Juggling Breastfeeding & Work
Posted by admin on Jun 13, 2009
Dear MOMs
How do U super moms do it? I am a first time mum with a 3 month old babes. I don’t have enough milk & I am really tired & worn out after I come back  from work. I know breastfeeding is very important……I am trying my best to keep pushing myself & not give up. But it is very tempting. Can anyone offer any advice & encouragement? How do U do it?
Work & Breasfeed??Â
Where do U find the time to rest?
How do U cope?
Don’t seem to have time to pump milk at work.
Is switching to formula really that bad?
I envy those who have tons of milk frozen up in their home….. 
Requested by a Mum who is trying to keep it together…..
shoppingNsales
I’m also 1st time mom…
Well, my son is now 5 mths old…and my record is until last week – fully breastfeed. I only started mix feed lsat week because recently the milk production slow down (work stress lar) & i had to go outstation for 3 days…
Luckily my son was OK with the formula & not constipated, and from the 3 days outstation i managed to pump & store 50 oz in the freezer now!
It’s very important that :
1) The mother must be committed & also relax. I realise when you are stressed, no matter how hard u pump…little milk. Also when u fix time to express milk, the breast will still continue to produce enough. I insist on expressing during lunch hour, when i get home @ 6pm & if still got milk, once more late night/early morning.
2) Take lots of fluid, nutritious soup or even milk itself. On days when I’m dehydrated – i also dont have so much milk
3) Start early , like at exactly 1 month so u always have frozen EBM(expressed breast milk)
4) When u already try…and still not enuf milk, it’s OK – u already try…At least ur child manage to get the important colustrum & also antibody so he/she can grow up well.
I intend to give as long as I can…and since mix feed i manage to grow my stock from 2 bottles to 10 bottles =D. U can do it!
Hi, even I am a SAHM, I understand that stress can bring you down with all the good intention of BF your baby. I do agree with Shel, as stress will lower your milk production. I was with a lactation consultant cum pead and she advises to pump in the morning (before leave for work), lunch hour, after work before leaving office to go home which I find it will not much interrupt your working schedule.
Yes, liquid is very important and consistent latching of your baby at night feed. I am on Annum Lacta to increase milk supply and also having lots of soups and water.
Try your very best, and in the event you think you can’t tolerate, then may try to give mix feed and later fully on formula milk. Our babies will need the nutrient from Formula too!
Keep up.. and feel free to buzz if you need someone to talk to.. I can even recommend you the Pead that I am seeing..
Hi,
I an a FTWM and also breastfeeding. I do not hold an extreme view on this issue. I think you know your own body limit, there is no wrong and right thing to do. Breastmilk and formula milk are all ok. One is fresh, one is not fresh. But both are still good.
Don’t let other people’s judgment get you down. Most of these people have not even breastfed but they feel they can give their opinions on this matter. Huh??
However, having said that, not having enough milk supply almost always means there is not enough demand (pumping) for it. You just need to pump more often to meet the supply you want. As you know, if you go to a pead and tell him you don’t have enough milk….they will just tell you in a very PC way that it’s BS!
It is hectic..no doubt about it. That is why breasfeeding is a choice. You know best whether you can cope!
Well at least you are much more better than me. I only managed to supplement my baby with breast milk. Too stressful and real tired with all the wake up in the middle of the night. My baby (going to be 1 month this sat) is now fully on formula and he is healthy and getting heavier..
but if you can try to relax and the milk will be back..I do hope I can be stress free but do not have anyone to take care of baby so I got really no time to do the pumping..sigh.
If you are not a single mum, can’t your husband take care of the baby as well? We no longer live in that generation where husbands are spectators lah.
I don’t see how breastfeeding can be successful if the husband does do his share of parental duties. (Notice I wrote ‘do his share of parental duties’ NOT ‘help out’. Parenting is a 2-person job.)
If you really intend to breastfeed, you have to do something about the supply now. You have to wake up in the middle of the night for feeding, if not the production will drop drastically. I agree, stress can reduce the supply, but only a small amount. It is lack of demand that is the main problem here. (In my opinion only!)But if you don’t intent to continue breastfeeding, then you can slowly wean off now and return to normal when you return to work.
