Returning to P/T work and maintaining a supply

[MilkOnTap]

I'm so so sorry for hijacking this section of the forum once again - but I'm after some more (yes MORE) advice.

I have two job interviews on Thursday to return to work part time. They are both for 2 full days of the week (8hr days).

I cannot express - I'm lucky to get 5mL. Though when I'm bursting at the seams it does tend to come out a bit easier - but still nothing to write to the queen about (not that she would want to know about my lactating affairs anyway)

Is there anything I can do to maintain my supply whilst working so long through the day? I am happy to give Jedd formula for the days that he is at childcare - but I want to still be able to breastfeed on the days that I'm home.

Our breastfeeding relationship is more important than going back to work - so if it suffers then I wont stay. I really want to try to get it to work though!!!

Any suggestions? Thoughts? Advice? Tips? Anything...

[draught]

PL
Several things to think about - you may find that if you are away from him for a day it is much easier to express than it is to try and do it when he is just missing one feed, or no feeds, at home.

I can't express much in between feeds at home (20 mls can take over half an hour) but when I am at work I sit down twice a day and express between 12 - 180 mls in a 15 minute session (during which I read a file or a book or close my eyes and have a nanna nap).

Secondly - if you are giving him formula while you are at work, at this stage of the game it is not likely to interfere with your supply too much - it will only be a couple of bottle a day and only two 8 hour days a week - that still leaves 5 full days and two 2/3 days when he can breastfeed. When you think about it that way he will still have an overwhelming majority of his time on breastmilk. At least you know that he will drink formula and doesn't have a reaction to it, and doesn't refuse the breast - you have already been formula feeding him for months!

So - my advice is to try expressing at work - but even if you can't, it is unlikely that the small period of time away from him will interfere with the well established relationship you already have - after all, ff him overnight hasn't affected your supply - and this is a similar time frame.

[MilkOnTap]

Thanks Draught

That was kind of what I thought. He has been having his one bottle of formula at night since he was 6 weeks and that hasn't changed my supply at all.

I was also wondering if expressing while 'on-the-job' would be different to when I'm at home. Thanks for telling me about your experiences - it has made me confident that I still *might* be able to do it for him!

One of the interviews sound fairly flexible about what days I work, and the childcare centre only have Monday, Thursday and Friday available as permanent placements for Jedd. So I'm hoping that I can get a Monday and Thursday job - that way Jedd will make up for Monday on Tuesday, and Thursday on Friday (make sense?)

[forbetoel]

I think Draught gave some great advice, so I just popped in to wish you luck! Hope it all works out.

[JimJamsMum]

I returned to work (2 days a week) about two months ago. I discovered that expressing at work is really difficult for me. If I'm lucky I can get about 60mL in half an hour and it's really hard work (I have to massage my breasts and keep swapping sides - letdown just doesn't happen). However, I have no trouble expressing one side while DS takes the other. So, I express once or twice while I'm at work (just so I'm comfortable) and I'm so full by the afternoon when I get home, I pop DS on one side propped up with pillows and pump the other side. By doing this I get about 200mL in the time it takes DS to have a feed. I also do the same the next morning so end up being able to replace the two feeds that DS has while I'm away. I keep 3 days worth of feeds in the freezer so I know I have enough. This has worked really well for me and I'm very pleased because at one stage it looked like DS would have to have formula while I'm at work and I didn't really want to have to do this.