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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
Anon S says
Good morning ladies, question about pumping at work. I’m going back to work on Monday and I plan to pump. Do I tell people right off the bat (i.e. When I pick up a deal should I let the partner know, hey FYI I’ll be pumping….) or do I only bring it up if I need to?
Clementine says
In my office, people use the phrase, ‘I’ll be stepping out for about 20 minutes. I’ve blocked times off on my calendar for this at 10, 1 and 3.’ People get what you’re doing, especially when you pick up your mini cooler and big tote bag.
People usually just block off their calendar with ‘Unavailable’ at their appointed times.
CHJ says
This is what I did too. I work with almost all men, so I preferred to be discreet about it. For example, one time I was at a deposition near my office, and during the lunch break I told the partner I was with that I had to step back to the office for a few minutes to take care of something. I’m sure everyone knew what I was doing, but no one mentioned it.
FWIW, this might have been different if I worked with more women with young kids.
POSITA says
I never told anyone. I just worked it into my schedule. I’m sure most knew, but never asked.
Mrs. Jones says
I notified the partner I worked with the most, largely because he was prone to just walking in on me in my office, even with the door shut. Everyone else pretty much figured it out.
Don’t get me started on the fact that our doors wouldn’t lock.
KJ says
In my experience, people are shockingly ignorant about pumping. When I have had to ask for space to pump at various facilities, I have gotten confused responses until I explained that I would be pumping breastmilk. For a baby. When I went back to work, I sent my boss (a woman who did not have kids) an email explaining that I was blocking off time on my calendar to pump and that I would need to stick to those times in order to maintain a supply of milk and avoid physical consequences ranging from mild discomfort to serious infection. You would be surprised by how many people don’t know the first thing about how breastfeeding and pumping work, and I wanted it to be clear that my pumping times were non-negotiable.
Blonde Lawyer says
I stumbled over here from the main site to check out this awesome shirt. Figured I’d read the comments while here. I really should be working. Sigh. Anyway, at my old firm we had big glass windows in our offices. Most people left the shades open and doors were open most of the time. One lady came back from maternity leave and started periodically closing her door and her shades. Pretty obvious why. Then one day an older male attorney is walking through and says “I don’t know what she’s up to lately with her door and shades always shut.” The row of female assistants looked at him incredulously and said, she’s pumping. And he looked even more confused and said “pumping what?” To which they replied “she just had a baby?” And he still didn’t get it. So finally one of them said “she breastfeeds so she has to pump out her breast milk during the day.” And he got bright red and said oh, well um, uh, okay then.
At current firm, the head attorney is so awesome but can occassionaly be accidentally clueless. When one of our coworkers came back from maternity leave (she has a job where she has to have coverage to leave her desk) our office manager told head attorney that she would be needing pumping breaks and where she would be doing it. He replied with “well, I would have thought she would pump before coming to work.” I had to explain that it’s kind of like peeing, you have to do it throughout the day and if you don’t, your body will do it anyway.” Then he said something like “wouldn’t she be more comfortable in the bathroom than an office?” So I asked him how he would feel about eating a sandwich in the bathroom. His response cracked me up. It was something like, oh, that makes sense. Hmmm…. maybe I should stop putting my contacts in in the bathroom too. He wasn’t be sarcastic, just thinking for the first time about how gross bathrooms can be. I also reminded him that our ladies room is a single toilet so we probably wouldn’t want it tied up that much too. He was very grateful to have butchered that conversation with me instead of the returning employee. He has been completely accommodating since.
EB0220 says
I just blocked the time on my calendar and treated the pumping sessions like any other conflict. If someone got b*tchy about it, I would just tell the truth. This usually embarrassed them enough that they never complained again. Worked for me, for better or worse.