At the end of the day, it’s a choice lah.
Hi, I just want to share my exp with u. I’m still breastfeeding my 1 yr old daughter. She’s my 2nd child. For my 1st child, I mix feeding him since he was only 5 days old (due to me feeling very stressful coz he didn’t seem content after each feeding) and partly because I was much younger then. He always vomits and have problems with his tummy, but because he was a chubby and active child, the doctors said not too worry. Until one day, something bad happened to him. Now, his not as his usual self. I realized now that he might have cow’s milk protein allergy then. A really serious one, I guess. After that, I vowed to make sure that I breastfeed all my other children….Well, it’s not easy, to breastfeed my baby. I’m still battling with not enough milk supply. I make sure that my boss know and understand that I can’t go outstation or working longer hour in these 1-2 years period.
My advice to u,
1) be patient. u can’t get anymore closer with ur child than this. use it wisely.
2) check whether ur child is allergy with cow’s milk protein before u decided to feed him/her with formula, because my 2nd child is also allergy to it (stage 4)
3)be prepare to make sacrifices when it’s necessary.
It’s really worth it. Good Luck!
Breastfeeding is the best bonding experience you can have with your child. My daughter’s now 11 months old, and this is something that only the 2 of us can participate in, and i love it! Im a working mother, and my employer has been kind enough to let me take time off (15mins for 3 sessions a day) to express. Breastfeeding takes a lot of commitment because it’s not the easiest thing to do. Dont stress and relax about breastfeeding. Ppl are always comment, “wah, you have so much milk!”, but i say, “i have enough”. I dont have tons of bottles stored up someplace…at the most it’s just 2, but so long as it’s enough for my daughter, thats fine by me.
hi
i understand how u feel
i had to mix milk after 5 days for 1st born due to inverted nipple but aft 1 wk got back to full BF
to BF u need full SUPPORT from ur love one esp hubby
it help u produce more milk (cos happy)
i BF my 1st even when i was pregnant with my 2nd bb in fact till 5 hrs bfr i gave birth to my 2nd
this all was due to my hubby n mum support
then again i use to pump in off n also in toilet
just to get milk for my bb
as a suggestion why dont u pump on weekends
plus get those tea which help boost ur milk production
of course with enough water in take n sleep
we can share email me shasha_asraf@yahoo.com
hy…..
i am 1st time mum of my 5 months baby…before i came back from confinement period, i had little knowledge about bf. but, when he is 2month old, with no stock of ebm at all, i decided to fully bf my baby. what i do is i relactate…and every weekend i do powerpumping…i manage to keep ebm stock, although not very grand, but good enough to fully breastfeed my baby….
all we can do is make sure we eat well, drink well, relax and be happy. bf is not a burden, it’s a passion….
Hi mama,
Dun get too upset and stress-out bf your bb. I also face the same situation for my bb. But my paed keep assuring “Dun worry your bb will have enough. Just keep letting your bb suck on you”
I also tend to have the thinking I dun have enough milk but that is actually very physcologically wrong. You do have enough when your bb gain weights and few times wet per day.
You’ll pull through after your 3 months to 4th months. Stay positive as much as possible. Tell your body to produce more milk for your baby. That’s what I did to keep on breastfeesding my bb.
My bb is now 6 months and 3 weeks old. Till now he is still exclusively bf. BF has many good advantages. And it is a priceless gifts you can give to your bb.
I express my milk twice in the office. Once during lunch-time and once after work. I did it inside a store-room in my company. To make feel more relax while expressing you can bring in your mp3 to listen to music or do some reading (if your breast-pump is electronic).
Enjoy yourself bf your bb. Whenever you look at your bb when you bf you’ll know it is worth all this tired, restless, and sacrifice….
BF is the most beautiful gifts a mother can give to their bb. Keep it up! A lot of mothers around you cheering for you.
Wah very tough oh….I just met up with some mums….they all been trying to BF their babes….so little milk. Worried sick…how to relax?
