Working Mothers - Page 7

[nuggetsmom]

HI Dinah

I retired my pump at one year. I have enough supply for the days that I am home, but DD is not a very interested nurser except at bedtime. When I am home I convince her to nurse a couple of times during the day for a total of 4 or 5 nursings including middle of the night and first thing in the morning. Try cutting back to just one pumping if you are worried. I think it would depend on your body and your DS's temperament wether it would work. I was just not going to pump for someone who wasn't interested...

Jacqueline

[noteworthy]

There is absolutely NO reason for a child to be bitten in a daycare setting unless there is a lack of supervision!!! Check the ratio for child/adult! I have had experience working in a national chain of daycares. Transition to toddler rooms from infant rooms can be difficult. If the teachers are not following your requests, contact the administrator and document the problem. I know it is hard to make waves because you want them to take good care of your child, but you do have rights as a consumer. Don't feel too guilty about leaving in daycare, think of all the quality time you do have together.

[rockergirrl]

Re: Oh my, I've found you!

Originally posted by owen&mama

Edited to say that I'm also interested in pumping stories. Now that Owen is a year old, I would love to retire the pump for now, but I would like to retain my daytime supply for the weekends.....what are your experiences?

I look forward to sharing stories and wisdom.

Thanks!

Dinah

Welcome Dinah. My son is 15 months. I think I stopped pumping at work about one month before his first birthday. I would breastfeed in the morning before work, I would go to him at lunch and nurse, once after work and then one more time before bed. I have stopped the lunch time visits and my DH and I now switch off putting him to bed so I don't even do that one every night anylonger. During the week I still nurse once (or twice depending on what time he wakes up) in the morning and after work. On my two days off and the weekends I nurse on demand. My supply seems to be fine. He is getting the majority of his nutrients through food now so I feel good about the amount we are nursing. I am so glad that I pumped as long as I did, but I have to admit it was nice (and a litte sad) when I stopped. It isn't like stopping nursing. I know I pumped way longer than most working people I have contact with. I am the only person in his daycare even still nursing. Most everyone stopped at 3 months.

[peggy]

You guys made the front page!

Very Cool!

You are our "post of the week"!!!

peggy

[rockergirrl]

Originally posted by peggy
You guys made the front page!

Very Cool!

You are our "post of the week"!!!

peggy

YEE-HOO

that rocks!!!

Let's keep this going strong!

I am so glad I started this thread. It has been a great help to me. Thanks to everyone for responding. I think we have a good thing going here.

[peggy]

It's a great thread..so much support and sharing of ideads!!

peggy

[somemama]

Should we start a new thread? Since this one is now 7 pages long?
(WOHM #2, --somebody go for it.)





My son is almost 6 mo. and I'm still pumping and bf exclusively (haven't started solids yet.) My, I have to eat a lot of calories to keep up with him! (He's 20 lbs.)

[rockergirrl]

Peggy, what do you think? time for a new thread? I think I would prefer to call the next one Working Parents. This way we cover moms and dads and those who work inside or outside of the home.

you say the word and I will start it up.

[peggy]

I think it would be fine to start a new thread..but please leave a link to it here as all those viewing the front page will be led to this thread and wonder where the discussion went!!

I like the new title too!!

peggy

[rockergirrl]

Let's wait on starting a second thread. Peggy gave me some good advice. Since this thread just made the front page of the website we should wait and allow the people who find us through there to come to this one. There has already been a lot of new people posting on our thread who have found us through this link. So if everyone doesn't mind I will wait a bit longer before creating a second one.

[Peppamint]

Originally posted by rockergirrl
Let's wait on starting a second thread. Peggy gave me some good advice. Since this thread just made the front page of the website we should wait and allow the people who find us through there to come to this one. There has already been a lot of new people posting on our thread who have found us through this link. So if everyone doesn't mind I will wait a bit longer before creating a second one.

Sounds good to me!

[tracymom]

Where have you ladies been all my life?

Hey, all. I was so excited when I signed in this morning and found this thread on the front page! Congrats! I linked and scanned through all the messages and am just so happy that there are other WOHM's out there struggling and LIVING so well!

I was a WAHM then a WOHM then went back to home only to be offered a "dream job" at my company which if I had declined I would have always, always wondered if I could have ever pulled off. So back to the office for me, and it's mostly been great except for the guilt (as we all well know, I'm sure). However, as my DH always points out when I'm agonizing over things, I never was a great success as a SAHM either. My personality tends to get in the way of enjoyment and, though I have big ideas, they never seem to get done. My kids get much more artwork done at school and daycare now than they ever did at home, plus I am actually baking and doing things with them MORE now that I am working outside the home since I'm not always scrambling to get my work done the way I was when I worked here. It's strange but true.

My two DS's are 6 and 3 respectively and I am happy to report are doing great at daycare and kindergarten.

I would personally love to see a WOHM tribe as Peggy suggested. I haunted the "finding your tribe" area for ages looking for local playgroups and like-minded mamas but only found a few in my geographic area and we're separated by many miles. I think it's very hard to find friendships in the WOH arena due to lots of conditions that I've seen you ladies talk about, parenting unfriendly situations, work needs, and others. I think a "tribe" would be just the thing since that's the "appropriate" area of the boards to kind of group together without fear of labels or exclusion, IYKWIM.

Again, congrats! I had not been checking in lately because I would sometimes feel so awful about my choices reading about some of these spectacular SAHM's who are just amazing, but knowing you ladies are out there makes me feel wonderful! Nice to meet all of you, and thanks for getting this started!!!!

