Pumping, Freezing, Going back to work, need advice...

[@llli*LauraEyes2]

Hello,
My baby is 14 wks old now and has been fed only BM, primarily from nursing with 1 bottle of BM per day fed by my husband. I have been pumping 1-2 times daily, usually in the a.m. after the first feeding, and then at night before bed. I usually pump between 8-16oz each day from these 2 pumpings. As a result of pumping on this schedule, I've built up a supply of about sixty 4oz bags of milk in my deep freezer. I cycle out the milk so the older milk is what gets used in his bottle each day, so my oldest milk in the freezer is only ~1mo old, he has no problem taking frozen milk.

I will be working from home until LO is 6mos old in Nov, at which point he will be in day care.

When i return to work, I would like to think i will pump 3x daily, but I think that might be unrealistic to assume i'll be able to do so every day with working around meetings and stuff. I would like to feed BM until LO is a year old, either by nursing or by feeding him what I have stored in my freezer. So I need advice:

1)How much milk will a 6mo old need while in daycare (~8-9 hr daily), assuming he'll be started on solids at that point?

2)At that point, when hes 6mos old, will I still need to pump 2-3x during a 8hr workday?

3)If I have enough in my stash to send with him to daycare for the most part, could I get away with pumping ~once daily at that point and nursing him in the a.m. and evening when i'm home? OR would that deplete my supply too much?

My biggest fear is that my supply will start to deplete when i'm back to work which is why i'm so OCD about keeping a freezer stash. I am well aware what I have is overkill from what most keep. If i end up with a major surplus, I plan to donate.

Any suggestions? I'm a FTM, so i'm not sure what to expect with returning to work and how much milk he'll eat as time goes on and he's also eating solids. I'm stumped. Hope what i've typed makes sense.

Laura

[@llli*dara]

wow sounds like you have a great supply! I would think that if you cut your pumping to 1x a day, it would effect your supply. Maybe just cut back one pumping sessin and see how that goes!

[@llli*rosiesmom]

You sound like you are doing great and have a great plan! My LO took 12 oz. to be in DC for 8 hours. They say to send enough for 1-1.5 oz. an hour. He took this much even when on solids. That was OK with me because the majority of their calories are supposed to come from BM until a year old. If you have enough of a freezer supply to, for example, make one of his bottles a day then you would have to pump 8 oz. You may be able to get that in 2 pumping sessions. I would not cut down to one session, IMHO, until he was closer to a year and you can tell for sure if you will have enough to get you through. HTH.

[@llli*krystine]

I would be cautious and not plan to drop pumping sessions too soon when you're back to work. I'm still pumping although only work one day/week but my lo will be 13 months next week. Just because I do have enough in the freezer but I am nervous about my supply dropping and she does take thawed milk while I'm at work. Solids will be part of your LO's diet at 6 mos but I didn't find that she drank much less milk until 9-10 months really. Every baby is different, though. Sorry this is rambly, trying to keep an eye on my daughter who is busy ripping up magazines.

[@llli*gabesmommy]

I would plan on pumping twice per work day and your lo will probably take 2-3 bottle per day at daycare but this also depends on your lo and your nursing schedule. You will know better as that time approaches but I would plan on 10 oz per day needed. You have an awesome stach built up, I am impressed!