TK says
I had an uncomfortable but matter of fact discussion with my male boss before I went out on leave, then I sent him a reminder e-mail about it when I got back. The discussion prior to leave went something like, “After I get back from leave I’ll be pumping breast milk a few times a day so I’ll need a lock installed on my office door and I’ll be asking you to reimburse me for the cost of a mini-fridge so I don’t have to store breast milk in the office refrigerator.” He blushed and mumbled, but didn’t push back and he paid for the lock and fridge. A week before I started back I sent him an e-mail, copied to HR that said, “Can’t wait to get back! Blah blah blah … Just as a reminder of our earlier discussion, I’ll be taking periodic breaks throughout the day to pump breast milk for (son), if you notice time blocked off on my calendar or come by and my door is shut and locked, you’ll know why.”
Other than my boss, I didn’t send any kind of mass email and hoped people would get it … of course they didn’t. I initially tried to be coy about it with my door sign … ‘unavailable, come back in 20 minutes’ but I switched tactics about 3 weeks after I returned, after people kept stopping by, jiggled the locked door handle, and yelled for me through the door. Sheesh, people. I changed my door sign to “Pumping breast milk, do no disturb.”
Also, free tip to those who can’t lock their door – rubber door stop! I carried one with me when I traveled for work because I never knew what room / storage closet I’d end up in. That, plus the sign, would at least buy me enough time to yell and/or cover up when people tried to walk in.
Anon S says
Thanks so much, ladies. I’ve already blocked off times in my calendar as “PERSONAL MEETING” and I think I’ll not mention things upfront, but then if someone gives me a hard time about it or questions if I can move something I’ll just matter of factly tell them what’s going on. I do believe that people will be clueless about it and no one will really know unless I tell them. Even before I had a kid, I was totally clueless about it!
Pumping Exclusively says
Does anyone know of any resources or have any personal tips on what I should know in advance if I want to pump almost exclusively? I don’t get the impression that this is something lactation consultants are particularly helpful with, and feel totally clueless about the process. I am particularly looking for information about when to start and how to navigate the first week or two.
anne-on says
I think there is an EBF group on Kelly mom. I’d also search ‘EBF’ and I’m sure you’ll turn up some resources. It can’t hurt to ask different lactation consultants, my company provided one on call (no in person visits) as part of our mom’s program (they also supplied pumps before it was mandated). The consultants were all very knowledgeable about pumping and gave me lots of tips about scheduling pumping(ie – you get more volume in the morning, but fattier milk at night, so mix the milk throughout the day if you’re going to store it).
MSJ says
Here’s the Kelly Mom link. I nursed but it’s not uncommon for twin moms to EP
http://kellymom.com/mother2mother/exclusive-pumping/
mascot says
I wouldn’t rule out lactation consultants. Lots of people have to start pumping from birth for various reasons. LCs can help with baby issues (like latch/tongue tie) but they should also be able to give help on supply. I was more productive to the baby than to the pump so getting information of how to pump more productively was helpful.
Anon in NYC says
A local mom’s group might have recommendations and/or recommendations for good lactation consultants. I think a good lactation consultant would actually probably be great for you. There are differences in the quality of LCs (the ones at my hospital were not great), and you need to find someone who is both knowledgeable and won’t make you feel bad for not nursing. You might need to do a little bit of legwork and interviewing of LCs to really find a good fit, and you’ll probably want to work closely with her on a plan for when your child arrives as well as a few check-ins post-arrival. I’m not sure if you can/should begin pumping before your milk comes in but I imagine an LC could answer that for you.
My daughter had some latching issues in the beginning and I called a lactation consultant on day 4 or 5. She was a former nurse and was very practical. She recommended that I begin pumping immediately and alternating pumping and nursing (or just pump exclusively) to give myself time to heal.
As an example of what I did, my right side was more beat up than my left. So for however long it took for my right side to heal (say 3-4 days), I exclusively pumped my right side and alternated a nursing session on my left side with a pumped bottle. Then once my right side was okay I switched. So it was a nursing session from one side + pumping, next feeding it was exclusive pumping + bottle, and so on. It worked out pretty well for me, but can be challenging if you’re on your own with the baby because of how much time a feeding can take. I tried to pump every time she ate so my supply would mimic her demand. I found that when my daughter became more alert and didn’t sleep around the clock that it was more challenging because I had to warm up a bottle, feed her, then play with her, get her to sleep, and then pump. It would sometimes be about 2 hours before I could pump and at that point she was practically ready to eat again.
