Expressing milk for the working mother
Filed under Parenting & kids
Some people have written in to ask me about expressing milk and how I planned for my son's feeding times before I went back to work. I'm happy to share my methods with you, but please note that I'm no guru on the matter, since I'm merely walking the path that many have taken before me. My first advice is to get to know many other women who are committed to 100% breastfeeding your baby, because the more friends you have in the same league, the motivated you will be to keep up the practice.
Before I head on to my own mechanics, I'd like to say that every woman is different, and what works for me may not work for you; so do try to ask around and get information from several sources. Eventually you'll form a system that works best for you.
…
Paul usually drinks 3 ounces of milk at each feeding (sometimes he takes less, sometimes he drinks a little more). I use a Medela Harmony, a manual pump, at work, because my work requires me to be at different places at different times, and a manual pump is the most practical option for me. I store the milk in 3-ounce batches, so that the milk would thaw nicely into adjusted measurements for Paul.
Now every day whilst his mommy is at work, Paul drinks about three to four bottles of milk, dependent on his mood. Breastfed babies don't follow a very fixed schedule when it comes to feeding times, so sometimes, Paul gets a little grumpier and wallops all four bottles that I pass to my mother in law. On other nicer-mood days, Paul sleeps and rests more and drinks less. But on a daily basis, whenever I head to work, I'll send over 4 bottles = 12 ounces of frozen milk to my mother in law, and then I'll go to work with four empty bottles packed carefully in my bag.
In terms of breastmilk, demand equals supply, and at work, I keep up a proper schedule. Since I'm at events and functions so often, very early own, I've trained myself to express milk at the typical tea breaks: 1030 am, 130 pm, 330pm and 530 pm. Each time I can steadily push up to 3 ounces the least, and on very very good, productive days, I get up to 5 ounces per pump.
In the middle of the nights, sometimes, Paul may skip his 3 hourly feeds, and there're a few occasions where I wake up from the engorgement pain, stare at my baby sleeping soundly in his cot, and wait for 1/2 hour before deciding that I'll express all the milk.
Now all of this has resulted in me getting about 1-2 additional bottles everyday, and every since my first day of work, we've managed to store up almost 40 bottles in the freezers, and the number is slowly increasing. My milk is stored in several places: the office freezer, my mother's freezer and my home's own freezer. If you get a lot of milk, you may want to buy an additional freezer just for the storage. For me this current arrangement works well so far. so I'll be sticking at it until the day when my milk truly truly multiplies and it becomes inevitable for us to get a freezer for all the storage.
It may be a little tedious trying to balance work and expressing milk for my kid at the same time, but knowing the benefits of breastfeeding and how the milk is good for my son makes me happy and willing to go through this and stay the course for at least a year.
So, good luck to you if you're planning to attempt expressing milk, and do tell me of any other methods that work for you. I'd love to know also what foods help you get more milk, so please share!
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Mar29
March 29, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Bravo to u, this is the best thing a mother can do. I live on fenugreek tea, but also tried eating garlic and green papaya soup. Works so far still nursing and pumping fully at 14 months
March 30, 2010 at 2:34 pm
But if anything should come out from you…it should be poison…u sure it’s ok for ur baby?
March 30, 2010 at 5:05 pm
well done, I envy those who can breastfeed exclusively, cause i can’t, my baby have latch on trouble, that result in me pumping exclusively from day 1 (first few day pump with empty bottle), my milk only came in on the 3rd or 4th day, so i have to supplement my baby with fomula.
anyway i have no special method, just keep pumping, i pump about 6 times a day get about total of 36 to 40 oz. but tat is still not enuf for my baby, so sometimes when i run out of milk i will supplement with fomula.
March 30, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Winnie: i read that breast fed babies don’t need to be supplemented and they drink less than formula fed babies because they can regulate their caloric intake. i don’t think u need to push in 4-5 ounces into the bottle – whatever you have, 36- 40 oz should be enough lah… if i can get 36-40 oz a day i’d be really happy!!
March 30, 2010 at 5:33 pm
It’s been 8 months since I went down this journey and I’ve never looked back. Am going to go back to work soon and I’m expressing milk out for the first time – I was previously a latch-on mum, being SAHM and all.
