nursing v pump at onsite daycare?

[Anonymous]

So my new job has an onsite daycare. I have heard at least one person say that she took breaks to nurse during the day instead of pumping. I'm not interested in the legal situation of whether the FLSA allows that alternative, I know that my employer will be ok with it. I'm wondering if others have done this--did you find it more convenient? less so? how long did you do it for? I pumped at my prior job with my first pregnancy and it was ok but that job had top-notch pumping rooms and facilities, this new job really doesn't.

I think I will probably be back at work before we get a spot in this daycare (the wait is like a year long) so that is another factor, I may not have DC at daycare until he/she is 6 months old.

TIA

[Anonymous]

Go on down and visit and nurse! A great way to see youryour baby and nurse and not have to pump! I directed an onsite childcare center for 7 years and we had many parpareparents who worked in or near the building who came once a day to nurse. We had some who could come down and nurse instead of use bottles. So the teachers would call the mother when the baby woke up and mom would come down to nurse. Never used bottles with that one. Most patents would give use some bottles but also mom would come down 2 times or whatever worked aarounaround the baby's schedule and mom's schedule. Its one of the wonderful perks of having an site child care.

[Anonymous]

If you can feed/see the baby in person, why not do that? That said, I'd probably pump some to have backup milk on hand in case you're in a meeting or something and the baby gets hungry.

[Anonymous]

If your job will let you, I can't see why anyone would choose the pump over holding and spending time with your sweet baby during the workday. I might just do one morning oump after nursing (or a late night one) to have enough expressed milk in case you had a meeting or some other commitments for some feeds.

[Anonymous]

I'm amazed that anyone would ask this question. Definitely nurse! I was able to do this until my son was about 15 months and loved getting to see him every two hours. My office also had a totally creepy pumping set-up, so that is probably influencing my response. I did always send in an extra bottle in case he needed it.

[Anonymous]

I would probably plan two bottles and one nursing session a day. You can also nurse at drop off, then pump, nurse at lunch and maybe pump in the afternoon or at pick up, depending on your commute. Definitely nurse! Much better for you and baby, and you will get to know everything that is going on at daycare. You will also be more exposed to the daycare germs and therfore building the immune response that you can pass to baby.

[Anonymous]

I nursed at lunch every day. Lovely.

[Anonymous]

DS was not in an on-site daycare, but if he was I would have much preferred nursing to pumping so I think your setup once your baby starts there is great.

[Anonymous]

DD didn't start daycare until she was 12 months old but I did nurse every day at lunch until she weaned at 18 months. The lunch session ended by being the last session we held on to for a couple months. Had I gone back to work sooner I would not have been able to nurse three times during the workday anyway as it would have been way too much time away and an imposition on my coworkers.

[Anonymous]

My god, how I would love to nurse at an onsite daycare. I would argue that it would be faster. You don't have to assemble parts put on a handsfree bra, pump, handexpress what's left, take apart parts, clean, and then do it all over again a few hours later. I think my whole system takes about 25 minutes, and nursing my kid now takes about 10-15.

[Anonymous]

I nursed every day at lunch. It was so wonderful and helped a lot with leaving DC at daycare.

And with a less than ideal pumping situation, it's a no-brainer. You might run into issues as she gets older and doesn't want to say goodbye, but do it!

[Anonymous]

I would nurse in person as much as you can! So much easier and efficient. Your boobs and baby will thank you. Pumping is the pits.

[Anonymous]

My plan this go around is to nurse at our daycare. Last time I didn't get a spot until I had weaned because at 8 months I just couldn't take the pumping routine anymore. This time I have a spot when I need it and the daycare is roughly 10 office doors from mine. I am beyond thrilled to not have to deal with pumping this time. I'm hoping it will prolong nursing.

[Anonymous]

We don't have on site daycare, and I take the bus to DD's daycare at lunch every day so I can nurse instead of pumping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't have on site daycare, and I take the bus to DD's daycare at lunch every day so I can nurse instead of pumping.

That's amazing commitment.