Also, the author of the blog Healthy Tipping Point wound up having to exclusively pump her first child. I’m not sure how many practical tips she offers, but it could be something to check out.
JEB says
I ended up EPing. I planned to nurse directly, but due to some early issues, I started pumping. My body responded well, so I kept it up (I’m at 10.5 months now!). I found a lot of great advice on Baby Center. I know their message boards tend to bring out the crazies, but there’s an EP board that is extremely helpful. I’d definitely recommend checking it out.
anon says
I ended up EPing for a time and found that this website was really helpful: http://exclusivepumping.com/
It was especially helpful when I needed to (a) figure out how much bm my baby needed when we abruptly stopped nursing, and later (b) wean off pumping.
same anon says
I know women who have EP’d for long periods. For me, we eventually transitioned to partial and then entirely formula because in order to pump enough, I had to spend long periods pumping during the day while home alone with the baby before the baby had a reliable nap routine, and also be up in the night pumping ***in addition to*** the times I was up in the night taking care of the baby. I couldn’t make that work.
Two Cents says
I pumped exclusively for 14 months, after my son had major latching issues. I found, unfortunately, that lactation consultants weren’t very helpful, one made me feel guilty about not being able to nurse.
Is there a particular reason why you want to EP? With my second child, I nursed exclusively (and then pumped/nursed when I went back to work). Nursing is so.much.easier.than.exclusively pumping! No bottles/parts to wash, takes less time to feed, more time snuggled up against baby, no worrying about dragging your pump when you’re out and about, etc.
if you can’t nurse, by all means EP. You will have to work harder at your supply but it can defintiely be done. But I would really really try to see if nursing can work before you turn to EP’ing.
Anon. says
This x1000. EBF my daughter was a million times easier than pumping with my boys.
TK says
Just a word of caution, hopefully it wont’ be an issue for you – it took my guy about 3 weeks to really catch on to breastfeeding so I pumped and syringe fed him breastmilk during that time – because of the pumping my body got confused and produced WAY more milk than a newborn needed and I ended up engorged and hospitalized with mastitis. I was a first time mom and recovering from a C-section – it took me a week to realize the exhaustion, joint pain, and 103 fever were related to the infection and not just normal birth recovery stuff. I met with a lactation consultant several times to coordinate my baby’s needs for pumped milk with my body’s tendency to overproduce. She was super helpful and it all ended up fine in the end, but something to me mindful of.
Meg Murry says
See, I was the opposite – no matter how much I pumped, my body would only produce half as much milk as the baby needed. Even with baby #2, I could only just barely keep up with his needs by pumping when I was at work – and I had to pump way more often than I nursed.
Meg Murry says
I had issues nursing with my son and wound up pumping for 50% of his needs and using formula for the other 50%. Not going to lie – pumping is really really freaking hard and draining, and I don’t know if I would ever do that again if I had another kid that wouldn’t nurse.
I think the reason lactation consultants may or may not be helpful for this is because it really is kind of a worse case scenario/last resort for more people, and they want to encourage you to take an easier route, which directly nursing usually is. Exclusive pumping is all the inconvenience of washing up and prep of making bottles like you would do for formula feeding, plus more since you have to wash pump parts. And it’s a super time suck – you have to pump every 2-3 hours, around the clock. And with very few exceptions, a pump is not as effective/efficient as a baby, so you need to pump MORE often than you would nurse to make the appropriate amount of milk. And someone else needs to care for the baby while you are hooked up to the pump, or you have to play the “pumping with both hands while shushing baby by rocking in rock&play with your foot” game, which is pretty frustrating.
Basically, except for the fact that you would be providing breastmilk instead of formula, for a lot of women exclusively pumping is the worst of all worlds. All the negatives of bottle feeding, plus all the negatives of pumping, and few of the positives like cuddling.
Can I ask, why do you think you want to exclusively pump, or nearly exclusively pump? Or are you thinking that you would nurse on maternity leave and then have to nearly exclusively pump once you go back to work? Or are you in a Marissa Mayer situation where you have a staff that can help you with all the details (washing up and bottle prep, taking care of baby, etc) and all you would need to do would be to be hooked up to the pump a couple of times a day?
