Pumping and Working

I had the same problem after a couple months at work. You should be able to have just 2 pumping sessions. I did 10 and 2. You'll likely get the same amount of milk. You'll also be able to sit for a full pumping which may need to be a full 30 minutes. I noticed that when I went just a little longer at the pump, I would often get another "let down" (usually right at the 25 minute mark).
And when you go to pump, make sure you relax. Take some music with you, or just close your eyes for a minute or two. If you're feeling rushed and worried about how much you're getting, it might affect let-down.

Make sure you're nursing as often as possible when you're with your daughter. She is more powerful than the pump!
You might be able to nurse twice in the mornings (once at wake-up and once right before you walk out the door). I didn't have time for a second nursing in the morning, but since I was usually pretty full first thing, I would nurse her til she was full, hand her off to my husband (he'd burp her and get her dressed) and pump til I was "empty."
In the evening, you can nurse as soon as you get home and again at her bed time.

In addition to pumping at home in the morning, you might add it in the evening too. The whole time I was nursing and working I would add a pumping session just before I went to bed (do it the same time every night so your body will get used to producing milk then). The baby usually had her last feeding around 7, then went to bed for the night at 8 and I would pump at 9. The evening pumping gave me the extra I needed to fill all the bottles for the next day.
I think the books say something like 5 to 8 feedings a day to keep up your supply. If I counted nursing 3 times (once in the morning and twice in the evenings), plus pumping 3 times (twice at work and once in the evening) that gave me enough to keep her going until she was 6 months old, at which time she weaned herself.

On the weekends, put the pump and bottles away (except for that evening time when you pump before bed) and nurse, nurse, nurse. Since your body might be on a different schedule from the baby, you might need to nurse more often (even demand-feed if you must), but it will boost your supply for the next week.

Also remember that as she eats more solid food, her need for breastmilk will decrease a little. And, if you're using breastmilk for her cereal, you might switch to using water, formula or juice in the cereal so you can save a little breastmilk.

Also, what kind of pump are you using? If it's anything less than the Ameda Purely Yours or the Medela, you'll need to upgrade.

Hope this helps!
Feel free to email me if you want to ask more questions, or just want some support. Pumping and working and nursing is hard, but you can do it!

I actually pumped one less time; this made a huge bottle instead of making 3 smaller ones. Stress is usually the main point. I am a teacher and having my door locked, I still had a maintenance man come in. Think of your baby, relax- this is your time. Congratulations for doing this- I did for 9 months- it is tough, but soo worth it! Respond if you ever need encouragement. I think I would have made it longer if I knew others out there were making it work to!

Hi R.,
I pumped while working and it can be hard. I went through periods where my supply was lower. This may sound crazy, but one of the things I did was look at a picture of my little boy as I pumped and kept reminding myself why I was doing this and trying to not get stressed out about it. The more you worry about not having enough milk, the more your milk supply will decrease. The water really helps, but you can also pump while your child is eating the rice cereal. Just because she is not nursing doesn't mean you can't pump during that time.

Everyone's advice is really good. I just wanted you to know a few things. I am a SAHM of a 2YO and a 6MO. Nursing with a 2YO is hard and I found myself in a similar situation. I talked to my OBGYN about it and he prescribed Domperidone. It is a compounded med that I get filled at Both Worlds Pharmacy in Arlington. It has worked great for me to increase my supply. Stress and my mind being elsewhere (what is my 2YO getting into now) made nursing hard for me this time. I nurse 3 times a day and pump bottles for her other 3-5 feedings. I was so down and depressed about doing it this way that it made things worse, but I kept on doing it. At our 6 month well check the other day our I told my pedi what I was doing and thinking she was going to yell at me, I got the opposite. She praised me for what I was doing! She said that she knows it is hard for working moms and moms with other kids to the point they quit all together and go to formula. My emotions were running high that day that I was so overwhelmed at her comments I got in the car and just cried happy tears. That is so what I needed to hear. And, with my slowly decreasing milk supply, I came home and pumped after 3 hours since the last time got a lot of milk.

BF Mom's just need words of praise sometimes and that is what I needed the other day. My milk supply is getting better and I just have to look back to that day in the docs office and think about what she told me. The easy thing is to just give up, but I did not. If she is getting breastmilk whether it be from the breast or bottle, just remember that you are doing the best thing you can for her to nourish her body. Keep thinking that and telling yourself you are doing a good job and I promise it will make a difference in your supply.

Did you cut out a nursing session in favor of rice cereal? I would keep nursing either just before or just after cereal. At this point, your baby still needs the milk - cereal is just for fun, really.

That said, if your baby is sleeping well, you might consider adding a pumping session a few hours after your baby goes to bed, when you go to bed. I typically only got 3-4 ounces during that session, but it was enough to provide the extra milk for my daughter that I didn't pump over the day.

I can confirm Maggies comment on stress affecting let down! it does, I have gone through alot of stress lately and my milk wouldn't let down most of the time. Things are ok now, and Milk has resumed flowing properly. But I think he is needing more so I'll have to start nursing more often and see what happens.