle (expressed milk)
4:00pm bottle (expressed milk)
7:00pm BF
10:00pm BF
If bb demands
1:00am bottle (expressed milk)
4:00am bottle (expressed milk)
If i don't wanna bring the breastpump to the office. Should i express once (2 bottles) at home at 12:30pm and once at 12:00am (2 bottles) and store them in the back of the fridge? My maid can bottle feed the bb when i am away.
Thank you.
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Hi Well2 -
I'm looking at your schedule - and the main thing I notice that it will be EASIER on you if you just straight breastfeed in the middle of the night after you return to work if he demands it. It's a lot faster (ripping off your shirt vs. warming up a bottle) and a lot cleaner when it's over.
I used to express before my 10:00 PM breastfeed - and there was always a lot left over for my baby. I also expressed before I fed my baby in the morning. if you can express before you go to work that might work and then feed him upon your return.
but it takes time -this is only plan - each baby is different and you are never quite sure what will happen.
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Well2
19 yrs ago
hi HKCC, thanks for the tips. If direct BF is faster than bottle feed. I will BF in the middle of the night then. Thanks alot.
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I stayed at home for the first three months and for the next three months at work I pumped at 11am (while he was being fed BM from the bottle) and then taxied home at 3pm to feed, and continued working from home till next feed at 6:30.
When I pumped at 11am I got about 12-14oz each time, so by the time I returned to work at 6 months, I had a freezer full of the stuff.
When he was fully b/f till 5+ months (with small solid supplementation from 5 months at 11am), feedings times were 2am, 6-7am, 11pm, 3pm, 6:30pm, 10:30pm.
From March onwards I stopped pumping at work, but he is still getting the BM from the freezer, 6oz at a time. After a nice bowl of solids, he gets 6oz at about 7:30am and 1pm each. In between he gets water and diluted pear juice. Next he has dinner at 5pm and one direct breastfeed at 6:30pm and one formula feed at 12am. I think I have enough frozen milk to last the next couple of weeks, so it will take him to 11 months. I definitely will stop the evening BF at 1 year if not earlier.
If you have access to an office or can shut the door, its great. I was lucky. I put the Lansinoh sealed bags in an opaque bag in the pantry fridge and took them home in a 3m temperature sealed bag.
I had a hospital grade pump - the lactina, it is wonderful. While pumping I worked, did emails etc, supporting the bottles on my keyboard! LOL. Agree, if I got bored I got impatient and it affected my supply.
Agree with HKCC its MUCH faster to breastfeed in the night. I only just switched to at 8 months formula to make him last longer and lose the 3am feed.. And much easier if you co-sleep too...
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Well2
19 yrs ago
hi firsttimemum, thanks.
just wanna make sure i didn't get you wrong.
At about 8 months??, you feed your baby
07:30am solid+6oz milk
01:00pm solid+6oz milk
05:00pm solid?? + milk
12:00am solid?? + 6oz milk
thanks
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No, this is his 10 month schedule onwards. He is almost 11 months now. At 8 months I was feeding him first thing and then his bfast, and then his lunch at 11:45, sleep, milk at 2:30, dinner at 5. Timing wise, what has changed is we moved his lunch to 12-12:30 followed by milk at 1pm. We give him food before milk because otherwise he doesnt eat.
Timings now are something like this:
7am breakfast
7:30 milk (6oz)
8:30 unfinished milk (if any)
9-9:30am sleep
10:30 water/dilute pear juice
12/12:15pm Lunch
1pm milk (6oz)
1:15-2:30 sleep
3:30 water
5pm dinner/water/diluted PJ
6:30 breastfeed (dunno how much, perhaps 8 oz)
7pm sleep
11:30pm/12am formula (6-7 oz)
Cheers
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Well2
19 yrs ago
Thanks all. I think i will change my plan a bit.
07:00am BF
10:00am BF
01:00pm bottle (expressed milk)
04:00pm bottle (expressed milk)
07:00pm BF
10:00pm BF
If bb demands
01:00am BF in bed
04:00am BF in bed
Express 1 bottle (2 if possible) at 12:30pm,just before i leave home. This one is for the 2nd afternoon-feed (4pm)
and express 1 bottle at mid-night 12:00am, this one is for the next day 1st afternoon-feed (1pm)
many thanks again
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I'm back to work when baby was 5 mos. Now he's 6 mos and have been on solids. My routine is like this:
7:45 BF (express one side before BF and offer the other side to bb)
Breakfast afterwards
11:30 bottle (while I express in office)
12:00 lunch
3:00 bottle (while I express in office)
6:00 half the bottle + dinner
7:30 BF
11:00 BF
So I express three times a day. Get a lot from one side early morning. However I realize that my supply goes down when I express in office. Somehow due to anxiety and impatience, I sometimes get only 3-4oz from BOTH sides only. Fortunately I only miss 2 feeds a day and the milk I express early morning and the stock in the freezer makes up for it. But I'm still a bit concerned...
At what age does baby replace the whole meal (lunch and dinner) with only solid and no milk?
Baby sleeps through the night from 3 mos so no more night feeds from then. How can I keep up with the milk supply?
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I'd add an expression before the 11 feed. I used to express one side at that time in order to get baby to take more hind milk anyways, and that seemed to work. Eventually (if you're still going to do Gina Ford) you're going to drop this 11 feed anyways, so I sort of felt it worked to my advantage to keep expressing this feed.
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Hm... I will try express before the dreamfeed then.
Hope you are doing well with new baby hkcc!
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