Yup…relax is very important…1 tip, if u pump ur milk, dont stare at ur bottle…just remember ur baby’s face….
hi.. i understand how you must be feeling. i am currently bf my 2nd baby who is 3 months old. with my 1st child, i vowed to bf exclusively but i was young & didn’t do much research on it to know the stress that came with bf. so when i didn’t get enough supply to feed her & she ended up crying for more, i got super stressed & had slight post natal blues coz i had to start supplementing with formula when she was 1 week old. I only managed to feed her bm for 4.5 months but she was already drinking more formula by then. Initially I felt guilty for not being able to fully bf but after I mix, things became easier and I was a happier mum. I got over feeling guilty as I see how well my baby was growing.
With my 2nd baby, I guess I am a little more experienced & know what to expect. She’s 99% fully bf. I only let her latch on for the 1st two weeks of my confinement and has been expressing till now. It’s tiring coz I express 4 times a day, 6:30am being the earliest and midnite the latest but I’m taking it one day at a time. I give myself a pat on the back everytime I managed to bf for another day. As her intake is now growing, my frozen bm is also reducing, so I’ve started mixing by giving her 1 formula feed a day to get her used to the formula. So far it seems to be going well.
So, don’t stress yourself with listening to what other people say (that’s what happened to me!). Of course everyone knows bf is good but only you know your body and your baby. You are already doing a good job. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t bf or supplement. The most important thing is to enjoy your baby
i give u my bf schedule to give u an overview
6.30am – bf on one breast and pumping on another (at home before going to work)
10 am – pump milk from both breasts (at work)
2 pm – pump milk from both breasts (at work)
4.30 pm – pump milk from both breasts (at work)
7 pm – bf on one breast and pumping on another (at home after coming home from work)
7 pm onwards – latching throughout the night….
I have a very low milk supply. All the milk that I pumped is being used up for the very next day. Even on weekends I have to pump. My daughter is now almost 13 months and I’m soooo thankful that I can still bf her exclusively. At first, I was extremely stressful coz my milk is so little. Few weeks before started working (after confinement) I called the nursing counselors on daily basis and they gave me useful advices. Now I’m quite satisfied with I got.
EJ,
I totally agree with you. Enjoying your baby is the most important thing. Although I am also breastfeeding, I would never dare judge another mother who is not breatsfeeding. Everyone is different. However, I realised this is an issue which divides many women, whch I find sad.
Dear Mum who is trying to keep it together,
I’m a maidless mom-of-4, who’s currently also doubling as the head of an engineering department at work, and am still fully b/feeding my youngest baby (almost 1-year old). There is no right, or wrong way. You really need to do what suits you best. If you’re working full-time, and intend to b/feed your baby, you must take care of yourself first. The money that you don’t have to spend on getting powdered milk? Use it on yourself for this purpose — equivalent to ‘buying-breastmilk’.
Where possible, express. Since this is your first baby, it’s worth getting a good quality pump which will hopefully lasts till your last baby. I myself have a few pumps — both manual & electric. Two manual pumps at home (to minimise the need to sterilise non-stop — I’m kiasu like that), and the electric double-pump (with extra two sets of shields — kiasu, remember?
) in the office.
If you don’t have a maid like me, then you probably should also consider cooking in bulk and freezing them such that when you come back from work, you only defrost and don’t have to spend so much time (and more importantly energy) on cooking, but can curl up and relax with your baby instead. Breastfeeding is a good reason to have a lie-in after work. Haha!
Support from the husband is important too i.e. he must take charge on defrosting the frozen food… and also help to wash and sterilise the bottles since he’s saved from having to wake up at nights!
From your posting, I’m guessing that the issue is not on the milk supply, but rather you, feeling drained. What I’m trying to say here is, in essence, there is major need for organisation if you wish to ‘maintain’ your standards, or otherwise, learn to let go of some things (e.g. no need to mop the floor every 3 days or anything!). Worst case, get one of those weekend helpers to go to your house to assist you with the preparation of the next week’s food (for the batch cooking) and also for general cleaning.
