Unsupportive work environment

[roses25]

I'm in need of words of encouragement and suggestions. I'm student teaching for the semester. In my classroom there are two teachers (two combined 1st grades because the teachers co-teach), myself as a student teacher, and another student teacher. At first my supervising teacher was very understanding: she'd find a place for me to pump, etc. and I was going to pump in a section of the classroom that was blocked off for storage. Well because of the male student teacher, she decided that it would be better for me to go to the staff bathroom and pump that way the male student teacher didn't walk in on me.

I pump in the morning when the kids go to their morning recess which is 15 minutes long (once a week I have morning recess duty and I go pump while they are eating their snack). My son is brought to me at lunch so I nurse him during my lunch break. I pump in the
afternoon when the kids have specials. My supervising teacher came up to me today and asked me if there would be anyway that I could pump faster because I'm missing out on communication that they are having in the classroom. I was nice and just said I would try. However, the truth is that I can't do it any faster. I have it all set up and ready to pull out of the bag. I pump for 5-10 minutes, put things away, and then I'm back in the classroom. I pump on the highest setting available and have a hospital grade pump. What really wastes time is having to walk to and from the staff bathroom, rolling a char in the bathroom, and usually waiting for someone to finish up going to the bathroom in there.

I find my supervising teacher starting to become less and less understanding of me pumping. I still have another 12 weeks working with this supervisor. Any suggestions?

Carolyn

[AnnaNova]

ohhhh, i hear ya... my work is kinda like that and i work at a HOSPITAL!!!! my supervisor was freaking watching every minute of the two breaks i took to pump. one day, i simply cried in the bathroom, because it was just too much.
i just went through with it, and now it seems fine. i dont know if she thought that with extra pressure i would stop pumping, but i didnt and now she is more ok with it and even asks me sometimes if ive taken my breaks...
it is simply illegal for her to make any kind attempt to prevent you from pumping. i dont know what the laws are like in your state, you might want to check them out to now what to say if it comes up again. in my state it is illegal to make someone pump in the bathroom. what if you use a cover when you go to that little room so the guy wouldnt walk on you. or make a sign... the ones we have on the nursing room in the hospital say "please do not disturb, im providing healthy future for my baby"... you could make something like that ...
another thing you can do is to contact your local la leche league, they are often helpful in cases like this.
hang in there! hopefully just being persistent will resolve the issue.
it also might as well be that she doesnt know what you are entitle to by the law...
you are doing the best for your baby, thats all that matters, i kept telling myself that it is more important than any job i will ever have and my healthy happy baby is prove to that...
plus, i havent taken a single sick day because of a sick baby, unlike some of my coworkers that all formula feed...

[KangaTwo]

I teach also. My director (DHS-sponsored pre-k program) had no problem with me taking time to pump, but there are no accessible outlets in our little building. I got batteries for my pump but it would have taken all day at the strength I was able to get from them. I think I will have to run out to my car to pump, because at the rate MIL feeds, the milk that was supposed to be able to last me to the end of October is going to be gone by the end of this month. :