How long did you pump at work?
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Anonymous
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Stopped pumping at work when my babies were 12 months old. Stopped breastfeeding altogether when babies were between 14-16 months or so. When I first stopped pumping, I did a morning and nighttime feed. Then just nighttime, then nothing.
It's really hard to pump at work! It is so distracting and a time suck. I could pump in my private office and I still hated it. |
Anonymous
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I returned to work at 5 mo PP and was only in the office 1 day a week. By 8mo I only pumped 1x a day at work, and then around 9 months just pumped in the am and at night (was exclusively pumping after 6 mo, no breastfeeding). It was so hard- meetings would get rescheduled, wifi wouldnt work in the pumping room, taking all the crap with you, forgetting the milk and having to go back to it.
Pretty sure if I had to be in the office sooner I would have stopped earlier. |
Anonymous
| 14-16 mos but thats because we hadnt found a replacement milk for him at that time and nursing was still a significant portion of his calories thanks to food issues. At the time it was basically just almond coconut soy and cow. Ripple had just started at the time and he didnt tolerate it well. Once we had basically trialed major foods and had 20-30 foods we did almond coconut. I nursed through 2.5. He had just turned 2 before COVID started and I think he would have weaned without fuss if we werent home 24/7 with no daycare, reciprocally maybe I would have nursed longer but my sanity was barely hanging on and it was the straw. It did not improve sleep though! |
Anonymous
| Still pumping, baby almost ten months. Try to do twice a day (dropped from three pumps at 8 months). Sometimes only get to one. Still pumping minimum of 8oz a day, usually 12ish. I need, mentally, to take a break from work and frankly it forces me to. I often procrastinate it, but appreciate the time out once I get there. I think I’ll drop to one pump completely at 11 months and then stop around 12, as that’s what I did with the first. |
Anonymous
| PP - I am very fortunate to have a lovely pumping room that is also right down the hall from my office (thankfully because our building is enormous) which makes it easy to step out and also when I forget something. |
Anonymous
| I was another who lasted 3 days. I had a private office, private fridge, workplace could not have been more accommodating or supportive - pumping was just not for me. |
Anonymous
How did you pump that long with such minimal pumping? I pumped until 13 months but eas pumping 7x a day |
Anonymous
SEVEN?!? Even at 12 months? I’m the PP still pumping at ten but just 2x a day. I honestly can’t imagine. |
Anonymous
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With my first I pumped for 14 months!
With my second I was working from home full time and my daughter weaned herself by 9 months, lol. |
Anonymous
Not 7x PP but I have a low capacity so I still have to pump 7-8x a day at 5 months |
Anonymous
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I only lasted about two months at work once I got back from maternity leave. It was hard because they only had one place to pump and I wasn't the only new mom. Sometimes I had to go pump in my car.
It was very stressful. I ended up just buying formula for daycare and I breastfed in the AM and PM when I was at home. |
Anonymous
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Kid 1 - 13 months
Kid 2 - breastfed for 2.5 years, don’t remember when stopped pumping during the day Kid 3 - 15 months But pumping took zero brain space for me and I had time to do it. If I were pressed, I’d probably quit sooner. |
Anonymous
i was exclusively pumping months 6-12 (and nursed first this in am and sometimes overnight) and had an undersupply. was rough! but am so intrigued how one can pump so infrequently without hurting supply! current baby nurses still like 8+ a day at 3 months |
Anonymous
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No wrong answers here. My kids are teens now (the thread showed up on the recent topics page for those wondering why the heck a teen mom is responding). I took 12 weeks off with each of my two kids.
With kid 1, it was 9.5 months pumping at work 2 times a day (kid was 3-12.5 months old). With kid 2, it was 9 months (ages 3-12 months) with 2 times pumping at work and then a nighttime pump after the kid went to bed when my supply started to drop when kid was around 9 months. Kid 1 was a smaller baby, and I had an oversupply early on so ended up with a significant freezer stash that lasted for several months after I stopped pumping. Kid 2 was a bigger, hungrier baby. I wasn't anti-formula. Both kids had some newborn feeding issues that required formula supplementation in the early weeks. I really debated about that nighttime pump, but, for me, it was easier to do that quick pump than worry about formula. I had a colleague who had a second baby around the time I had my first, and she didn't respond to a pump well at all. She did pump at work, with a rented hospital-grade pump for about 3 months after returning, but it was mainly to keep up supply enough to nurse mornings/evenings/weekends with the baby. |
Anonymous
| 1 year pumped at work and breastfed until 15 months but last few months were only night feedings. Dropped from 3 to 1 pumps in the office at some point but can’t recall. It’s easier to reduce pumping once the kid takes to solids. Do what works for you. |