My boss (woman, 2 kids) is very supportive of my need to have time to pump during the day at work – she even gave me her breastpump which saved me a whole lot of money. My supervisor (male, 1st kid on the way) is very supportive also. As a matter of fact all of my immediate co-workers are supportive, to the extent that the one who is only in the office a few weeks out of the year (continuously) is allowing me to use her office whenever she’s not in the country so I can have privacy to pump.
Unfortunately for me, she’s in the office until Dec 21st. So is everyone else. There aren’t any spare offices in the entire building. I asked the Admin Services person in charge of the office spaces if there was anywhere I could use, even a closet with a plug but there is no space. No one even goes to lunch at the same time every day.
I’ve been trying to use the small conference room near my office but that’s being used at least half the days this monthas are the other conference rooms. Plus it isn’t completely private - there are three doors to the room which anyone could walk into at anytime. (Today someone did. Luckily I was facing the wall and could cover myself quickly.)
In an attempt to have a backup option in the event of this situation, I purchased the Whisper Wear Hands Free, battery operated pump. This is a little round pump that fits in your bra (you have to buy two to pump both breasts at the same time-which I did) and has a little bag that attaches to the bottom for the milk. This is all hidden beneath your clothes and is truly hands free. The motor isn’t as powerful as the Medela (the one given to me) so it takes twice as long to pump but that’s worth it because you can do other things while pumping. Great idea. Fantastic idea. Best idea since sliced bread.
Crappy machines. This “Whisper Wear” is VERY loud. There is no way I can use this in my cubicle. It would be completely obvious what is going on and irritating as heck for people to listen to for an hour or more. Forget trying to take phone calls and interact with people. To top it off one of the pumps stopped working in the first 15 minutes that I tried using it (at home). Brand spankin’ new batteries so that isn’t the culprit. A few weeks later – I thought hey – I could use this to pump a bit in the car on the way to work- doesn’t matter how loud it is there. Piece of crap stopped working – only the second time used. I called the company to complain and get a refund but guess what – no refunds on breast pumps that have been used. They’ll happily send you a replacement and tell you to stick a washcloth in your bra to help muffle the sound though. (Tried it already – doesn’t help enough)
I guess my only option is to buy the car adapter for the Medela and go sit in my car and pump – that would add an additional 15 minutes to the already 30 I spend pumping. Hopefully there won’t be a lot of rain this month.
There’s a hands-free rig for the Medela pumps too. Unfortunately, it’s still obvious as hell, and there’s no way you’d conceal it. However, you could use that rig and cover yourself with a shawl whilst pumping in your ‘non-secure’ confrence room. That would allow modesty in the case of security breaches whilst pumping down, and might even allow you to do a little work at the same time.
mornea - I would have emailed you directly, but you don’t have your email in your profile. I work for Medela and I can help. So, if you would like help, my email is in my profile. Please email me.
That was also my 500th post! I was told not to waste it, but offering help is better than most of my posts, so I don’t feel like it was a waste (if, however, a bit redundant - let’s see, how many more times could I have said email?).
Tranquilis - I’ve got a couple bras that allow you to hook the flange part of the pump into them which should allow for hands free operation. It seems to be my bad luck that the air tubes from the machine to the flange won’t stay put unless I hold them.
Thinks2Much - email sent. Ithink it was a great way for you to use you’re 500th post.
This Year’s Model - I actually thought about that! I figured the time it would take for me to dick around with the chairs getting them hooked into the door handle, I could probably be halfway done with pumping. Guess I should have taken the time huh?
I need to get this resolved in some manner soon. Another 8 months (I’m trying to last at least until she turns one) of this uncertainty will drive me crazy.
I wish our company leadership would make a room for this kind of stuff. Seven women that I know of have given birh this year and I’ve seen three more that are pregnant. Only two that I know of have private offices. The company moved to our current offices 2 years ago in an effort to condense the square footage of space being rented and pay less for that space. It worked, but now everyone is really cramped and there isn’t room for any flexibility in space usage.
