Author: Breastfeed Chicago

Breastfeed Chicago is a network of families and professionals who are dedicated to supporting, normalizing, and advocating for breastfeeding in Chicagoland.
Pumping, work

When Your Childcare Provider Asks You to Send More Milk

Q: How do I make sure that my baby’s caregiver doesn’t overfeed my baby? My childcare provider keeps saying that I need to send bigger bottles! Help! When interviewing potential caregivers for your baby, ask them about their experience caring for breastfed babies. Make sure they know that they play a very important role in helping you to successfully breastfeed your baby. Breastfed babies generally … Continue reading When Your Childcare Provider Asks You to Send More Milk

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Pumping, Uncategorized, work

Pumping: How Many Ounces of Breastmilk Will Baby Drink While I’m Gone?

Q: How much milk will my baby drink while I am gone? Your baby will likely need between nine and 14 ounces for an eight-hour workday with reasonable commute time. Research on breastfeeding babies has shown they eat 24-32 ounces per 24 hours, which translates to 1 to 1.5 ounces per hour. Using these numbers as a guide, multiply the number of hours you’ll be … Continue reading Pumping: How Many Ounces of Breastmilk Will Baby Drink While I’m Gone?

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Pumping, work

How Much Milk Should You Pump Before You Go Back to Work?

Q: How much milk should I have stashed away in the freezer by the time I go back to work? How could I possibly pump enough to use for months of work? One of the most common questions we see on our Breastfeed Chicago parent support Facebook group is about how large of a stash to have. The most basic answer is to have enough frozen … Continue reading How Much Milk Should You Pump Before You Go Back to Work?

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Breastfeeding laws, Pumping, work

Pumping at Work: Talking to Your Employer & Knowing Your Rights

Q: How do I talk to my employer about a place to pump? What are my rights? What can I do if my coworkers or supervisor give me a hard time about pumping? Breastfeed Chicago and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois teamed up to bring you a very informative webinar to walk you through the laws that protect your right to pump at … Continue reading Pumping at Work: Talking to Your Employer & Knowing Your Rights

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Pumping, travel, work

Traveling for Business and Pumping? What You Need to Know

Q: My job requires me to travel for business. Can I bring my breast pump and pumped milk with me through airport security? Air travel within the United States is regulated by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which allows breast milk and breast pumps to travel through domestic airport security. We recommend printing out the TSA procedures for traveling with children and policy on breast … Continue reading Traveling for Business and Pumping? What You Need to Know

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Pumping, Uncategorized, work

Can I Stop Pumping When My Baby Turns One?

Q: I’ve been back to work for a while now, and my baby is over a year old. Can I stop pumping at work? If so, how do I do it without getting clogged ducts or mastitis? Heather McMackin, one of the wonderful moderators of the Breastfeed Chicago Facebook parent support group, wrote a helpful blog entry about how ditch the pump at work! She … Continue reading Can I Stop Pumping When My Baby Turns One?

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Pumping, work

Soapy or Metallic Breastmilk: What to Do About High Lipase

Q: My pumped milk has a soapy or metallic taste to it. Is this high lipase? What can I do about it? All stored milk will smell differently than fresh milk. If your defrosted milk has a metallic or soapy taste or smell, then it probably has higher levels of lipase. This just means that your expressed milk has a high level of this enzyme. … Continue reading Soapy or Metallic Breastmilk: What to Do About High Lipase

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Pumping, work

What to Do if You Forgot Your Breast Pump or Parts and Need to Pump

Q: Help! I forgot my breast pump and/or pump parts at home! What do I do? It’s a pumping mom’s nightmare. You’ve left your pump or bottles at home and can’t get out of work to run back. Or you headed to a “short” offsite meeting with a colleague that went overtime and left your pump back at your desk. Now you’re bursting at the … Continue reading What to Do if You Forgot Your Breast Pump or Parts and Need to Pump

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Pumping, work

7 Ways to Keep Up Your Pumping Motivation

Q: I hate pumping! What can I do to find the motivation to keep going? We get it–pumping isn’t fun! Sometimes it helps to set up comforting and positive routines in your workday to encourage yourself to pump. Here are some ideas we’ve heard from other breastfeeding parents that helped them to push through pumping difficulties to reach their working and pumping goals: Set an … Continue reading 7 Ways to Keep Up Your Pumping Motivation

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Pumping, work

Help! My Baby’s Waking More at Night Now That I’m Back at Work

Q: My baby seems to be waking more at night since I’ve gone back to work! Why is that? We have three theories about why your baby might experience an increase in nighttime wakefulness right as you go back to work. First, many breastfeeding parents go back to work close to the three to four month mark. This stage is a big developmental growth period … Continue reading Help! My Baby’s Waking More at Night Now That I’m Back at Work

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