Bind breasts for job interview?

[dunicakes]

Hi, all!
So, I am a breastfeeding mom to a 4-month-old baby and a three-year-old. Next month I will have an all-day job interview. They have scheduled a whole series of meetings and activities for me -- starting at 9am and ending at 8pm. I have been pumping milk and storiing it up, sp that my husband can give it to the kids during this time. I will also have my pump with me. However, it's not clear to me that I will have time inbetween meetings to go and pump. Colleagues who know my situation (and my professional field) have told me that I shoukd by no means mention I have a baby before I'm offered the job, so asking for time to pump won't work. (I know this is awful and it makes me mad, but I need the job, so I have to suck it up.) So, I've heard that bandaging one's breasts can prevent enorgement from occuring when you can't pump. If this is true, how exactly am I supposed to go about this bandaging business? What kind of a bandage do I use, how do I wrap it. etc? Also, will this cause a problem with my supply once the interview is done? Thanks for any infrmation or advice you can give me!

[Chamomile Girl]

Is this an academic job talk? If so I disagree with your colleagues advice entirely. In fact it makes me angry on your behalf.

Any place that is so family unfriendly as to penalize you for having a baby is not a place at which you want to work. I think any decent search committee will be pleased if you are open and honest with them about your need to pump.

Breast binding is used to cut off milk supply ime. If you do it it will certainly have an effect on your supply, probably in the long term.

[texmati]

What pump do you have? My plan for days like this at work in the future is a manual pump in your hand bag. Just ask to be excused to the rest room and pump for a few minutes (maybe 5- 10?). Then dump and rinse the container, if you don't need the milk. You could even pump in the stall if you had to.

[finnegansmom]

Binding your breasts sounds like a recipe for mastitis to me....
I would pump in the bathroom when you can, you must be able to have a lunch break.

Good luck mama.

[SleeplessMommy]

Originally Posted by texmati

What pump do you have? My plan for days like this at work in the future is a manual pump in your hand bag. Just ask to be excused to the rest room and pump for a few minutes (maybe 5- 10?). Then dump and rinse the container, if you don't need the milk. You could even pump in the stall if you had to.

The avent isis is small and could do this job. I totally understand why you would not mention the baby.

[MeepyCat]

Everything I have ever seen about breast binding mentions it as a weaning technique. It's also described as intensely painful. This doesn't sound like a day on which you want to be distracted by the ow - I second the recommendation for a hand pump in your purse, to be used in the bathroom. Also: pump before you head out, and plan to pump/nurse pretty much the moment you're done.

Best of luck.

[listipton]

I can understand needing a job, but if they can't accommodate ONE day of pumping, how are they going to accommodate the rest of the time you will need to pump? Just food for thought...
I do agree with the lunch and dinner idea. There has to be some time that you can stop and relieve yourself, even if you aren't planning on keeping the milk. One day of odd pumping isn't going to affect your supply, but will make for an uncomfortable day. I would treat it as you would a bathroom break. You'll know ahead of time when you really need to go relieve your breasts, and just excuse yourself and go. No need to explain what you're doing and they shouldn't question a restroom break every three-four hours.
Hugs and good luck on your interview!

[SnglAPmama]

Originally Posted by texmati

Just ask to be excused to the rest room and pump for a few minutes (maybe 5- 10?). Then dump and rinse the container, if you don't need the milk. You could even pump in the stall if you had to.

That sounds like a good idea or if your pump is bigger you could manually express enough milk to keep yourself comfortable and I'm sure you'd have a chance to nurse after the interview and that night and the next day to avoid supply problems. At 4 months, plus with nursing a 3 year old I would imagine one day of not nursing shouldn't really affect your supply. I don't know anything about binding except that it sounds uncomfortable and unnecessary, especially if you double up on breast pads and can at least manually express some milk. Good luck at your interview and with staying comfortable!

[texmati]

Originally Posted by listipton

I can understand needing a job, but if they can't accommodate ONE day of pumping, how are they going to accommodate the rest of the time you will need to pump? Just food for thought...

Well, sometimes the job can be very flexible, where a day of meeting interviewees cannot.

I just wanted to suggest that if you have a medela harmony pump, you can buy those teeny tiny juice bottles that will fit on to the pump to make it even smaller.

Also, if you don't have a manual pump, you can try and get one off craigslist cheaply, since most of them can be completely sterilized.

[glitterdaisymom]

I would definitely make sure you wear double nursing pads or something waterproof that day to stop any leakage problems.

I agree with the others that you could probably use a handpump to pump off just as much as needed to avoid painful engorgement.

