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Pumping at Work
For those of you ladies who pump at work (or have any insight), do you have more than one pump? I am trying to decide if I should buy a second one to keep at home so I'm not lugging mine back and forth every day and/or the weekends. I probably won't need it on weeknights very often, but I think I will still pump once/day on the weekends to keep my supply up. I'm just afraid I will forget it one day at home, and then will either have to go buy a cheap manual pump (not ideal) or drive all the way home to get mine (even less ideal).
(I can get Medela pumps fairly inexpensively so I'm not too worried about the expense, especially since I used mine so much in the beginning. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra one for the next child, since they say pumps usually only last for 1-2 children.)
Re: Pumping at Work
I left mine at work during the week and brought it home on weekends. I had a manual I kept at home just in case. However, I had to pay full price for the pumps; if I could get another for less than full price I may have considered that.
One thing I definitely suggest is to get a box of those microwave sterilizer bags and keep one at work, and get a spare set of valves/horns/etc. I made the mistake of leaving mine home once, and it was a very painful and stressful process of tracking down spares in between classes.
2012 Reading Challenge
It sounds like it may be worth it to just get another one.
Becky - I do have one of the sterilizer bags! I was so close to buying addition parts/bottles on Sunday, but decided I should wait to see if I was going to get a second pump. I'm sure you were miserable the day you left your parts at home!
Paige - haha that's awesome!
Jules - I am so happy we get a good deal, but I just saw that it's one pump per pregnancy. (Or I would offer to buy one for you!) I may put in a future due date and hope they just think it is Irish twins or something! ha!
2012 Reading Challenge
Haha, that's great! No worries either - our plan is to register for one, hopefully get a completion discount and buy it with our FSA - BUT I do have to check first to see if insurance covers any part of it first!
Jules- my FSA states you need a medical reason to be reimbursed for the pump... it's so frustrating. Same thing with insurance. So basically, unless I find it on crazy sale, I'm going to try to wait until after I give birth to purchase it.
Amber, you made me realize that I have a hike to and from my car so lugging a pump seems like a pain! Oh so many things to consider!
Insurance is frustrating because they say it's not necessary... but it completely is! Ugh anyway. The nurse/lactation consultant who leads the Mommy & Me class I go to recommended the Ameda Purely Yours which I believe is a little more affordable and I believe is the one that has the lock system so you can share with others without worrying about sharing bacteria.
2012 Reading Challenge
With my FSA it's not listed, but with the other things listed it might be, so I have to contact them to find out for sure yet.
Yeah I've heard that it really depends on the insurance company. I will check with ours first and then at the end of the year we are switching (because we were just bought) and then I'll check with that one too.
I'll have to look into that pump, thanks! Right now I had been considering the Lansinoh Affinity Double Electric, but I still have a lot of research to do yet.
I get a free Medela through work (we give them to our members so we make the same benefit available to staff). I think it is similar to the pump in style, but maybe doesn't have as many bells and whistles.
Honestly, if I didn't get a free one, I probably would wait til breastfeeding was established to purchase one anyway.
Amber, what about getting a single for home? they are often a lot cheaper. But I don't know if it would take way too long.
As an aside, my mom told me she never really had to pump. When she nursed me on one side, she'd often let down and leak from the other so she'd just hold a bottle there and catch the milk, then switch me to the other side and repeat. She said she had a manual single for when she got SUPER engorged and couldn't express by hand, but rarely used it. She also could just express manually using her hand. My mom had a lot of milk I guess. hah.
I never thought about that. That may be a good alternative, although I usually pump for 20 minutes, so that would be a long process!
I can express manually pretty easily, but I feel like I could do it all day and not make a dent in my supply. That's pretty impressive!
2012 Reading Challenge
I think Heather keeps a spare manual at work for if she forgets the double electric. That could be a good option, but it is a pain to schlep the thing back and forth to work.
I guess those of us with the option should be glad we CAN pump at work. I think a lot of women don't have good options for this and the last thing they're worried about is whether or not they need two pumps.
A lot of the women I work with buy a 2nd b/c the work one is free and they get sick of carting it back and forth.
I lugged my pump back and forth b/c honestly I didn't trust that it would still be at my desk the next morning if I left it there overnight and I had no way to lock it up. I had the metrobag, so it was HEAVY and a pain to lug around, but definitely was doable. I did have a manual pump as a spare in my desk drawer in case I ever forgot my electric pump, but I never had to use it. I actually just brought it home last week.
I rarely pumped at home. If I was home, I nursed directly. I only added in a pump session an hour after Mariela went to bed for about 3 weeks when she hit 5 months old and I was coming up an ounce or two short pumping for her during the day. It was right before we started solid foods with her and was short-lived b/c once she was on solids, she didn't need the extra ounce or two anymore. Once that was over I never pumped at home again. Honestly, if I were you...to keep your supply boosted nurse directly as much as you can when you're home with Eli on nights and weekends and just use the pump while you are away. Baby stimulates your supply way better than any pump can. If you and DH go out on dates you may need to pump then, but other than that it's not really necessary.
