Teacher moms...how do you pump during the school day?
Hello ladies! I recently started back to work (boo) and my LO is almost 9 weeks old now. I'm a high school teacher and I'm having a hard time squeezing in time to pump. We only have a 15 minute lunch break and on my lunch duty day I don't even get to pump at lunch. Should I talk to an administrator and ask for someone to cover a portion of a class or two each day? How did you handle pumping during the school day? Thanks so much!
Posted Mar 20, 2013, 7:54 PM UTC
107
Yes, you should talk to someone. Are there any other teachers there who have pumped in the past/are pumping now? I would reach out to them first, and then the administration. If it's been done before, it shouldn't be too hard to re-implement.
I am in grad school, and I teach undergraduate biology at a fairly large research university. I went back to work when my youngest was 9 days old, and managed to make EBFing work (we're 11.5 months in and going strong) despite a horrendous pumping schedule. The biggest thing I can say is to not be afraid to reach out to the people around you for help.
15 minutes is tight, but with a small fridge in your classroom/office, and your pump plugged in and set up ahead of time, you could definitely get a session in during lunch. You'll get really adept at eating while pumping, haha. You may not have time to wash your pump parts right away afterward, but if you put them in the fridge, they'll keep until you can get to them after school.
If your students have a study hall, or you have a planning period, or if they have a long homeroom/locker break time, try to use that to your advantage. And if they're supposed to be working on stuff on their own, you may be able to recruit a fellow teacher/friend to just monitor your classroom in a pinch. Do you have car dismissals that require a monitor of some kind? Maybe you could trade your lunch duty for some other before/after school duty.
The important thing is to try to be as flexible as possible, and be adamant about your right to pump while being respectful of other people's time. Acknowledge that it might be a bit of an inconvenience, but stress how much this means to you. Be willing to take on additional duties in a "trade" for some extra time to pump, if necessary.
Healthful Mama has a really great article about her experience as an EBFing teacher, which details how she went about pumping. It might be helpful to show this to colleagues/administration, especially if you don't want to be seen as getting special treatment. Unfortunately, that happens. People can be ignorant.
Not sure how this applies to your personal situation, but the United States Breastfeeding Committee page has some information about what is required by employers. Search around there to see if there's anything that may be of use to you.
Good luck!!
9 days! You US mummies are amazing.
Thanks for your suggestions! There are two teachers I know of that have pumped. I currently have my plan period and my lunch and I've gotten really quick, I would just like one or two more times a day so my poor boobs don't get so full and uncomfy. I also wanna make sure I don't risk ruining my supply by going for hours without pumping. I'll check with the teachers around me. Thanks again for your reply!
I would recommend talking to them about how they did it. People who have survived it before are often the best resources to lean on. And that's good news, because it means your administration is probably at least somewhat familiar with the practice, if not outright supportive.
The other good news is you should be almost to the point where your supply starts staying better established, and longer periods between nursing sessions should become less of an issue, discomfort-wise. By the time I hit the three-month mark, I was able to easily go three to four hours between sessions if need be, and it didn't result in my supply crashing the next day. I hope it works out that well for you!
Keep us posted on your progress!
Thanks again!! And yeah, the discomfort is getting better. She's sleeping for 5+ hours at a time at night so I'm getting used to going longer stretches without a drain. I haven't really seen a change in supply even when I go for a long while, so maybe I'm good and established now...? I'll check into it with the other ladies there. And thanks again!!
If you haven't noticed a decrease in supply with the longer night stretches, that's a really good sign!! And I'm jealous. My 11.5-month-old still doesn't give me 5 hours at a time. Sigh. You've got a good girl!