And the bottom line is, do what you feel is right, and if you know that it is the best for you and your family, just smile and nod when others give you advices (like now, haha), but select only those relevant.
Take it easy, and take care. I wish you , and all the other supermums out there the very best.
I am first time mommy with a 5 months son, I am still BFing my son, i pumped 4 times a day, early morning before i start work, lunch time, evening before i leave the office and at nite before i go to bed.
I didnt get to BF my son directly to due inverted nipple, so i started pumping since he is 4 days old.
I can understand how you do, sometimes I do feel exhausted and even thought of giving up BFing, but the supports that i received from my husband helps me carry on.
Before i deliver, i dont bother to look at anything that is related to BF and never thought that i will BF at all. It is the nurse in the hospital that encouraged me to try, and i must say that i am really thankful for that.
Now my freezer is full of my frozen milk that even my son cant finish, so i am actually giving some out to my colleague’s babies (she didnt have BF).
You should really try yout best to carry on, it is a blessing that you have Breastmilk and the fact you have taken the first step to BF your baby is something wonderful.
The bonding that mom and baby have through BF is unique and irreplacable. And i really regreted that i didnt manage to BF directly my son.
By the way, all wonderful mommies here, do drop me an email at erinlyy@gmail.com, perhaps we may share our thoughts and ideas on BF, and also help each other to carry on BF our babies.
Little sacrifies mean a lot to the future of our precious babies…
Hi,
I’m a full time working mom.
And I still breastfeed / pumping milk for my boy – now ONE yr old.
Key to maintaining breast milk supply is ensuring fluid intake is sufficient, and you must eat well too.
I also recommend eating / drinking oat.
Just add milo to it.. if you just couldn’t take in oat alone..
Also.. most importantly, maintaining your pumping schedule at work..aim to pump 3 times a day (or at least 2 times a day)..
and then at home, if you’ve got the time.. pump at every opportunity..
and when you pump out your milk.. make sure you empty your breasts.
If you have to.. try “reverse cycling” with your baby – which means, encourage baby to breastfeed in the middle of the night, you waking up few times.. so that in the day you do not have to worry so much about not supplying enough expressed milk (in bottles).
hope this helps!
I also feel like sharing my experience. My 1st child, now 5 and half months old is fully breastfeed since 2 months old. Before that I used to mix feed. I am a full time working mum too. I will pump 3 times at my workplace, once at 10.30am, then at 2pm and last at 5pm. So I get at least 4oz each bottle. Once at home I feed my baby direct, up to 3-4 wakings a night. My bb eats more at night than in the morning. I lie down to feed my bb on the bed, so once he latch on, I also fall asleep together with him, so I find that it’s not exactly that tiring. Plus I got used to it eventually. If my bb sleeps longer at night and I feel my breast is full, I will pump again to get more milk stored up. I have now more than 10 bottles in the freezer and have like four sets of storage bottles. Even so, I still battle with worry sometimes, thoughts of what if the milk not enough. Especially if I have meetings and miss my pumping scheduled time. Personally, I take fenugreek tea about once a week, drink lots, and drink milk a lot too with oats. I also heard from a friend that whole garlic cooked with soup, then just drink the soup, helps. Plus take soy products. MY milk is not a lot, but it helps to pump lots and consistently. All the best
Erin & the rest who been sharing diligently,
please continue share in this forum …am sure all wanna learn from each other…..i think BF is a matter of disicpline & sacrifice la. It’s up to U if U can cope.
I take GNC fenugreek pil…for me, it’s help….but still it’s all about consistency…because if i missed 1 or 2 of my pumping schedule, i can see the result- the oz will be fewer…yes, it is about dicispline and sacrifice….but, it worth it…to feel the bond with my baby boy, it worth every minutes of it…..
I’m a first time working mom too to a 15 month old toddler – fully breastfed till today. To answer to your questions:
Work & Breasfeed??
Once you get used to it, it’s OK. Just treat the time you need to pump milk in office as a time for you to relax and de-stress. Remember, you only get to do this once for your kid. He/she will never go through this phase again once its over.
