Pumping moms, mind sharing your pumping schedule with a first time mom about to go back to work? Is 3x a day doable?

A lot of it depends. If your supply is fully established, you can probably get away with doing it three times a day. I highly recommend a wearable pump. I required a strong section and found eufy breast pump to be excellent. Get a ceres container to store it and you should be good.

Not a new mom but a new grandma. Congratulations and hang in there. Also if you have a private spot to work, my daughter raves about a wearable pump so you can be hands free. Take good care of yourself.

If my camera is off on Zoom, you know why

This was mine

6:30 (or before a workout)
9:30 am
12 pm
2:30 pm
5 pm (if I wasn't able to latch when I got home and she already had a bottle)

Latch before and after work

In the earlier days, I pumped every 2-2.5 hours. Depends how old your baby is

I do 3x per day - 9, 12, and 3, which roughly mirrors when my daughter (6 months) is getting a bottle at daycare. The firm gave me a mini fridge and temp lock so I can just pump in my office.

I would say you could do it with 3x a day at work. Plus morning and evening/night. General rule (I think it still is!) is to pump when the baby would be feeding. Honestly, I tried to do a little extra if I could, but it depended on meetings and everything. If the office was quiet before I left I would sometimes pump right before I left for the day also knowing that the time between leaving, picking the baby up, and getting home would be a bit and even if I fed them right when we got home, there would be plenty for the baby.

I went back to work at 6 months, baby was eating at 7, 11, 3, and 7. I pumped at those times, and then again right before I went to bed at 10:30. Only 11am and 3pm at work, the rest of the times at home.

(I took my regular Spectra S1 to work and used Kiinde bags and ice packs for transport. I took 2 sets of flanges and had more at home so I didn’t have to worry about cleaning at work, although other moms I know swear by pump wipes and the fridge hack).

3x a day worked for me for my son and was all I could manage. At the end, I had to supplement with formula, but he was 9mo by then, so that was just fine. And I had plenty of supply to BF in person every chance we got, which is the part that mattered most to me.

My daughter adamantly refused bottles, breastmilk or otherwise. The daycare folks said they’d never seen a baby (she was 6mo when she started daycare) who refused all bottles but still played happily. She assaulted me to BF in person the moment I picked her up everyday - in the daycare parking lot until she was almost 2yo 🤣 So I had a freezer full of breastmilk for her that I ended up mixing with puréed baby food and such and had to toss a bunch. I decreased pumping for her at first to twice a day and then just once bc she was NOT having that “stinky” plastic bottle. Compliments to the chef, I guess…

All babies are different. You will figure it out when you get going, and mama - I promise, it will be fine! Tip: you only need one set of pump parts per day and put those once used in the fridge in a ziplock bag. No need to use/clean more than one set of pump parts per day with this method.

Took 6 months leave with each baby. Could never get the pumping thing to work at work — as in, very tough to get the time to step out to do it, struggled with handling this on top of return to work, packing bag for daycare, etc. Ended up nursing in morning and night and doing formula during the day.

My point is this: if you can do it, great. If not, also great. Do what practically and realistically works for you and that will undoubtedly be what’s best for your baby.

Good luck! While it can be hard, this phase can be intense and incredible and over in the blink of an eye. You got this!

My son was about 4.5 months. I did 3 times a day; usually about 3 hours between each. So my son usually would nurse 6:30-6:45 am; I’d pump around 8:30-9:30 am and so on. I was able to pump in my office while I worked, I purchased wearable collector cups and attached to my spectra because my wearables did not empty me well.

I pumped at first 7/day then dropped to 6/day. But that required me to pump first thing in the morning, then 3x during the day, when I got home, and then before bed. It's a lot.

I did 3 times a day. As long as you have an office, it’s totally doable. The spectra 1 was my favorite
Could easily work and pump

Another anecdote in case anyone needs, I also took six months with each (currently home with my second) and had a bottle refusing baby the first time that I had to drive home to feed for the first year of his life or just WFH. Haven’t tried a bottle with my second yet because I hate pumping so much and am toying with idea of just coming home to feed him once in the middle of the day. It’s going to be exhausting but as others have said such a short period and hoping he does well with solids!!

Woke up, nursed, then pumped after nursing. Right before I left for the office, nursed again (started around 9am). Pumped 2-3 times at work - usually 12pm, 3pm, and 6pm. As soon as I got home, nursed again then nursed throughout the night. Nursed as much as I could.

I had both a hands free pump (momcozy m5) and the spectra. Personally preferred the spectra because I got a better pump out of it. I would just hook up to it in my office and pump while working or during lunch at my desk.

I worked 2 days in office and 3 days at home, eventually went to 3 days in office. Nursed my boy until 21 months and only stopped because I was trying to get pregnant again.

Thank you all for these incredibly helpful replies!! I meant pumping 3x at work, not over the whole day, but definitely did not make that clear in my post. Appreciate all the detailed info here.