how can i increase milk flow when i can not pump for 8 hours while at work?

Answer 1

Your employer has a legal obligation to provide you with a break during an 8 hour workday. They also have a legal obligation to provide you with somewhere to pump. If you can't pump, can you lock yourself in your car, bathroom, office.. etc and manually express some milk during the day for a few minutes? Without nursing or pumping for 8 hours on a regular basis, your body will think that you don't need milk during those 8 hours and will naturally decrease supply. You could make up for it by pumping more before and after your work day.. I used to set an alarm to pump every 2 hours when I was desperately trying to increase my supply.. Fenugreek is a wonder herb and can help increase supply also.

Answer 2

You do not need to pump all 8 hours. You only need to pump like you would normally breast feed your baby. Use your break and lunch times to go into a ladies room and use the stall and pump your milk out as if you were breast feeding. Usually on an 8 hour job there is 2 15 min and one 30 min time slots and that is more than ample to pump milk. You can get a hand expressed pump to carry in your purse for that. My sister did it while she was at work for all 4 of her babies. You can alternate sides per break time or you can do some on both. Usually a baby only uses one side per feeding until it gets bigger anyway and you alternate them per feeding. Hope that helps. Also, you can carry a thermos with you and keep it in a cooler or a refridgerator at work and no one will know you have breast milk in it and then you can use that milk to give to the baby sitter to give your baby the next day so that it has your milk and not a bottle. My sister did that too.

Answer 3

Why can't you pump at work? They HAVE to give you an adequate break to do this. I believe it's law - didn't you read about the college student at Harvard? She was a nursing mom and they HAD TO give her adequate time to pump or nurse her daughter during an exam. Employers HAVE to give you breaks if it's a medical concern - which this is. If they don't - you can call a lawyer.
Drinking plenty of fluids would help too, but I don't know how you're going 8 hours without being in pain. It's not healthy either - you can end up with mastitis.
Good Luck!

Answer 4

If you are going 8 hrs with out pumping it will decrease your milk supply. There is no way around it. Somethings that may be helpful is taking in more protein. My doctor recommended eating soy nuts but they were really awful and didnt work very well.

I would ask your employeer about an exception so you can pump during a break at least once a day. Never hurts to ask :)

Answer 5

Any amount of pumping will help increase your milk supply. Even a few minutes pumping will help. You must get breaks during that 8-hour day, and your employer can't tell you NOT to pump during your break time. To save time, have your pump equipment set up so you can pump right away. You can put the whole flange and bottle attachment into the fridge or put the flange into a plastic bag and wash when you get home. Depending on what state you work in, your employer may be legally required to provide break time (possibly unpaid) for you to pump. There are even pumps (Whisperwear) that you can wear under your clothes and use while working, or hands-free pumping bras that will hold the pump flanges in place while you type or do other work. Some women find hand-expressing milk works just as well for them, needs no special equipment, and can be done more quickly. Or you might be able to visit your baby's daycare during your lunch/dinner break. Have you tried talking to your supervisor about your difficulties? A local La Leche League Leader can help you practice for this conversation. Your breastfed baby is less likely to get sick, meaning you're less likely to miss work to care for a sick child. And if your employer provides health care for your family, their costs will be lower if you breastfeed. Many companies are realizing that supporting breastfeeding mothers is simply good business. If you absolutely cannot express your milk at work, then you can increase your supply by pumping and breastfeeding more when you are not working. Breastfeed your baby as often as possible when you're together. Get to your baby's daycare a bit early so you can nurse one last time before work, and plan to breastfeed as soon as you pick your baby up in the evenings. Use a baby sling or front carrier that allows breastfeeding so your baby can nurse frequently when you're together. Spend as much time skin-to-skin as you can (your baby in just a diaper and you with no shirt or bra; you can tuck your baby inside your shirt to keep warm). Sleeping with your baby can encourage your baby to nurse more and also let you get enough sleep. Some babies of working moms will "reverse cycle" and do most of their nursing at night. You can also pump at home, about 1/2-1 hour after your baby nurses, and pump on weekends to increase your supply. Although at first you might not get much milk from these pumping sessions, if you routinely pump at certain times each day, your body will increase your supply. Most mothers find that their bodies are able to adapt to partial breastfeeding, especially if your maternity leave is long enough for your milk supply to become well established.

Answer 6

Firstly the right to pump is usually LAW, and don't forget breastmilk can be stored in a cooler bag with an ice pack for at least 24 hours, and even at room temperature for hours.

However some babies sleep through the night at an early age and their mothers make enough milk. So some babies can also go 8-12 hours during the day as long as they are allowed to make up for missed feeds at night by bed-sharing.

You can also pump more when you are home.

Is your milk supply really low?
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html#supply

What is a galactagogue? Do I need one?
...Herbal remedies for increasing milk supply
http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/herbal_galactagogue.html

Pumping & Bottle Feeding
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/index.html

Answer 7

Is there ANY way you can pump? Maybe on a lunch break? If theres not, theres really no way to increase it, but you can keep it going by pumping right before and right after work and any time you can when you're not at work (shoot for at least every 3 hours).

Answer 8

your milk supply is produced based on the demand for it, so if you don't pump for 8 hours, that signals your body that the demand is practically gone and the supply will diminish.
not to mention, you'll get horribly engorged at first.
try to find a way to pump at work, otherwise, you'll have to stop breastfeeding. you will have no supply.

Answer 9

Drink plenty of healthy liquids. :)