Where do U find the time to rest?
I sleep as early as the baby – if it’s 9pm, then it’s 9pm. Also, your body works wonders – you’ll never pengsan in office even if you wake up to breastfeed 5 times in the night.
How do U cope?
Eat nutritious food, drink lots of water and 3 months will turn into 5 months and 10 months and before you know it, it’s 2 years….keep it up. Others have done it, so can you.
Don’t seem to have time to pump milk at work.
I keep asking myself, is my baby more important or work? Make time for pumping.
Is switching to formula really that bad?
No but always remember breastmilk is the best present that you can give to your kid, not toys, clothes or formula.
I envy those who have tons of milk frozen up in their home
You WILL have tons of milk after your baby is weaned. Just keep on pumping.
By the way, my baby stopped breastfeeding directly form the breast at 10 months and I’m fully pumping only.
HI.IM STILL ON CONFINEMENT AND GONNA START WORKING IN 1 MONTH..NEED Y’ALL TO ADVICE ME WHEN SHALL I PUMP MY BREASTMILK AND START BF SCHEDULE.IM STRESS AS MY HUBBY WANT ME TO FULLY BF MY SON..I WANNA DO IT BUT WORRIED IF TEHERES NOT ENUFF MILK..HELP!
Hi Noreen, for my case, i pumped only 4 times a day when i returned to work, and i managed to get about 35oz to 40oz a day, which is more than enough for my son. My schedule is 8am, 1pm, 6pm and 11pm. FYI, i didnt direct feed my son due to inverted nipples.
I heard from the speaker of one breastfeeding talk that i attended that young papaya, sotong, soya, oats and red dates help to increase your breastmilk. During my confinement period, i tried papaya soup and i think it really helps. Make sure your baby empty your breasts each feeding, otherwise use a breastpump to empty your breasts, it helps to increase your breastmilk too!
I keep a record of my pumped breastmilk production just to motivate myself to carry on, if it decreases, i know it’s time to boil papaya soup, haha!
As long as you fix a schedule to pump and follow your schedule (discipline!) during office hours, there’s no reason for you to worry about not having enough milk.
hello. i only have a daughter who is almost 2.5 y.o. and STILL breastfeeding (be careful what you wish for, the time will come when u have to PRY her off ur boobs hahaha)
i pumped for a whole 20 months. i too, have very little milk, just enough for my daughter. she was exclusively breastfed for about 6 months, and then i had to ‘tambah’ 1 bottle of formula per day because tak cukup laaa. i even went outstation (overases) twice for a week each time when she was 2 and 3 months. i brought my pump with me and had to pump EVERYWHERE (in the plane, at airport toilets, etc) and had to wake up to pump every 3 hours even though baby not with me. hard to carry the milk everywhere, keep them frozen and harder to convince airport security to let u handcarry into the plane.
in office also, i was the only breastfeeding mom and had to pump in empty meeting rooms, storerooms, and if i am out of office on assignments, EVERYWHERE, sometimes even in the car. it’s hard, but it’s for ur own baby. sure, everyone’s entitled to their own thinking, but for me, i can vouch for breastmilk’s benefits. my daughter might not be chubby, but i can count with my fingers how many times she has gotten sick since she was a baby. it also helps moms, believe me. i used to fall sick with flu and fever every 2 months too, but since i started breastfeeding, it stopped!
get electric pump, if u can afford it, buy a double one. the investment is sooo worth it in the long run. i myself only use a single electric pump, but managed to pump that long.
to make u guys understand, i am about 168cms tall and only weigh 45kgs. yes, i am small and skinny (and A cup hahaha) but this goes to show, u CAN breastfeed no matter ur size
good luck!
i am a mom of 3. my 1st daughter age 9, my 2nd boy age 2 and the youngest is 8mths.
both my 2nd and 3rd child are still BF and i am working.
with tonnes of workload, worktrips and facing traffic jam every day, thankfully i am stil able to Bfeed them. i am willing to share my tips, my routines on how to enjoy Bf’s moments.
do email me ena_misdi[at]yahoo.com
dont stress but dont give up!