I’m not trying to shoot you down, but I have heard people say “oh, I’ll just exclusively pump instead of nursing” as if that will be an easier/more convenient route, and unless you are 1000% committed to doing everything possible to make that work, I think it’s really a difficult goal.
TK says
She brings up a point I’d forgotten about (or blocked from memory) – waking up to pump is the WORST. With nursing, once baby catches on, you can kind of snooze while they’re eating and it’s relaxing. With pumping, you have to set up the whole get-up before bed (multiple sets of bottles to fill, multiple pump accessories so you don’t have to wash between sessions, ice bucket to set milk in so you don’t have to trek to the fridge) then be awake enough to strap on and take off the apparatus multiple times a night. And your partner, who you hate at that point because you’re doing all of the work, complains that the pump noise keeps him up at night. Ugh.
eh230 says
Agree with all of this. I was an EPer for 9 months. DS2 was a preemie and has a weird shaped mouth that does not allow for a complete latch. I nursed/pumped for DS1 for over a year. EPing absolutely sucks and is not an option I would choose again. The only reason I did it/continued to do it with DS2 was because he was a preemie that was born during flu season. If you plan to EP, know that you will need to commit to at least 8 pumping sessions a day of around 30 minutes. You will have to wake up in the middle of the night to pump or you will lose supply. What this means is that you basically never sleep even if your baby is a good sleeper. After you get up to feed baby in the middle of the night, you put baby back down and then spend 30 minutes pumping. If you do it from the beginning, you basically need to start pumping right after you give birth, and as Meg mentioned the pump is much less efficient than baby. You will have to spend much more time pumping than you would if you nursed.
As for resources, there is an exclusively pumping book. There are also some really good EPer Facebook groups. As someone else said, lactation consultants will think of it as a last resort and may not be much help. Check out books or websites about preemies. A lot of preemie moms have to EP, so there is more information.
kc esq says
After trying to BF for a few days, I exclusively pumped for my twins because I couldn’t figure out the logistics of getting two slow nursers fed. I rented a hospital-grade pump the whole time to keep my supply up. My Obamacare pump lived in the office when I went back to work, and the hospital-grade pump stayed home. I tried just using the regular pump for about a week and my supply dropped, so I went back up to full-strength. Babies R Us was good to rent the pump from — more convenient/ cheaper than my hospital.
It can be kinda crazy — I pumped in the passenger seat of the car while my husband drove on multiple occasions, etc.
Pumping Exclusively says
Thank you all for your feedback! I’m really glad I posted this because I had NO idea that EPing had so many challenges (as I said, I am super clueless, and a FTM if that wasn’t obvious). I thought the aspect of someone else being able to feed the baby would be a huge benefit (I am a really horrible person when I am sleep deprived, so this is an aspect that makes me extremely nervous and I am looking for ways to offset it). I will have to pump when I go back to work (in the event I decide to not switch to formula or supplement, which I am totally open to doing), but based on everyone’s advice, I will seriously consider trying to BF while I am on maternity leave and not at work.
Anon. says
Something that can really help with more sleep is learning how to nurse while lying down. On the weekend nights my husband got the baby from the nursery, changed her if necessary, brought her to me in bed, when she was done he would put her down again (rocking/walking etc) that way I didn’t even have to get out of bed and Barely had to wake up to latch her once she got bigger.
Meg Murry says
Not going to lie – you are very likely going to be a horribly sleep deprived person with an infant. And at some point, you may reach the point where you can pump enough during the day to get to having someone else offer a bottle at night. Or you may decide from day one that from 11 pm to 4 am is your block of time to sleep and your SO can offer a bottle of formula during that time – some people do that, and it works for them. But chances are you won’t be able to pump enough during the day to have enough to feed for day and night.
