Working While Breastfeeding

You have had lots of great advice, let me see if I can put it all in one for you. This is the advice I give many of my moms when they have this problem.
Remember to drink plenty of fluids, especially during and after nursing or pumping.
Empty your breasts by nursing on one side and pumping the other (many moms report a great increase in pumped milk just by doing it during nursing because the let down is better for some, but you really need a hands free bra or device to make it doable) before you head out to work, then pump every 3 hours on both sides while at work.
Try taping your baby crying when hungry and play that before pumping.
Take a baby holiday on weekends and feed as long and as often as baby would like without supplements.
Make sure your diet is including enough protein (65 grams daily) or supplement with a protein shake at bedtime to help you make milk.
last of all you can take Fenugreek, Mothers lactation tonic or Reglan (with a prescription) to increase your milk supply.
I hope this is helpful.
K. Willis RN, IBCLC (lactation consultant) @ the Nestingplace

1 mom found this helpful

I suggest taking Lactate Support to help you produce more milk. It is expense but well worth it if you want to continue to give breast milk. It is sold at Whole Foods and cost around $20 something dollars. You will take three capsule a day.

Good Luck.

M.

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lots and lots (and lots) of water....watch pics of him while you are at your desk, and of course while pumping. There are also some herbal teas(caffeine free) called "Mothers Milk" that help with lactation.

Hope this helps.
V.

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Hi M., go to the health foood store & ask for Marshmellow. They should be in capsule form but this will help you produce more milk. Good luck & don't give uup just yet try it for several weeks.

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M.,

Night nurse him. I know this may not sound appealing, but if you sleep close to baby and do not encourage him to sleep through the night, he can get lots of nutrition at night, and help keep up your milk supply. I used a cosleeper (sidecar type crib) until my daughter was pulling up, then I put her in bed with me, with a safety guard that clamped down ON TOP OF THE BED so she could not get caughter in between the mattress and the guard. She hated her own room anyway, and this arrangement actually gave me MORE sleep. It's so east - you quickly nurse, don't get out of bed, don't turn the lights on, and go back to sleep. Much less disruptive than modern methods of nighttime parenting. I did not believe in "Ferberizing" or using cry-it-out. It was more important to me to stay bonded, keep nursing, and get more sleep in the process. You might also ask his caretaker to give him one less feeding during the day, stretching the feedings out more, to encourage him to get more nutrition in evening and nighttime hours. Make sure he is really really hungry when you pick him up and when he is with you. Some caretakers may be reluctant to do this since they may care more about keeping baby quiet with food than about your milk supply. Make sure you have cooperation on that end.

There is a lot of misinformation about the safety of cosleeping. It is an age-old practice. Go to www.motheringmagazine.com for a more balanced view of the issue, including pros and cons. It's a great way to keep strong bonds with baby when you return to work.

When I went back to work, I found pumping did not stimulate milk production like my daughter did. She, of course, preferred me and naturally started shifting us to a night nursing schedule. When I stopped judging, criticizing and becoming frustrated with this, I began to see the method to her madness and understood why she was doing that. We both grew to enjoy the nighttime closeness. My husband enjoyed having her close as well. We were closer as a family unit.

You have received many other great comments about hydration, stess reduction, sleep, fenugreek, supplements, good nutrition, etc.

Good luck!

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I had the same problem when I went back to work. (I was only off for 6 weeks) The Breastfeeding Support Center at the hospital where I delivered suggested fenugreek and more milk plus. I found the more milk plus at Central Market for less than $20 and I used it for about 4 weeks. It seemed to help increase my supply faster as my son's needs increased. This is their website, http://www.motherlove.com/. In addition, I started giving him bottles for the sitter that were 1/4 formula and 3/4 breastmilk. While he was at home he got 100% breastmilk. I used a Medela Pump in Style. I did gradually stop the amount I was pumping because it left me completely exhausted though. If you still have trouble just remember that any amount your son gets is good for him.

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Are you pumping at work? If you're going to keep up your supply (since it's a supply and demand system), you'll have to pump at work at least a couple of times a day, in order to keep your production up. If you're already doing this, are not producing enough milk, and want to consider an alternative, here's what I did. I gave all 3 of my kids (now grown, all healthy, all in GT programs) a mixture of breast milk (whatever I was able to produce daily from pumping at work), and supplemented with soy-based formula and Meyenberg goat milk (available at gro. stores in concentrated form) in equal amounts up to the amount of milk your baby needs. It worked for me, and I'm so glad I followed the nutritionist's advice who gave it to me!
L.

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