You should check out the Hygeia Enjoye and the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra (I've heard the Lansinoh pump you mentioned is it the same as the Ameda only purple). If I had to do it all over again I would NOT get a Medela pump, but would most likely get the Hygeia. Medelas aren't closed systems (except for the hospital one you can rent) so you really shouldn't buy a used one and the PISA pumps have been found to get mold and mildew backed up into the pumps (which you would only know about if you open the pump which actually breaks it), plus the suction isn't consistent. My pump was recalled and I got a new one and that's when I did more research on Medela. There were actually a lot of posts with links on TB's BFing board and I wish I'd saved them. Yes, my pump got the job done for a little over a year for M and I, but I wish I had done more research instead of just going to the "go to" brand. I do plan on using it again for our next LO, but if it breaks or the suction doesn't work anymore, I'm getting my Hygeia or Ameda.
Thanks for the tips, Heather! I'm glad you didn't really have to use your manual pump. When I went from EP to EBF (he was only a couple days old at that point), I continued to pump after his 9am feeding to keep up my supply (and relieve myself as he started dropping night feedings). I am considering still doing that to keep up my supply, as much as I hate pumping at home!
2012 Reading Challenge
Ya, if you want to build your freezer stash one pump session a day on the weekends wouldn't be too bad. I used to hate pumping on date nights the most...it pretty much kind of ruined the moment but we made the best of it.
Thankfully, my body adjusted when M dropped her night feedings and just produced more during the day. The first few mornings were pretty uncomfortable after she started sleeping through the night, though.
I had a hard time quitting pumping as it was pretty emotional to me. I'm kind of glad I actually forgot my pump at home once just shy of M turning 13mo or who knows if I'd still be going at it. Thanks to my freezer stash she had all BM up until 14mo and we still nurse morning and night now, but our days are numbered. I miss the days when she was Eli's size, but the toddler age is so much fun, too. These S08 babies just grow up too quickly!
Thank you for the information, I bookmarked this so I can reference it and do some more research one the ones that you mentioned! I read some of the same information about the Medelas too, so I wasn't sure that I wanted to go with them either.
I'm pretty sure the law changed so breast pumps have to be FSA elgible.
How long does pumping typically take? I know C is freaked about this.
It varies per person, but I usually pump for 20 minutes each session. (The lactation consultants recommended this for me, but I think they usually recommend pumping for 10-15 minutes.) Will she have a place to pump at work?
2012 Reading Challenge
According to my good friend google, you might be right:
http://www.24hourflex.com/news/breast-pumps-eligible-fsa-expense/
It looks like other supplies are covered too:
http://www.cigna.com/our_plans/medical/fsa/fsa_health.html#ad
they have conference rooms. This is clearly an issue since its not dedicated space, but they legally have to provide space. She's the first engineer to get pregnant though, and two HR and a couple of marketing girls are as well so i think the power of numbers will help (a few women have had babies there before but all in HR so they already had offices...apparently the marketing chicks tend to leave after babies)
Ditto this. In the early days when my supply was excellent I could easily pump 8-10oz in 10-15min. Once my supply leveled out and I lost the oversupply and M hit 6 months old I used to have to double pump for at least 15 min, ideally 20 to get 5-8. Towards the end I was doing one pump session of 20 min and getting 4-4.5oz.
Yeah, my HR said already that she's not going to comply because she thinks it's stupid. Joy.
Say what now? Is it a requirement for companies of a certain size, like FMLA? That is kind of ridiculous. Do you have an office?
My company has a room, though it is abused by other staff b/c they call it the "multipurpose room" not the pumping room. it is also kind of gross in there.
Because of Obama's new healthcare act, a company that has over 50 people is required to provide adequate space (that isn't a bathroom). Here are the specifics:
President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, H.R. 3590, on March 23 and the Reconciliation Act of 2010, H.R. 4872, on March 30, 2010. (See the combined full text of Public Laws 111-148 and 111-152 here.) Among many provisions, Section 4207 amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 (29 U.S.Code 207) to require an employer to provide a place, other than a bathroom a place, and reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk every time she needs to for her nursing child for one year after the birth. The employer is not required to compensate an employee for the break time taken. If these requirements impose an undue hardship, an employer that employs fewer than 50 employees is not subject to these requirements. The federal requirements do not preempt a state law that provides greater protections to employees. For more information, see the U.S. Department of Labor's Fact Sheet on Break Time for Nursing Mothers under the FLSA.
2012 Reading Challenge
Duplicate post.
2012 Reading Challenge