Breastfeeding exclusively 3-6 month old infant while WFH

[ashaan0]

@wisper https://www.reddit.com/r/MomsWorkin..._app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1

You may get some more answers based on experience in this moms working from home group as many of the moms have/are doing what you are asking about. I linked it above. I just nurse on my pumping breaks typically since I can take them whenever I need to since I work from home and my son is home with my husband. Even though you are work from home your job still has to allow you breaks to pump.

 

[toastfiend]

@wisper Every baby is so different. I went back to work WFH part time at 6 weeks. I had less calls as I was easing back in to work and I could nurse her wherever while she was a newborn. When she was small I could sit in front of the computer, monitor my email and even type with one hand if I had to. I took actual breaks to nurse her too but she ate so frequently I needed to be online some of the time. She nursed quickly for the most part back then. As she grew, she started nursing longer (it became part feed part sleep crutch) and my work schedule became more demanding. It just took too much time to nurse her and I needed a set schedule so I pumped and let her caretaker bottle feed from about 10 or 12 weeks and on

 

[openyoureyesletlifein]

@wisper I went back to work (at home) when my daughter was 6 weeks with in home childcare and I have been ebfing.

My work is very flexible, and half the meetings I take are with women who I am friends without outside of work, so for the first 4 months back at work I was pretty much able to nurse on demand as needed with her in my lap on the boppy pillow.

Now she's older and is way too easily distracted, so I just text with the babysitter to find a quick break to nurse her. Pumping takes way longer for me than nursing, and I get a really low yield. I do have a ton of frozen milk from the early days if the sitter needs to feed her when I'm not available.

I do work occasionally while nursing side lying, but mostly just low key things that are not critical.

I don't see why nursing will be any different than a pump break for you- and it's not really anyone's business how you are expressing milk.

 

[trinichristiannudist]

@wisper With my oldest, I had to return to the office when my maternity leave was up at 3 months pp, so I pumped until he turned 1. Until about 9 months, I was pumping every 3 hours (so 3 times during the workday). Then I dropped down to 2 pumping sessions. At 11 months I dropped down to 1 pumping session during the day.

With my youngest, I was able to work from home and my husband was a SAHD, so the baby was home all day too. I pretty much followed the same schedule as with my oldest, except taking breaks to breastfeed instead of pumping. It was great, because it usually took less time than pumping would have, I got to cuddle a sweet baby, and I got to give my husband a bit of a break from the baby.

I was able to be a bit more flexible than I was when pumping in the office because I wasn't sharing a room with someone who was basically on the exact same schedule as me just shifted by 30 minutes. But I did have to align my schedule with the baby's. This was in 2020, so they didn't really have anywhere to go. But if my husband had wanted to take the kids on an outing, I would have pumped for any missed sessions.

My work schedule isn't too meeting heavy, so I wouldn't usually block off time on my calendar until people started scheduling meetings. At the beginning of the day, I'd give my husband a list of my meetings and we'd plan target feeding times around my schedule and when the baby last ate.

 

[samgirly]

@wisper I stocked up on pumped milk prior to going back to WFH (most of the time) with both my kiddos around 14 weeks. But I usually just feed the baby directly during little breaks throughout the day. This can get dicey if I have a heavy meeting day, but I just communicate to nanny (or hubby if he's with baby at the time) when my meetings are and when I will have breaks that they can interrupt and when I cannot be disturbed and they need to make a bottle. Also I check email on my phone a lot while I nurse which makes me feel a little productive.

 

[cassandra27]

@wisper Expressing milk to protected in the US. It doesn’t matter how you are expressing.

 

[seanmonty]

@wisper I think it’s a full time job in the first 2-3 months, but by 6 months you’re usually on a schedule and baby eats every 3-4 hours.