HOWEVER, you can strategize to get as much sleep as possible during maternity leave. My tips:
-wear clothes that you are comfortable sleeping in and being seen by visitors in (or even out in public). Then you don’t have to waste time changing clothes before bed, you just change every 12-36 hours no matter what the clock says (or when you are too covered in bodily fluids and/or your lunch you spilled on yourself when trying to eat one handed). A nursing tank, a long washable cardigan or hoodie and yoga pants or soft ponte pants or leggings underneath a knit skirt is a good postpartum “uniform” for the early days. Then, as soon as you finish nursing, you can fall right in bed.
-setup a station where you can nurse, change diapers and sleep all in as close vicinity as possible. You may not need this the whole time, but with my second son I pretty much just moved into the livign room recliner for the nights, with him in a rock-n-play next to me. He would wake up and I would change him, wash my hands, grab a snack, nurse him and then plop him back down in the rock-n-play and fall right back asleep in the recliner. No going up and down stairs, no changing in and out of pjs, just do what needed to be done and move on. Then during the day between nursing sessions I would pass him to my husband and go upstairs to shower or sleep (in a room with blackout shades).
-outsource and/or streamline as much as possible. Have food prepped for you, or pre-cook and freeze a lot of food, or order a crap ton of delivery. Don’t plan to cook anything more than PB&J or scrambled eggs, or reheat frozen meals. That saves a ton of time. Hire someone to clean, or whenever someone says “is there anything I can do for you” point them to the load of towels that need washed.
Basically, if you can make your job for the first 3 weeks or so only taking care of yourself and nursing the baby, and get your SO and family members to handle the bulk of everything else, and then from 3-6 weeks slowly work your way back into doing more around the house (but still getting a lot of help) it makes nursing and letting yourself heal go so much easier.
Pumping Exclusively says
This is awesome advice. Thank you!
Katarina says
I was terrified of the sleep deprivation, but it was much easier than expected. I did have a few things going for me, my son was a terrific sleeper, and my husband helped more than typical. For the first several months, I had a lot of adrenaline or something that made me not mind the lack of sleep, and my son was sleeping well after that.
I am an awful napper, even with an infant, but it really helped me if I could get some extra sleep that was night adjacent. After my son woke up for the day, I would give him to my husband after nursing, and go back to sleep until he needed to be fed again. Or, I would nurse my son, take a “nap,” (this was usually around 9 pm or so, so not really a nap) while my husband watched my son, and wake up to do bedtime. My husband did not help with middle of the night feedings, and I never mastered side lying nursing, but I never had trouble going back to sleep after a night waking (this is not typical for me). I also used middle of the night tv watching as my “reward” for the lack of sleep.
I never attempted to do any cleaning or cooking in the early days, my husband or parents did all of it, or we got takeout.
CPA Lady says
I had the exact same concern about sleep deprivation. We handled this by my husband giving our daughter 1 bottle of formula at night starting around the time she was 6 weeks old. Kept me from losing my mind, since at that point I started to get 5+ hours a night of uninterrupted sleep on the nights he didn’t work. Probably would do it from the beginning if I had a second kid, but some book I read terrified me about “n*pple confusion” (which I think would be a great name for a band, but that’s neither here nor there), so I didn’t start earlier with my first kiddo.
It is wonderful being able to let someone be 100% responsible for a feeding. If you are pumping, you are still responsible for the feeding, no matter who is giving the bottle. For me personally, I did not want that just based on my own life and schedule. It was also nice because if I was out getting groceries and my husband was home with the baby, and she started crying, he could just give her formula then too. I swear I’m a combo feeding evangelist because it is totally the best of both world. I’ll get off my soapbox now.
Spirograph says
I held off on giving bottles with my first for 6 weeks because I read the same thing about nipple confusion and i was determined to EBF. According to stereotype, I didn’t care the second time around. Baby had a bottle (of pumped milk) within the first week and has never been “confused.” I’m sure it’s a thing for some infants, but it’s probably overblown (like just about everything else, IMHO). We also started combo feeding much sooner… I pump 2x a day at work and once before bed. If baby is hungry and i dont feel like nursing her and there’s not enough milk, she gets formula and no one worries about it.
