Okay, this is sorta random, and I'm a long way from starting to have kids. But I was wondering... if you only get 3 months leave from a job, how are you supposed to breastfeed afterwards, if you HAVE to go back to work (financial reasons). Will you produce enough milk to feed your baby, and still have enough left over to pump for when you're at work? What if your job is the sort where there's no reasonable way you can pump milk at work... will your supply go down so much that you'll have to switch to formula?

Hi!!

There are as many ways to make it work as there are moms and babies. Some women choose to breastfeed until they return to work and then they stop and formula feed after that point. Many women pump or express when they are away from their babies. Some women can go to the childcare at lunch and breastfeed. Other women don't have that option and express at work. When the baby is older, some women can be away for 6 to 8 to 10 hours without becoming very uncomfortable and nurse when they are with the baby but don't feel the need to express or pump, either for comfort or for the milk to be stored for the baby.

Some states have laws that require employers to provide time (unpaid) and space (not a bathroom) to pump. Larger employers might even have a room dedicated to pumping. Some pumps are hands free and can be used while the mom types at a computer. Some moms get very adept with hand expression and can whip out 4 ounces in about 10 minutes flat.

So the answer is really: it can look anyway it needs to look to meet you and your child's needs.

I've been a SAHM, but from friend's experiences I can give you this:

Your body will produce as much milk as baby needs. Pumping every few hours will not take away from how much your baby gets.

If, when the baby is young, you go for a long period of time without pumping or feeding the body decides that it doesn't need to make that much and will eventually cut back supply.

Electric pumps are really fast. I could pump 4-8 oz. in just a few minutes. I would put it either in a bottle or freezer bag for storage. They are also pretty hands free after you get used to them. I used to check emails and post while pumping without any problems.

I was a nursing mom, too!

My advice:

~If you find that electric pumps are too expensive, the best hand held (battery and electric free) pump I have ever used was the Avent Isis. I LOVED it...and recommend it to everyone. I could get just as much with it, and just as quickly, as with an electric pump.

They sell the Avent Isis alone, but they also have it in kits for working mothers-in a bag with a cooler compartment to hold the milk after pumping. It is really a nice setup.

For longer term storage-like freezing-I preferred the Lansinoh storage bags, the ones with the ziploc style closure. They were much more convenient than the ones with the ties.

The key to pumping while working, is getting a day's worth of supply, etc. in advance, before you go back to work. Then, while at work, you pump milk that will be used the next day (or day after) while the caregiver gives the milk that has already been stored. It's a nice system.

If you can't pump at work for some reason (and I would discuss this with your boss, because many are surprisingly lenient here-and you can do so on your breaks, etc.) then some women choose to have the caregiver feed formula during working hours, and then nursing resumes when the mother is home. After a few days of this, your body adjusts to the new feeding schedule. This is a nice option if necessary-because ANY breastfeeding is better than none, it doesn't have to be an "all or nothing" type of situation. Any milk you can provide to your child is better than none at all.

I am definitely a breastfeeding advocate-personally, I LOVED it. I wasn't able to nurse immediately after birth with my first (I had surgery after the birth) but I nursed my second and third IMMEDIATELY after delivery...when they were just minutes old. It can be hard, but at the same time, such a bonding experience like no other.

I am so excited-my SIL had her baby on October 30, and after discussing it with me through her pregnancy, and her having been around when I was having mine, she has decided to breastfeed as well. It just makes me gush to see it...

to all the nursing moms, and future nursing moms.

Wow, I have no comment on the breast feeding... as I haven't had any kids -but I didn't know that you only got 3 months leave in the States. That's so different from Canada. Here we get a years paid leave, at least we do in Alberta. It's only a fraction of your salary (paid out through unemployment insurance), but still it's helpful.

i rented a cool electric breast pump from a local la leche league in Tennessee. it was much easier on the nipples than the battery operated ones and only cost a dollar a day.

Most of my patients are lucky to get 6 weeks leave.

I'm always so jealous of breast feeding moms. I SO wanted to breast feed both of my kids. For my daughter, NOTHING came out. I was in so much pain, My boobs were so large and hard like bowling balls, she was hungry and didn't eat for two days, so I just gave her a bottle and was done with it, but I cried for days. Then with my son, I had leaky boobs like crazy, but every single time I put him to latch on, he would scream bloody murder. I seriously think he took circumcision better than breast feeding. Once again, he didn't eat for two days, so I gave him a bottle and bawled for days at the rejection of it all.

I'm still sad over it...my next door neighbor just had a baby and she said, "She's breast feeding like a barracuda!"

In the US, the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) states that a person can get up to 12 weeks of unpaid in the event of a birth, adoption, or to care for a sick family member. Some companies might actually pay for some maternity leave. Mine does not, so I am going to have to use a combination of sick time and vacation time to get paid for my maternity leave. I'll have 12 weeks though (because I can go negative on the sick time) so I'm not worried.

I think if you use all 12 weeks for the birth, you can't ask for it later if you have a sick child in the same year. At least that's what they say where I work. Most of my co-workers use less than the 12 weeks.

Some of them can take advantage of FMLA. Most go back to work at 2-6 weeks to pay the rent and pay for groceries. Vacation time and benefits are not even on the radar for many many women.

This thread is a little old but:

Did they not tell you that circumcision (and any other surgery) can and usually does interrupt and sometimes ruin breastfeeding? All (healthy) infants can use a bottle because it's very simple, but infants who've had surgery usually cannot nurse and need to be finger fed while they work on breastfeeding. I thought it was standard to tell new mothers that - LLL used to recommend circumcision or any other non-medically necessary surgery be put off until breastfeeding was well established but they got a lot of flak from it because it made some people feel "guilty" (I don't get why) so they stopped the recommendation.

Part of the problem that I encountered with my first child (and I am noticing when I visit new moms in the hospital, etc.) is that you have nurses trying to tell a first time breastfeeding mom what to do/how to do it...and those nurses have NEVER BREASTFED.

A mom who formula fed her kids cannot advise a breastfeeding mom on how to do something that she has never done. There are lots of tips, tricks, etc. that they simply don't know anything about, and didn't learn in nursing school. (My mom is a nurse, BTW...) My mom bottle fed me and my brother...and when I decided to nurse my kids, she knew nothing about it except that it was healthier for the child...and that it involved my breast and the kids mouth.

As far as soreness, milk supply issues, feeding frequency, growth spurts, and everything that goes along with nursing though-she was clueless. I personally think that ALL OB nurses should have to take regular breastfeeding courses with a lactation consultant...and REALLY be educated.

My SIL recently had her first baby, and they were trying to get her to nurse on a 3 hour feeding schedule instead of feeding on demand. When she was unable to give him his first feeding because of her c-section recovery, they gave him a bottle with the little standard sized nipple instead of a wide mouth nipple that would help avoid nipple confusion...all sorts of crap like that. Unless they nursed themselves, many of them don't know what they are doing!

Oh lord yes. I had that problem too. They INSISTED he should ONLY eat once every 3 hours and he was eating every hour. The horror! He was hungry off of their precious schedule. And seeing as I was leaking milk everywhere I saw no reason to watch the clock. As it ended up, we just left after something like 16 hours post delivery when he was born as I had an easy delivery and the only post-natal procedure he had done was the heel prick. And what do you know, he's a happy healthy 4 year old who enjoyed his milk whenever he wanted it.