Some upcoming posts
I have a friend who has just entered her second trimester with her first baby. She has asked a couple questions re: baby things and she knows I’m always looking for fodder for my blog, and so we agreed that I would post the answers as blog posts (note: they’re pretty much just my opinion, lol, you can talk to ten other people and get 10 other answers!)
There is one question that she asked me and I answered her via email, but said I would throw it out there to any other readers for some answers (they will ALL be open for other readers’ to answer of course, but I’m hoping someone else can give her some more info!)
Here was her question:
We want to breastfeed, but don’t know how long we’ll be able to do so because of my job. I am guaranteed 6-8 weeks…but beyond that, I would have to pump at work. Is it practical to do so? There is a fridge at work that I could store the milk in. But it’s an hour to get home, plus however long it takes to get baby from wherever s/he is staying. I mean, how fast does this stuff spoil? I certainly wouldn’t want to make baby ill.
I directed her to my absolute favorite breastfeeding site, kellymom.com and specifically to the sections on pumping/working/handling pumped milk. I did pump with both the boys, but it went straight to bottle or to freezer. Can any one else chime in here? Thanks!
I had an Ameda Purely Yours pump that came with a “cool & carry” storage tote. It came with 3 mini-ice packs that fit into the side and bottom slots of the tote. I popped the ice packs in the freezer at work and kept the milk refrigerated for my long commute (over 1 hour). I’m sure you can find similar totes from other brands.
Great! Thank you Sarah!!
I have been pumping at work for about 6 months now. It’s very practical! I live almost an hour away from work and from where the baby is staying. Breastmilk will actually last for hours at room temp. But I found that Playtex makes a “fridge to go” bag (got mine at target). You freeze the whole bag, and it will keep things cold up to 12 hours…so it keeps the milk cool enough until I get home to get it in the fridge. I get it out of the freezer around 5am, and I don’t get home until around 4:15pm…and nothing’s spoiled! I use a Medela pump. Pricey, but well worth it. The first week or so at work I had to really try to adjust to fit pumping in (didn’t help that I was starting a brand new job off maternity leave…so I really didn’t know what to expect). But now it’s second nature!
Thanks for the info ladies! (Terra, I don’t mind if you use my name. But if you don’t want to, that’s ok too.)
Kim, when you pump, does your employer dock your time so that you either have to make it up or not get paid for that amount of time? I’m not familiar with the rules of this. And maybe it varies by employer…or maybe there are laws??
Oh, and how do your sitters feel about using breast milk vs. formula? I mean, I would think it’s less prep for them. But does it weird them out?? I don’t think I’ll encounter issues as baby will mainly be kept by family members. But it’s another thought I’ve had in the past week or so.
I second the Medela pump! If you can at all afford it (call your insurance company, our LC told us that some companies can sell them cheaper (or something…Zach handled it all, lol, what a riot to hear him on the phone discussing pumps, LOL) But our LC gave us a playtex one – I went through 3 – the motor kept dying…I ended up using a friends’ pump (shame shame…lol)
We’ve never had a sitter (though it was mostly family) have a problem w/ using pumped milk
(And I totally meant to link to you when I said I had a friend, lol)