Yeah, that was the rig I was thinking of. Considered getting one for Intaglio, but she’s got lock-down privacy at work, in a place where she can’t actually do anything but pump, so we didn’t bother. It sounds to me like you could use replacement vacuum lines. The contant removal and replacement of the lines from the collecting bodies for cleaning and storage tends to loosen the fit after a while, and if this is a second-hand pump, there’s no telling how old those lines might be.
I guess it depends on whether or not the privacy nuiscance is bad enough to make the cost of experimenting with new vacuum lines worth the trouble.
What a pain - I do hope you’re able to manage the pumping one way or another, it really is worth it. I did so for both kids until they were about a year old… actually I think I pumped for Dweezil until he was 10 months, then I didn’t need the mid-day supply so I stopped. I was lucky enough with him that I was working in a large Federal building, with a small infirmary, and nursing moms would use the infirmary rooms for that purpose (assuming they weren’t needed for a sick person). With Moon Unit I was in another building; there was a “sick room” that you could get the key to, but that was a bit of a PITA. Mostly I used my boss’s office; he and I were both part-time and tended to work opposing schedules so he never ran into me… except that once. Fortunately I had a post-it on the dootr saying Do Not Disturb, and I had a chair in front of the door
Anyway - is there a Human Resources department for your company? They might well have some suggestions - dunno how large your employer is but a lot of the larger employers at least pay lip-service to supporting nursing moms. There’s always the restroom… though, well, ick :eek:
Also - ultimately you may find you can manage w/o pumping during the day, if you can pump enough in the evenings. Not early on, but later on when baby is eating more solids and you don’t need quite as much breastmilk.
I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time I’m pumping for my second kiddo now (10 months the first time), so I know what you’re going through. I am fortunate to have an office, but certain people with master keys still let themselves in occasionally, even though I 1) lock the door 2) put up a neon pink Do Not Disturb sign and 3) use a doorstop. So you have my sympathy.
Oh, and I realize this just confirms what you already know, but I have heard NOTHING good about Whisper Wear. It’s Medela all the way for me, baby. My rented Lactina rocks, but if you have a Pump in Style they’re great too, and I second the suggestion to switch out tubing/connections, etc if you have a leak. Best of luck, and feel free to email me if you’d like!
Our HR is worthless. After witnessing blunder after mistake filled blunder coming from that dept I have no confidence in them.
The thought of using the bathroom crossed my mind, but like you said - ick. If there were absolutely no other option on the face of the earth maybe I would. I just can’t see pumping my baby’s food in a place where people can’t be bothered to wash their hands or flush the toilet sometimes.
I’m a single mom of two (the aforementioned 4 month old and a 7 year old*) daughters. It’s really taxing trying to cook dinner, clean a little, help my oldest with homework, take her to extracurricular activities on some days, give them both “quality time”, get baths done and get ready for the next day all between 6:30-9:00 in the evening. I was hoping not to have to pump in the evenings so I could get some rest. For a while I was trying to pump while watching the 11pm edition of The Daily Show but I keep falling asleep when I put the baby to sleep. :rolleyes:
Ack. It’ll all work out somehow. I’m getting some new tubes and the car charger so that I’ll always at least have some place to go.
*My first I was only able to nurse for 6 weeks because I couldn’t take any longer off work and was in a situation where I couldn’t pump at work even if I could have afforded a pump. So I’m really determined to nurse this baby as long as I can since I have the resources.
I had to do the bathroom pump for a couple of months at one job. To get past the ick factor, I carried a little bottle of Virofree which is a disinfectant that is also non-toxic and safe to be around babies. It is a very small pump bottle - it fit in the palm of my hand, so it was easy to carry in the pump bag, and I would just spray down the counter before I set up to pump. My son never got sick until he stopped breastfeeding, so I think it worked with no side effects. (I didn’t buy it through the internet - I think I just got it at Babies R Us or somewhere, and I only had the small bottle, no refills and it lasted a long time.)
Don’t give up! It is worth it. I know it can be tough, especially on your own and all. At least everyone there supports you - that is a big blessing in and of itself. And you have us, too.
I’m pumping for my second kiddo now (10 months the first time), so I know what you’re going through. I am fortunate to have an office, but certain people with master keys still let themselves in occasionally, even though I 1) lock the door 2) put up a neon pink Do Not Disturb sign and 3) use a doorstop. So you have my sympathy.