Written with Love from Another Breastfeeding Pumping Working Mom - Jackie Heiman
Below are a list of 15 tips and items that I organized for my fellow breastfeeding momma's who are going back to work.
Quick Notes About Me: I work full time, 8am-5pm, at a large university here in San Antonio, Texas. I the mother of three children, a 2 year old boy, a 2 month old girl and an angel in heaven (we lost a baby due to a miscarriage). I am a God-fearing Christian woman and when I went back to work both times I felt horrible leaving my babies (I cried often), I prayed for peace and support, some days were harder than others.
1) Break Time & Location for
Nursing Mothers under the FLSA
First and foremost, it is important to know and understand your rights
as a nursing mother. Below are a few
links that you may find helpful.
Something to note is that “Employers are required to provide a
reasonable amount of break time to express milk as frequently as needed by the
nursing mother…. A bathroom, even if private, is not a permissible location
under the Act. The location provided must be functional as a space for
expressing breast milk….”
- http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/breastfeeding-state-laws.aspx
- http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs73.htm
- http://www.dol.gov/whd/nursingmothers/
2) Breast Pump & Parts (My
Brand: FreeMe)
The breast pump I use is the FreeMe Hands-Free Breast Pump. I left my pump at work because when I was
home I fed baby straight from the breast and used a manual hand pump if I
needed to pump. I LOVE the FreeMe
because 1) it was fully covered by my insurance, 2) I can close my office door
and use both hands freely while typing, answering phones, etc. If someone were
to accidently walk in, I can still be discreet enough to let them know I need
some time; 3) it’s quiet, 4) it doesn’t hurt (the Medla hospital grade pump
always hurt me for some reason), 5) its easy to clean. If you are interested in this pump, this video helped me.
3) Sign for Your Office Door
Obviously this one will depend on where you are pumping. I am lucky that I have an office that I can
shut the door and cover the door window.
I needed a sign though so that people did not come in. I’ve found some funny ones and some simple
ones. I had a friend who had a cubical,
she created a ‘door’ out of paper on a roll, she attached it with a note temporarily
while pumping.
4) Shower Caddy Carrier with
Handle (Soap.com Blk Plastic)
I wanted to be able to carry my cleaning supplies and pump parts to (dirty)
and from (clean) the office sink, this little caddy came in handy.
5) Bottle Brush (Munchkin or Dr.Browns)
For obvious reasons, I needed to clean my pump parts, this bottle brush
helped because it included a smaller brush for cleaning parts. I also found that I needed an even thinner
brush to get into some small parts of the valve of my pump.
6) Foaming Dish & Bottle Soap
(Babyganics, Fragrance Free)
I always felt better using Babyganics for some reason. I also loved the foam, one small pump was
enough to clean all parts. I was able to find the small to-go version at our local Babies R' Us.
7) Wash Cloths (I used 2)
I placed one at the bottom of my shower caddy so it could catch
drippings and I placed the other one next to my drying rack in case I needed to
dry my parts.
I found that it was nice to have a fashionable drying rack so that it
didn’t look so awkward in my office. I
liked the Boon grass and flower drying rack.
9) Framed Photo of Baby (Hobby
Lobby)
A framed photo of my little one helped with my let down of my milk. I also recorded a video of my baby when she
would do her hungry cry so that it helped with let down.
10) Breast Milk Storage Bags
(Lansinoh, BPA-Free)
I researched which storage bags were the best and the Lansinoh bags
rated the best. At first I didn’t
understand the point of storage bags, but as I pumped and started a stock pile,
I realized they are space savers! The
Lansinoh bags are leak-proof, include a double zip closure, easy pour spout, write-on
tab, and can stand up or lay flat.
Nursing pads are always great to have on hand to avoid embarrassing leaks
on clothes. I always had mine on at the
start of the day as I was getting ready for work, but I would suggest having a few
extra of these on hand for emergencies.
I also sometimes got dry or sore nipples and the lanolin nipple cream
was helpful to have on hand.
12) Small Travel Cooler (Embark Lunch Satchel, Purple)
This small cooler (with the freezer pack & expressed milk) was the
only thing that traveled with me to and from my office every day. I left this cooler in my office’s freezer
with the freezer pack and bags of expressed breast milk that I had pumped
inside. Make sure the cooler is large
enough to fit your items.
13) Freezer Pack (Igloo Maxcold)
I kept this freezer pack inside my travel cooler with my expressed milk,
all of which stayed inside my office freezer until I was ready to go when I
left work at the end of the day. If you
don’t have an office fridge, I would recommend purchasing a mini fridge for
under your desk.
14) My Cell Phone
I set two reminders to go off every weekday at 7:00am (to remind me to
take my cooler & freezer pack) and again at 4:55pm (to remind me to get the
cooler with the freezer pack & milk from the fridge at my office). I also used my phone (as mentioned before) to
record my baby crying when she was hungry so that I could let down milk while
pumping.
15) A Sense of Humor & a
Mother Friend
For me, pumping was awkward at times, I slowly learned to get the hang
of it and grew into myself. There were
times I had to just laugh. I also
recommend finding an office friend who either has a baby, is/has breastfeed,
etc. Someone to bounce things off of
when things get tricky.