MDMom says
I was also scared of the sleep deprivation. I have a 4.5 month old now and honestly it’s not that bad anymore. I mean, my son is a mediocre sleeper and I’m tired, but something changed hormonally or otherwise so that I function much better with less sleep than I ever did before. Also, as others have pointed out, exclusive pumping won’t save you. If you want to guard sleep, consider just formula feeding at night and make sure you have plenty of help. But no need to make this decision before baby is here- it’s hard to predict how it will all work out.
For what it’s worth, the first month was the hardest for me. After that, I was good to go on 4 hrs of sleep.
anon says
I was a wreck while nursing or pumping at night, but nursing was at least more pleasant. You can always pump some, to have bottles available for nighttime or if you go out, even if you are mostly nursing. Or you can use formula for those bottles, making sure to be still nursing enough to keep your supply up if you’d like to keep nursing. Having the occasional night in those first six weeks when my spouse could feed the baby bottles and I could sleep on another floor with earplugs — even if I had to wake up to pump — was LIFE CHANGING.
PregLawyer says
Another note on night feeding – I was also terrified of waking up multiple times in the middle of the night to nurse. It turns out that your body releases hormones that help you fall back to sleep faster and easier when you’re nursing, so it’s not as bad as it sounds to get up every 2 hours or so in the first few weeks. You can actually fall into a pretty deep sleep in those 1-2 hour in-between stretches.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s still pretty bad – but you can get enough sleep to function. Now that my baby is 3.5 months and I get 3-5 hour stretches at night, it feels positively luxurious.
We split it so my husband would bring me baby when he cried, I would nurse one side, husband would check diaper and change if necessary, and then I’d nurse the other side. I never had to get out of bed, so it made it easier for me to stay in a half-awake state.
I actually started (almost) exclusively pumping after 1 month and found that it was easier than exclusively nursing, BUT: my husband was home with me my whole leave, so he could hold the baby and feed him while I pumped. Pumping gave us the freedom to get out of the house more and gave me some alone time. It would NOT have worked that way if I’d been home alone. It’s really hard to entertain the baby while you’re pumping, or to limit your pumping time to when the baby naps.
Anon says
If you can afford it, consider getting a night nurse. We had one for four nights a week for the first 12 weeks and it literally saved my sanity. Then, even if you are BF, night nurse sits with baby, brings baby in and wakes you up to feed with you, you sleepily feed baby for 10-20 minutes, then night nurse takes baby away to burp and change and soothe back to sleep. Later, when baby will take bottle, night nurse gives a bottle for however many overnight feeds you want (I usually skipped the 3/4am feed but did the 9/10pm and the 12/1am) and you just sleep through.
Spirograph says
Omg that sounds amazing. If I ever get pregnant again, I’m saving up for a night nurse.
Anon says
It was my Christmas valentines birthday anniversary present for last year, this year, and next year, plus my push present and the smallish gift I would usually buy for myself with my bonus. So it was the only present I get for three years. WORTH IT 100000%
SC says
Lots of good advice here. I wouldn’t write off a lactation consultant though. My son was premature and was too sleepy to nurse at the beginning. The LC at the hospital taught me how to use the hospital breast pump and gave me information on when to use it etc. The next week, our pediatrician recommended an LC, who gave us tips on nursing a sleepy baby and talked about when to nurse, when to pump, and how to maintain supply. I know your situation is a little different because you’re thinking of exclusively pumping, but both LCs I saw were not at all judgmental and extremely helpful.
Anon S says
Guys, I’m still not getting email notifications that someone responds here, even though I clicked the “notify me of follow up comments by email” Anyone else have the same issue?
Non Mom says
That feature was turned off/stopped working when the main s!te and this one were having major technical issues. It is not working on the main s!te anymore either.
RDC says
Speaking of pumping … Any recommendations for cooler bags for traveling with breastmilk? I’m going on a 4-day trip (without baby) so hopefully will be bringing back 80-100oz. I was looking at the Polar 12-can cooler bag on Amazon, has anyone used that or have other recommendations?
