OT - question for working nursing moms

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alf1163
alf1163 Posts: 3,143 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Some of you know that my daughter had a baby 3 wks ago. She is a Soldier in the ARMY and in 3 wks she is going back to work and has to leave her baby at the daycare center. She is nursing now and wants to continue nursing for a while. She does not think she can pump enough milk everyday to keep a full supply of milk for her at the daycare center. She has some questions that I could not really answer for her:

1. How does she know how much to pump? How many ounces the baby is drinking now?? Hard to tell when you breastfeed.

2. Can formula be used in addition to nursing when the baby is with her? She is thinking she could pump but also give the provider formula in case they run out of breast milk.

3. What formula to buy?? There are so many brands out there. What is the best?

I hope some of you can offer some suggestions, things that have worked for you. Of course, I advised her to consult with her pediatrician as well. Thanks!!! :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • alf1163
    alf1163 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    Some of you know that my daughter had a baby 3 wks ago. She is a Soldier in the ARMY and in 3 wks she is going back to work and has to leave her baby at the daycare center. She is nursing now and wants to continue nursing for a while. She does not think she can pump enough milk everyday to keep a full supply of milk for her at the daycare center. She has some questions that I could not really answer for her:

    1. How does she know how much to pump? How many ounces the baby is drinking now?? Hard to tell when you breastfeed.

    2. Can formula be used in addition to nursing when the baby is with her? She is thinking she could pump but also give the provider formula in case they run out of breast milk.

    3. What formula to buy?? There are so many brands out there. What is the best?

    I hope some of you can offer some suggestions, things that have worked for you. Of course, I advised her to consult with her pediatrician as well. Thanks!!! :flowerforyou:
  • MFS27
    MFS27 Posts: 549 Member
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    Hi There!

    I've either been in school or work full time with each of my three babies, and have pumped each time. I bought the professional medela breastpump - not cheap, but worth it!

    What I did was I pumped three times a day - in the morning (either just before going to work, after last nursing session, or right when I get to work - while checking e-mails and multi-tasking, lol), 2nd time at lunch, and 3rd time after the baby goes to bed. I was able to make enough milk - we did use enfamil for emergencies (but my babies weren't wild about formula after being used to breast milk.)

    When I pumped, each breast yielded about 4-6 oz - which is about what my babies (0-2 months old) drank every few hours. At age 3-6 months, they went up to 8 oz, then we started introducing rice cereal at 6 months.

    Also, I pumped twice a day (AM and PM) on the weekends, and froze the milk - this was also used for during the week when baby was at daycare.

    Hope this helps!

    (p.s. - I'm SO glad to be done with the pumping/night-time feedings - three babies was a LOT of work :laugh: )

    p.s.s.

    Also - your daughter can start pumping now, and freezing milk (pump after baby goes to bed, or just after last feeding before nap, etc.) Breast milk can be kept frozen up to six months.
  • our5cooks
    our5cooks Posts: 77 Member
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    I hope I can help some! I too was a nursing Mom and was to three girls! She needs to make sure to pump every two hours if possible and nurse as much as she can when she's with her! Some days she'll pump more than others and she'll KNOW when there's nothing left to pump! I supplemented as they got older and I have used Good Start (not my fav), Similac, and Enfamil. Similac and Enfamil were equal to me and personally I used soy based. In the beginning she'll probably only drink 2 to 3 oz. and she'll gradually increase. I noticed they wanted more when drinking from a bottle I guess because they drank it so fast (the same as when we as adults eat fast and don't realize we're full). Working and nursing is really hard but she CAN do it and she'll need a BIG support group for which ever way she chooses. I hated it when people felt like my nursing was an inconvienence!!!! Stress is not good for nursing! It will come natural! Oh and also at the hospistol they should've given her a phone number to call for a lactation nurse....they are so much help and will even come to your house if need be! Lactation nurses are GREAT! She will do good and tell her to hang in there because nursing is not always easy but it's wonderful and it gets easier, In a couple months she'll feel like she's been doing this forever.

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    Oh and nursing help you lose those unwanted pounds...as long as you don't put them back on afterwards! LOL! Like me!
  • our5cooks
    our5cooks Posts: 77 Member
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    Pumping in between feedings is really good. The more you pump and nurse the more milk she'll make! The more the better. I didn't work with my babies but I did pump, I'm sure you'll get some better info. from Moms that worked and nursed!
  • MFS27
    MFS27 Posts: 549 Member
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    our5cooks - good point about contacting the lactation nurse! I forgot about that - I did see one for some struggles early on with DD #1 - the nurse was sooooo helpful and nice.
  • myfitz4life
    myfitz4life Posts: 46 Member
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    Congrats to her for breastfeeding!!!:bigsmile:

    Its tricky going back to work so soon because the breast feeding is still so new for mom and baby at this point, but it can be done.

    For the formula, I would go with SIMILAC ORGANIC. It does not have any hormones in the cow's milk. It has all the benfits of SIMILAC Advance but without the hormones. It has the DHA and everything like all the other formulas. Its a bit more expensive, but worth it. There are store brands that are the same thing (Wal-Mart organic brand for example), but I found that they don't dissolve as well as the SIMILAC brand. They clump in the nipple

    The way I see it, babies are born natural, so why not keep them that way? The breast is best but if she has to give formula, no hormones would be my advice.
  • alf1163
    alf1163 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    Thank you sooooo much to all of you!!! I will forward these suggestions to my daughter. I did not know about freezing it, great idea!!! In what type of container do you freeze it in??? I am hoping these ideas encourage her to continue breastfeeding at least for 6 months, more if possible. I will also suggest the lactation nurse...not sure if they have it at the military hospital where she had the baby. Thanks again!!! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • MFS27
    MFS27 Posts: 549 Member
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    Thank you sooooo much to all of you!!! I will forward these suggestions to my daughter. I did not know about freezing it, great idea!!! In what type of container do you freeze it in??? I am hoping these ideas encourage her to continue breastfeeding at least for 6 months, more if possible. I will also suggest the lactation nurse...not sure if they have it at the military hospital where she had the baby. Thanks again!!! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

    Medela sells special bags that you can use to store breast milk.

    I just used zip-lock sandwich bags (marked date on it with a sharpie). When you thaw it - either put the frozen milk in the fridge the night before, or (if using right away) put it in a bowl of warm water. Never microwave breast milk (it kills off the good antibodies.) I trained my babies to drink milk from the bottle "cool" so I wouldn't have to worry about warming it up - it also helps them favor mom's breast when she is around. You can warm up breast milk by using one of those bottle warmers (buy from Babies 'R Us) or warm water. I had a freezer FULL of milk by the time my babies went to daycare (started pumping at 3 weeks old). It's not hard - your daughter can definitely do it. I'm glad she has your support!!

    Also, breast feedings adds at least 500 calories to your daily net calories :wink:

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