I am going back to work tomorrow.... Boo! I am taking LO with me for the first six weeks (before my students come back) after that I have a funny work schedule. I will be working Monday evenings 4-9 and tues -thurs from 11-9. LO will be home with me on Mondays till DH gets home. Tues- thurs LO will be in full day daycare from 10-5:30 then DH will pick him up abd take are of him and put him to bed etc. since I am going I be gone so much- how do I know when to pump and how much to leave my LO. He will be 5 months when I go back to work. Pumping moms- can you help me figure when to pump and how much to leave fr the day!!
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Is this going to be your permanent schedule?
Is this doable?
Mondays- pump as soon you get in and again 30 mins before you leave.Tues-thurs - pump every 3 hours or 12, 3 and then 7
In the beginning I'd let my body tell me when to pump. When I started to feel tingly I knew it was time to pump.
Do you have a stash? Not sure how much to leave until you see how much your LO takes. It's probably a lot on day one and then stabilizes by week two.
My LO drinks 10-14 ounces depending on naps. I'm gone from 7:30-4:30.
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@katsupgirl: yup that is my permanent schedule!
I can do that on Mondays (I have an hour commute- so I was thinking I could pump on my drive as well)
I do have a good size stash.
How many ounces do you leave in your bottles?
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We are almost 5 months and she eats 5 oz bottles every 2.5-3 hours.
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@cheert16: I feel like everyone leaves more than I do. I think I'm on the lower side. I leave 3 4oz bottles. Sometimes a little less and then it gets dicey. She's at home so my mom has access to the freezer stash if needed.
Wow! That's an interesting schedule. Because it's the evenings you might get away with less bottles if your LO goes to sleep early.
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Xander's 5 months and he eats 5 oz bottles every 3 hours.
If you can, take the weekend before you go back to feed your LO bottles to figure out how much he usually eats. And it's good to pump as many times as missed feedings, though they don't necessarily have to be at the same time. So if your LO is going to take 2 bottles, you want to make sure you pump twice. If he's going to take 3, pump 3 times.
For me, Xander eats 9:00, 12:00, and 3:00, and I pump 6:00, 11:00, and 3:30. So totally different schedule, but same number of times. You may also need to pump additionally at night after your LO's gone to bed to make up any ounces you're missing during the day. I sometimes have to do that if I didn't pump enough.
Good luck to you!
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@katsupgirl: We also do 4 ounce bottles, now at 7 months. Daycare gives her more as needed, but for the most part our LO takes 4 oz a feed.
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@MaisyMay: oh cool! Glad I'm not alone. She's almost 10 months and I keep thinking maybe she's not getting enough. #paranoidmama
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@katsupgirl: Don't worry! All babies are different! We leave 5 oz bottles, but when I did a weighted feed on Friday, Xander only drank 4 oz from me, so I don't think he NEEDS 5 oz bottles. We just send more than we think he needs to be on the safe side and because I'm able to pump that much. If I was pumping less, I probably would've sent less!
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@Adira: I was hoping you would respond to this!! You know your pumping/daycare info
So I would be dropping LO off at daycare at 10- I would probably feed him at 9:30-right before I dropped him off. So would 12:00 2:30 5:00 seem reasonable for daycare? (Dh will pick up between 5:00 and 6:00) Then for at home with DH I would give him one for 7:00 one for 8:30 (he drinks way more frequently at night before bed) does that totally reasonable? Should I send extra to daycare the frost couple days? That assumes he goes every 2.5 hours between feedings (he usually does every 2.5-3)
So for me I would pump on my way to work (I have an hour commute) or as soon a so got to work, 11:00, 1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 8:30 or when I get in the car to go home. Then I also wake up at 2am each night to pump (LO sttn) that should give me enough hopefully- right? I pump between 4-5 ounces, although u have never just pumped all day before- I should probably try it before LO goes to daycare!
Ahh I am so stressed out by this!
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@cheert16: my LO eats 4-5 ounces every three hours. Basically my pumping schedule is determined by her every day. I take whatever one time she wakes up in the morning and eats (usually between 6am and 7am) and then I pump every three hours from there so that I'm pumping at the exact same times that she is eating at day care so we are on the same schedule to go back to nursing after work.
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@cheert16: I think your schedule for daycare sounds totally reasonable! Maybe leave an extra few ounces just to be on the safe side, but if he usually goes 2.5-3 hours and you're leaving enough for every 2.5, he should be fine!
As for your evening schedule, what time are you going to feed him before work? You said you work 4:00 - 9:00, so are you actually going to leave enough for 5:00, 7:00, and 8:30? Just wondering what time his last feed will be before you go to work since you didn't specify.
As for your pumping schedule - it sounds totally reasonable! Just try to pump at least as many times as you're missing feedings and maybe one extra! You may not even need to get up at 2:00 a.m. to pump - maybe you could just pump after nursing him when he goes to bed for the night to get a few extra ounces to make up whatever you need. Sometimes I get everything I need from my pumping sessions at work, and sometimes I have to pump after nursing to get the extra ounces, but usually doing that will always get me enough!
Good luck to you! Working and pumping is stressful, but it's doable!!!
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@cheert16: I think that schedule for day care sounds great. I pump 3 times at work, even though now R is eating 4 bottles at day care. At home she eats every 3 hours but a couple times at day care she is eating every 2 1/2 but she is finishing all 5 ozs every time.
It is hard to figure it out the first couple weeks, what works and what doesn't work. If you think he will need 3 bottles at day care, send 4 just in case. Then DH can always take it home and use for that night.
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@Adira: on Monday his last feed will be at 2:30- I will leave at 3, so I would leave the 3 bottles (for 5ish, 7 ish, 8:30ish) I don't know if I will be able to pump 3x on Monday so I am hoping my middle on the night pumps will help on that day (as well as weekend stocking up!)
Tues, wed, thurs are my long days- so those will be the ats I pump like crazy!
I have Fridays off, so I will nurse on Friday, sat, sun, and half of Monday. -
@cheert16: Your schedule sounds good and doable!! Good luck!!
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@cheert16: I agree with @Adira: it sounds good!!
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@Adira: @Smurfette: thanks ladies!
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@cheert16: I hope that it all works out! It can be stressful trying to make sure you pump enough for your kids, and being stressed just makes you pump less (I'm totally in this stress-cycle right now)! But it sounds like you have a plan that should work, so I wish you all the best!!!
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@Adira: I don't have to start until mid September- but I am so nervous about the whole thing I figured I would get myself prepped early! plus I want to do a trial run of the whole thing to make sure I can actually pump enough (aka- what I am most worried about!) Saw that you have HFM- so hopefully your pumping woes get better once you are on the mend! Get well soon!
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@cheert16: Aww, thanks! You're sweet! I'm wondering if the HFM is what's causing my pumping issues - hopefully that's the case and things will improve once I'm past it! What a mess!!!
Definitely doing a trial run is a good idea!! I didn't enjoy doing it - pumping while you're home and can nurse your baby SUCKS - but it's worth it to figure out schedule and output! My output pretty much has stayed the same since I started (besides recently), so knowing what it looked like and how much I needed to pump was good to know right up front.
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