My biggest advice is this – don’t be too concerned about the numbers. I noticed that over here in Asia, everyone is nuts about how much their baby is drinking, how much they can pump out and such. Abroad, all they tell is feed frequently and go on demand. If baby is hungry, they’ll latch on more frequently or let you know. They don’t bother about how many ounces a baby is taking and etc.
Besides, as your baby gets older, they become more efficient at absorbing nutrients from the milk so will nurse less frequently and when they start solids, less amounts. Formula-fed babies run on a different schedule and amount than BM-fed babies because the nutrients in BM can be more easily absorbed than in formula.
Winnie: To borrow some space on Claire’s blog, 40 oz is a lot especially if it’s a young baby we’re talking about. A baby’s tummy is just the size of their fist and cramming all that liquid into their tummy not only makes them uncomfortable but it can give you problems – burping and colic issues. Imagine filling your tummy to the maximum and more with the adult equivalent of 5 oz.
IF your baby has been gaining weight and is churning out enough wet diapers a day, there is no need to supplement formula. I presume you’re supplementing because your baby cries frequently – crying is the last indicator of hunger and it usually means that your baby has been starving. So if you have fed your little one already, them crying means they want other things – to be cuddled, carried, diaper changed and so forth. Giving them the bottle or formula can lead to overfeeding and an unnecessarily big baby. For mummies who latch on, it can lead to your baby treating you as a pacifier.
In fact, one mistake many new mummies back here in Asia is to supplement in the wee days because they feel that babies will not gain weight on colostrum alone. WRONG. Eva was on nothing but colostrum in her first week and she was up to her birth weight gain in a week (my milk came in later and when she was on my milk, she gained too much weight in one day so the midwife told me to cut back on the feeding frequency to 3 hours instead of 2 hours) – the weight loss is normal and babies can take the weight loss hence why they pack on so much weight in the last trimester in the womb. Also, a baby’s tummy as a newborn is just smaller than a pingpong ball so they don’t need a lot of milk.
my midwife told me that a newborn’s tummy is just the size of a marble! lol which is way way smaller than a ping pong ball… my kid just refuses to nurse on anything more than 3.5 oz, and sometimes he just stops at 2.5 oz… so my bottles are all filled to 3 oz. i think winnie does have a lot of milk so I was quite puzzled why she was supplementing.
March 30, 2010 at 9:05 pm
i admire your determination to make sure paul is exclusively breastfed for as long as possible. keep writing about your efforts! i hope it will inspire more mothers (especially chinese mothers) to breastfeed their babies.
March 31, 2010 at 10:15 am
just some thoughts. i am still breastfeeding my 19 yo toddler! it is time to wean him off but will do it slowly.
firstly, i want to say you are amazing! 4 pumps in a day at work! i can’t even go pass 1..:) i only pump for a month at work then it was only night feeds. my bubs for 7 months then.
there is no exact food to increase the supply, only way is to constantly have sucking motion on the breasts. i noticed when my bubs was on a growth spurt my milk supply increases just as well.
breastfed babies do not need additional supplement. until they are good enough for solid. so you are rigth there! keep up the good work k. just wonder how you thaw the frozen milk. surely take some time, right? as breastmilk cannot be microwave and cannot be thaw under hot water.. i was always direct feeding, no bottle feeding cause my bubs too impatient to wait for milk to thaw.
I thaw it in the refrigerator. Bring it down the night before, and by the next day it will be fine. Thawed milk can be kept in the fridge for 24 hours.
April 1, 2010 at 9:14 am
Thanks for your mail Claire!
Been trying to pump more now during the day when not breast feeding and I have been getting a slight increase in the amount I can express at a time depending if my baby has just had a feed or not =)
In terms of food I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast (but I have been doing that for ages) and I drink fenugreek every morning too. It is relatively inexpensive as I get it from an Indian sundry shop. I kg costs about RM5. It also goes by the name vendium (not sure about the Indian spelling! Pronounced ‘Ven-dee-um’). All you have to do is take about one tablespoon of the seeds and put it in a mug. Fill the mug with boiling water and cover it. Drink it the next morning before you brush your teeth. Advice is to rinse out the seeds before you fill up the mug with boiling water and also you can stir the seeds before you drink it the next morning. I also top up the mug once with lukewarm water after I down my first mug.