[mamakaikai]

Originally Posted by finnegansmom

Binding your breasts sounds like a recipe for mastitis to me....
I would pump in the bathroom when you can, you must be able to have a lunch break.

Good luck mama.

exactly this.

[crunchy_mommy]

I would pump (and/or BF) before you go until you're totally empty... maybe even pump in the car right before you go in. You'll most definitely have lunch & dinner breaks, which I'm guessing will be with company, but I would imagine you'd also have time to excuse yourself to pump for several minutes during that time. Then you can just run to the bathroom in between for a minute here & there. And make sure to choose your clothing carefully to avoid leaks.

Otherwise, is there some other excuse you could use upfront for needing regular breaks??? I can't think of one off the top of my head but maybe someone else can... Maybe say you need cigarette breaks? (Yuck, how horrible that this would be preferable to *gasp* having a baby & needing to pump!!) I agree that mentioning the baby may not be in your best interest if you really want this job, but I would not bind up your breasts!! I had a similar situation when DS was just a few months old (all day client meeting in the office, I normally WAH) but there were others there so it was easy for me to excuse myself & DH brought me baby so he could eat... However I agonized over it for a week beforehand & it ended up being no big deal.

Did they give you a copy of the day's schedule?

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Otherwise, is there some other excuse you could use upfront for needing regular breaks??? I can't think of one off the top of my head but maybe someone else can... Maybe say you need cigarette breaks? (Yuck, how horrible that this would be preferable to *gasp* having a baby & needing to pump!!)

No kidding!

[Meredith&Alexander]

Can you hand express? I can take the edge off of engorgement pretty well with about three minutes of hand expressing into the toilet.

[dunicakes]

Thanks for all your help!

Hi, again to everyone! Thank you so much for all your comments. I know, it really is depressing that I am not supposed to mention the baby, but I have actually not gotten a job in the past and had someone tell me off the record it was because I "exhibited an excessive committment to my family"!!! (the issue was precisely that I had chosen to nurse as a working Mom.) I was horrified and really, really mad and almost decided to quit my career right then, but have since decided to just try and interview for another job, anyway. I mean, I've spent seven years in graduate school and three in a potdoc so I would be able to get an academic job - I just can't afford to quit now. I was naive enough to think that being honest is the best choice, but that has just turned out not to be the case. I am actually hoping that the job I am interviewing for now would be more family-friendly once I was in it (it'sa liberal arts college job, and my bad experience was with an elite research university). The thing is just that one jerk of a dean who is pissed off at having to wait for me to pump is enough to sabotage my candidacy. Hopefully, once I was back in the job my colleagues would be OK and not have a problem with the choices I've made.
Anyway, about the hand pumping -- I've thought of that as a great option, but the problem is that I have a carpal-tunnel type problem with my hands that makes hand pumping a painful option. Maybe I'll have to try it anyway...any advice on handpumps that are easy on the hands?

[annekevdbroek]

I have to agree about making no mention of pumping. Basically, to me (and I interview lots of people), any mention of breasts doesn't belong in an interview. Some people are sadly very negative about BF on top of that, so you just don't want to raise the issue.

Where I work is *very* family friendly. However, you don't want the interviewers to be in any way distracted from YOU and your interview. Just take a bathroom break and pump. You'll be fine. They might figure it out even, but I wouldn't say anything about it during an interview.

Agree about wearing pads, dark colors, and suit jacket. No idea about binding - I've never tried it.

Good luck on your interview!

[SnglAPmama]

Originally Posted by dunicakes

Anyway, about the hand pumping -- I've thought of that as a great option, but the problem is that I have a carpal-tunnel type problem with my hands that makes hand pumping a painful option. Maybe I'll have to try it anyway...any advice on handpumps that are easy on the hands?

What about skipping the pump and just using your hands and expressing it that way? into a sink, container, or, if necessary, the toilet? Maybe that would be less painful? good luck!

[pampered_mom]

Originally Posted by dunicakes

Anyway, about the hand pumping -- I've thought of that as a great option, but the problem is that I have a carpal-tunnel type problem with my hands that makes hand pumping a painful option. Maybe I'll have to try it anyway...any advice on handpumps that are easy on the hands?

What about a battery operated one? Medela makes a single pump that's both electric and battery operated. I've got the Isis, but I could see where it might cause issues if you already had carpal-tunnel type issues.

[weliveintheforest]

bring an extra bra and shirt in case you leak.

[bender]

I've seen some purses with cooler inserts. You can use that, and pack a few bottles to pump into with hand expression. If you have a bathroom break every few hours, you can hand express into the bottles and go back to the meetings. I had tendonitis from pregnancy, and I was able to hand express without issue, so maybe it will work for you as well.