Anyone working while EBF?

[dakover]

Is anyone else working (full-time or part-time) while extended breastfeeding?  My son is 3.5 yrs old and I feel like I'm the only person I know who both works outside the home full-time and is breastfeeding a child this old.  I have lots of LLL friends nursing this long, but they are all SAHMs; and I have lots of working mom friends, none of who breastfed past 1 year.  Anyone?  I'd just love to have a buddy!

[CI Mama]

I'll be your buddy!

I've worked full-time outside the home since DD was 12 weeks old, and now she's 32 months old and still nursing. We just recently "work weaned"...her nanny brings her to my workplace on Thursdays so that we can have lunch together, and until a couple of months ago, lunch included a little nursing time with mama. I'm fortunate in having an office with a door I can shut & supportive, non-judgmental colleagues who like DD's visits. So nursing at work has never been a big deal. We stopped mainly because I'm ready to wean so we're slooowwwwly cutting back.

I work on a college campus, and I was at a campus meeting where I casually mentioned I had a daughter that I breastfed (this was back when she was 6 months old) and afterwards several women came up to me and eagerly talked to me about breastfeeding & pumping. One woman talked about how she EBF'd with all her children and still missed it! I think BF'ing is such a "closeted" experience in most work worlds (sometimes literally), but probably more women are doing it than we realize!

[dakover]

Great, there is someone else in the world!  So good to hear from you!

[CI Mama]

You might try cross-posting in Working & Student Parents as well. I'm sure you'll get some good responses there.

[Altair]

Me.  I pumped for the first year, then just kept nursing from 12 months until now (26 months).  I think he's weaning though now! 

[dakover]

Thanks, I posted there as well!

[dakover]

Altair, good to hear from you too.  So there are at least 3 of us in the world!

[zoe77]

Me too!!  I went back to work when my son was 6 months old and pumped until he was 2.  He is 34 months and still nursing morning, evening, and all weekend.  I don't know if my co-workers know I still nurse.  They knew I was pumping until he turned 2 and I'm not shy about it if the subject comes up (but it rarely does). 

[mwright]

I'm here! I went back to work  full time when my dd was a year old and I nursed her until she was 2.5yrs old.  I went back to work full time when my son was 4mo old. I was able to have him at work with me some of the time or I would pump.  He is 12 mo and he is still nursing!! I gave up pumping when he turned 1 yr so now he just nurses whenever he wants and I plan to nurse him until 3yrs old- I hope!!

[dakover]

Yay!  So good to hear from you both.  I'm just glad to hear that I'm not the only one.  And I don't tell many people...obviously my LLL friends know and I have a few friends at work that know, but not many.

[SouthernBette]

I wish I had seen this sooner.  I posted a thread yesterday about being a full-time working mom who EBF.  Now I want to extend beyond a year to two years and was wondering about the logistics.  Like CI Mama, I am on a college campus, so I have an office and pretty supportive colleagues where I pumped during the first year, but now I'd like to just feed on demand at home and stop pumping after her first birthday.  It is so refreshing to hear from other working mothers who are dedicated to BFing.  Thanks for posting here!

[dakover]

Yeah, I pumped until DS was about 18 months old.  I probably would have stopped around 15 months when he stopped taking a bottle at daycare (to move up to the next room), but I knew I had a business trip coming up at 18 mos and he was still taking bottles with my husband and would need them for the 1 night I was gone.  It was such a relief to stop pumping, but just make sure to step it down so you don't get engorged!

[CI Mama]

I stopped pumping when DD was 1 year old, and boy was I glad to be done with that! I did "step down" and I don't remember being too engorged. DD was eating a wide variety of foods by the time she was 1 year old, so I think she barely noticed when I stopped pumping. She just got used to nursing a lot when I came home from work, and throughout the evening & night.

[Unicorn75]

I stopped pumping for DD when she was 15 months, and she CLW at 22 months. 

DS is now 14 months, and I pumped for him until 11 months.  You are definitely not the only one!

[rachandlily]

I am!  I've been working full-time since my daughter was 5 months old.  Pumped until 11 months, and still bfing at 2.5 years old!  Congratulations to all you bfing working mamas!  It's not easy, and I'm so proud of myself and all of you for making it this far!  It's so worth it.  I laugh when I think about all the places I pumped during those early months too..... I'm a geologist who does quite a bit of field work with all-male drilling crews and every few hours I'd just jump in my truck in my muddy overalls, drive a little ways away, plug in the pump, and make it happen! :)  You're not alone!

[PatioGardener]

Me too!

My little guy has a cow's milk allergy so only drinks breastmilk, either on tap or pumped when I am at work. I try to pump twice while I'm at work, but it's difficult to fit it in around meetings, etc. At least I have an office where I can pump, and my work is very supportive of breastfeeding, pumping, and nursing toddlers (he's 14 months old)!