Tracy S.
wife to Chuck
mom to Charlie and Will

[ebaby]

MamaJulie
Wow! I did the very same thing and my ds did not any solids until 8+months! People thought I was crazy for that but it does reduce allergies and build up the little immune system!
I know what you mean about having to eat all of the time, I am still constantly munching to keep up. (Healthy snacks & meals of-course.) I am back to my pre-prego weight, working @ 30 hrs+ and babe is 1yr and still nurses 7 to 10 times per24hrs.
Dh says he is ready to start on a new one. I am a little afraid, It seems as I just got some kind of balancing act going...

Anyone have any wisdom on spacing babies when you know you will absolutely have to go back to work after the second one?

Great thread!

K:BabyE'sMomma

[MamaDeLiana]

Co-sleeping WOHM

I'm so glad to have stumbled onto this thread and look forward to the continuing discussion, wherever it may reside.

I'm a WOHM, mother of a five-month-old girl, and partner to a SAHD. I enjoy the balance of baby time and work time--I slip into a deep funk without my career to keep me stimulated, and depresso-mommy isn't what DD needs.

I was pumping twice a day and DH was bringing DD to me once a day to nurse (for which I'm very grateful), but DD stretched the intervals between daytime feedings, so now I'm pumping once and nursing her once at the office. BUT she also reverted from 3-4 hour stretches between feedings at night to 1-2 hour stretches. I'm really torn about this. Because I'm away from her much of the day, the closeness at night can be precious. But it's really hard for me to function at work some days, even though I'm going to bed early to compensate. I've visited the forum on nightwaking and the family bed (though I have yet to read very far into it), but many of the posters seem to be SAHMs and admit to being sleep-deprived. Any tips from other co-sleeping WOHMs? (Or can anyone point me to a relevant thread in Nightwaking?)

[somemama]

ebaby, our kids are 5 years apart--and that spacing works well for us!!

[ebaby]

Thanks ladies!!
We cosleep and have had a history of tons of night waking and/with marathon nursing at night. I too feel it is the price I pay for being absent part of his day. Not punishment just natures way of reconnecting us. What has helped us is a "routine" before bedtime. DH reads to ds and we all kiss and pray, then ds nurses to sleep.
The days I work all day I go to him and nurse twice on a pretty set schedule. Although when I am at home we are totally on a nurse on demand/request.
We also have AM ritual, ds has begun to wake and be very giggley, patting dh on the head, chortle, snort, kind of a "get up dad, lets play!" I love it. Dh does too, but some mornings I can tell he'd like to rollinto a cave.

I don't have much wisdom on pumping because ds is at the breast only, refused ebm in bottle, so I don't bother pumping anymore.
have a good night gals!
K

[jackie McCurrie]

Hey mum,I feel the pain of your situation.It is possible for your working and daycare situation to work well,with the right day care.Trust your instincts,if its not working find somewhere that will meet the needs of both you and your little one more readily.I have a 7 month old and she is in daycare 2 days a week and has been since 3 weeks old .I leave milk and breastfeed her at lunch time,the staff are always happy to meet our needs and Milla loves it.I have been through that rollercoaster ride of emotions,we all do it in all situations.Don't be afraid to be your little ones voice,sometimes people need to be given the oppertunity to think about things in a different way.I wish you all the best!

[jackie McCurrie]

Working mums board

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mamajulie
[B]Should we lobby for a "Working Mother" board?
Lets get that board going

[tracymom]

Lets get that board going

Peggy replied to a PM I sent her and she said they are looking at doing one. I am so glad I found you all!

Because I'm away from her much of the day, the closeness at night can be precious. But it's really hard for me to function at work some days, even though I'm going to bed early to compensate. I've visited the forum on nightwaking and the family bed (though I have yet to read very far into it), but many of the posters seem to be SAHMs and admit to being sleep-deprived. Any tips from other co-sleeping WOHMs? (Or can anyone point me to a relevant thread in Nightwaking?)

MamaDeLiana, when my DS was small I WAH (my mom came and did caretaking while I worked) which gave me that extra time in the a.m. instead of having to do the commute. It was tough, though; when they're that young you wake more when they do at night. I can tell you, though, that it does get easier the older they get because they take more control of their nursing. In our case, he'd wake, latch, do his thing, and fall back asleep sometimes with my waking only briefly. Definitely a low-maintenance arrangement. Hang in there! A lot of times I went to bed with him in the evening, foregoing anything I had been intending to do. Books went unread and chores undone for months, but at least I could function when doing my work most days.

Good luck,
Tracy S.

[owen&mama]

Just lost my post to "technical difficulties"!


Thanks for the pumping advice, ladies!

Ah, nightwaking. At 12 months, DS has stretches of one waking a night now...but that is all up in the air with teething and developmental issues. I, too, see it as a compromise of being away from him during the day. Co-sleeping and napping with him are the only way I manage to get sleep.

Owen also waited until about 8 1/2 months to have solids. It worked out wonderfully for us. He's now having just about anything and we pretty much skipped the commercial baby foods. Don't advertise to the general community, though....gee, you would have thought I was starving him. At 21 pounds, I hardly thought so. I am way down weight-wise, so I have to concentrate on the calories, as well. Once he stops nursing, though, I'm afraid it will all catch up to me!

Anyone out there travel with your job? Owen has gone with me three times, with the fourth trip coming up next week. However, he's showing signs of being okay with my absence...but am I okay with it????? Any advice from the experts?

Again, I'm so glad I happened upon this group....!

Dinah