Meg Murry says
I managed to smash 80-100 oz into the Medela cooler that was meant to hold only 4 bottles plus an ice pack by using Lansinoh bags and only a small amount of ice (since the bags were all cold, they kept each other cold too). I had to keep my parts that I wants to keep on ice in a separate cooler bag, so I think you are going the right direction by getting a bigger cooler, but I don’t think it needs to be too much bigger.
Are you planning to bring back milk mostly in bags, or will you have bottles too? Don’t forget that a 12 can cooler is meant to hold round cans – flat milk bags will take up less room.
FWIW, a gallon (128 oz) is 231 cubic inches, so my 6x6x6 -ish cooler makes sense to fit that. If you need room for bottles and pump parts, I think you could probably get away with a 6 can cooler for 120 oz of milk plus one set of parts, but go up to a 12 can for multiple sets of parts.
RDC says
Interesting – thanks! Yes, planning to use the bags (not bottles) but having a hard time visualizing how much space I’ll need.
Meg Murry says
You’re welcome. Also, don’t forget that 120 oz of milk will be heavy – again, you are basically cramming a gallon jug of milk into your cooler, so I think the fact that the 12 can size has a shoulder strap might not be a bad idea (if I’m looking at the right cooler on Amazon). The first time I picked up my cooler it weighed almost 8 pounds – which isn’t really that much, but you just don’t expect it to be that heavy when you are used to carrying it with only 10-15 oz of milk in it instead of 100 oz.
Odd pro tip I got off the internet. Some places will take away gel packs if they aren’t completely frozen solid. If you are staying at a hotel with a breakfast buffet and a fridge with a freezer section, grab an orange or two from the buffet and freeze it to use as well as a gel pack. Oranges and other foods that aren’t liquids or gels are allowed to go through security.
RDC says
Haha nice! Oranges as freezer packs. I’m planning to take a few of the brick-like ice packs and ziplocks and request ice in the airport (after security).
Spirograph says
Freeze the milk flat if you can, it will fit nicely in the medela cooler and you won’t need a separate ice pack.
anon says
Absolutely DO NOT do this. Do not freeze your milk before traveling. If you do, and it thaws, you have to use it within 24 hours or throw it out. If you just keep it at fridge temp, you can freeze it when you get home.
Wow says
I need some advice on how to lose 5 pounds of belly weight. I’ve always been slim and my stomach has been reasonably flat (I usually carry weight in my hips, not my stomach). After my first child, my body bounced back. Now after my second child (8 months PP), I have a noticeable pooch. Any strategies for getting rid of it? I normally wear pretty tailored outfits and I can’t fit into most of my work clothes, which is frustrating.
CHJ says
It took me forever to lose the baby weight. The one thing that worked for me was the Beachbody program T25. It’s only 25 minutes, so it’s doable with a working mom’s schedule, and it is very focused on core work. But even with exercise, I didn’t get back to my regular size and shape until about 18 months post-partum and weaning from BF’ing.
OP says
This is encouraging, thanks! I know the basic premise of burn more calories than you consume, but the weight doesn’t seem to be getting off. I will look into Beachbody.
MDMom says
So you probably already know this and are just in denial like the rest of us, but there is no way to just lose belly fat. You can take steps to lose weight overall and just hope it comes off mostly where you want it to. I’m almost 5 months postpartum with number 1 and still have a belly pooch plus a butt thats much flatter than it was before and not in a good way. I bought the New Rules of Lifting for Women and am planning to start the program soon.
As you no doubt already know, to lose weight you have to exercise more and/or eat less. I think the key is finding a way to do this that suits your personality and lifestyle. For instance, I hate running so couch to 5k not for me. I also eat pretty well but cannot follow strict diets so I’m not interested in those. I liked the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred but now that I’m back at work I don’t have 20 min every day. The NROLFW program appeals to me right now for a variety of reasons. If you give more details on what you’re looking for, you might get some more useful ideas.
SaSo says
Hi Kat,
Can you consider making CorporetteMoms searchable? I was looking for the baby carrier post from a few months ago and it’s hard to find.
Love the helpfulness and readability of comments on here – thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences!
mascot says
There’s a search bar on the right side under the sponsor banner. Does that not get you there? Or do a G-search with “searchterms” site:sitename.com