It does not have the most pleasant taste, but I got used to it very quickly!
It says online that you know if you are taking enough if you can smell it on your skin. *shrugs*
You can also try Raspberry Leaf Tea which I managed to find at Justlife, Ikano Power Center. One packet cost about RM20-something.
Thank you once again for the advice and good luck with those double-digits!
Mei- Thank you for your comment too! Very informational and puts my mind at ease! Will show this information to my husband as he keeps telling me to feed the baby everytime it cries, even after I have just given 4 oz of expressed milk! I have been trying to explain that not all cries are of hunger!
April 5, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Hi,
I too am a working Mum & am expressing milk in ofc. Its not easy but you certainly have to persevere
For those that want the convenience of warming up milk without worrying if its too warm or not to the temperature you like, you can always get a “Warmer”. It gently warms the frozen / chilled milk to a constant temperature. (I got my Warmer as a complimentary gift when I purchased my steriliser)
I read that Fenugreek increases milk supply & the GNC brand is quite good tho I personally do not take it. *Fingers Crossed* My milk supply have been sufficient so far.
A tip for those that want to increase their milk supply, dont express too long at a time. Its better to have shorter expression time but increase the frequency.
During my 2 months maternity when I was trying to express & stock up before I came back to work, I use to despair when I get only 1 oz per expression (after I fed my baby). I use to express 30 mins at a time! And that was on my Dual Pump!
Then I did my research & realise shoter expression but increased frequency is better. Lo n behold, it did work for me. I managed to stock up 100 oz before I came back to work.
Golden rule of breastfeeding is this, the more the demand, the more will be the supply!
April 7, 2010 at 9:45 pm
I’ve been waiting for this post! I’m going back to work soon and hopefully i still can breastfeed my son. Must get the medela harmony as i’ve heard that it’s the best manual pump.
For all the working mum who hasn’t got enough sleep- i suggest you read a book by Tracy Hogg entitled Baby Whisperer. i’m training my son to sleep during the night. so far he sleeps 6 hours straight.
April 12, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Hi! Happy motherhood and may all of you here have a wonderful breastfeeding/pumping journey. I have successfully b/f my DS for 23 months all the while being a FTWM and a mother to my DD of 4YO then. I’m in the sales force and our time can be unpredictable some days. It will work and all women can b/f and yield enough milk for their children.
For me foods that worked, papaya (the fruit), young papaya soup, milk maid tea, fenugreek tea, fish, fish curry or any curry from indian stall coz they cook with fenugreek too. Prior to pumping, I would drink a cup of hot milo to help with easy letdown.
Becareful with oversupply as the ratio in your breastmilk will be different ie, too much foremilk, too little hindmilk. Results in breastmilk with too little staying power from hindmilk and baby too gassy from foremilk. At one point, I could pump out 14oz. I had coconuts for breasts, not a good sight..
April 13, 2010 at 11:46 am
Hi there everyone,
thanks for the advice. will keep those infor in mind.
By the way, i dont always get 36 to 40oz a day
. someday when i got sick or too stress. i have low milk supply. that’s when i supplement formula to my baby. anyway, i dont supplement formula now cause i have just enuf for my baby. and in order to keep up the milk supply, i drink sugar free soya milk every morning, drink lots of soup every now and then, increase the fluid to 3 lts or more etc etc. And i advoid food like curry, seafood, ice cream …. May i ask do you guys advoid food like i do too? do you think its necessary?
My baby is current 4months going 5 months, about 7.3kg(during last month checkup) he drinks about 4 1/2 oz sometimes when he sleep for 4 hour straight he would want about 5 oz when he woke up. its hard for me to say how much he drink, sometimes he drink 3 oz and half an hour later he would ask for milk again.
Being a first time mum, i have very little knowledge about breastfeeding, i am almost on my own because most of my friend only feed for 1 month or 2. and because my baby doesnt latch on i have to pump out exclusively. i really hate pumping, but as time pass by i see the benefit of breastfeeding. and pumping has eventually become a routine. Bravo to all the mummy who succeed in breastfeeding.
April 14, 2010 at 8:16 pm
I learned a lot from this post and the comments. Thanks, Claire.
April 19, 2010 at 6:43 pm
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