Member Questions

If you breastfed, how long did you keep it up after going back to work? Did your workplace have a dedicated room to pump?”

Asked by Work It, Mom! Team on 2nd January 2008 | 26 replies

26 replies so far...

I took 3 months maternity leave, then returned to my job as an attorney full time. I continued to pump and breastfeed until my son turned 1. I was able to pump in my own office. When my son was 3-7 months, I pumped 3x a day while at work, then when he was probably 8 -10 months, I was able to only pump at lunch. For the last 2 months, I did not have to pump at all, but still had enough milk to breastfeed him once in the morning and once at night. I found breastfeeding to be such a special bonding time with him, especially after being apart all day, that I wanted it to last as long as possible, as long as he felt the same way. I am very proud of the length of time he breastfed, especially considering that many of my friends, who are stay at home moms, usually stop at 3 or 4 months!

Flag as inappropriate Posted by boineau1 on 10th January 2008
I'm lucky to be a WAHM. I only had 6 weeks of maternity leave. Since I WAH, though, I was able to continue pumping and nursing for quite some time. I pumped for 12 months, and nursed for 19. The pumping was especially difficult near the end, but I'm glad I did it so DH could feed DD some bottles every once in a while. My original goal was to nurse for 12 months... then I changed my goal to 18 months. I'm very proud that I reached my goal. :) I'm not sure if it would have been as "easy" if I was WOH though?

Flag as inappropriate Posted by WAH(web)Mommy on 9th January 2008
I only took 8 weeks off from work to have my child. I continued to BF until I saw a tooth. That was our pact.

I pumped in the private restroom. And stored the milk in the fridge.

No probs.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Uhura on 8th January 2008
Glad to see this discussion here. I just wrote about the difficulty I'm having transitioning my 6 month old to one bottle of formula a day on the Chicago Moms Blog (www.chicagomomsblog.com). We have a dedicated pump room at my office, but it is always in use and it's hard to break away more than once a day to pump. My daughter, unfortunately, hates formula.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Marketing Mommy on 7th January 2008
I went back to work after 12w and pumped for another 12w. I only worked 3 days a week, so it was tough to find the pumping/feeding rhythm. There was not a dedicated pump room, I had to bring a stool to the bathroom to pump. Not the best conditions ever. My new office has 3 rooms dedicated to pumping.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by klg on 4th January 2008
It's ssooo nice to read these responses ... gives me hope! Still plugging along at 4.5 months ...

Flag as inappropriate Posted by KC on 4th January 2008
I breastfed. And I kept it up via pumping after coming back to work at two months. I continued to pump/nurse until around 7.5 months, I believe. We have designated areas to pump, if you don't have an office. However, I am lucky to have an office, with a door that locks.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by RC on 3rd January 2008
I breastfed. And I kept it up via pumping after coming back to work at two months. I continued to pump/nurse until around 7.5 months, I believe. We have designated areas to pump, if you don't have an office. However, I am lucky to have an office, with a door that locks.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by RC on 3rd January 2008
I was unable to breastfeed. When Nick was born I was preeclamptic and I never produced milk. If I had been nursing when I went to work we do not have specific areas set up for this but you can go into the bathroom of the unit and pump if you need to do so during your work hours. I hope to be able to breastfeed with my next child.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Jacqueline on 3rd January 2008
Since I work at home, I let each of my children self wean. First weaned himself at 22 months. Second weaned himself (with a bit of nudging) at 14 months. Third weaned herself at 15 - 16 months.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Jessica on 3rd January 2008
When my daughter was born, I was a teacher, so I did keep it up for the 10 months of school after her birth. We didn't have a dedicated room to pump in, but I was able to do it in my room while the kids were at lunch. (I'm not positive, but I may have confused a few of them when they had to come back for something they had forgotten!

I was also able to pump on my way to and from work thanks for modern pumping technology.

It was a lot of effort, but I am so glad that I did!

Karin

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Karin Bates on 3rd January 2008
I made it nine months. The stress of it all was affecting my milk supply, and my son was not gaining properly, so we gradually switched to formula. It was very gradual. But, we did do 6 months of only breastmilk, so I was proud of that.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Mom at Work on 3rd January 2008