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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!hplabs!tektronix!orca!andrew
From: andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: breastfeeding and work
Message-ID: <1024@orca.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 23-Aug-84 14:51:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: orca.1024
Posted: Thu Aug 23 14:51:37 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 25-Aug-84 06:29:31 EDT
References: <232@varian.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 30

[]

	"I would like to hear from those of you who have or are
	succesfully breast feeding & working away from home.  Do you
	have suggestions about breast pumps? How long did (or are you
	planning) to continue breast feeding?  Do you supplement with
	formula during the day?"

My wife went back to work when our daughter was six weeks old.  She
pumps her breasts at work, stores the milk in bottles in a
refrigerator, then brings them home and takes them to the baby sitter
the next day.  We have not yet had to use formula.

We found that the standard model breast pump, with a squeeze bulb on
one end, doesn't work very well at all.  We use a model which consists
of two concentric cylinders with a tight gasket between them.  When you
draw the inner cylinder out of the outer, it creates a very effective
partial vacuum.  We had to go to a pharmacy to buy this.  Availability
information can probably be had from a chapter of La Leche League, an
organization whose primary focus is the promotion of breastfeeding.

Something to watch out for is that most breastfed babies don't take to
the bottle right away.  We made a point of feeding our baby from a
bottle once a day from the time we brought her home.  (This had the
additional benefit of allowing Dad to feed the baby.)  Baby sitters are
wary about accepting babies who haven't yet become accustomed to a
bottle, as the process can be frustrating for all involved.

  -- Andrew Klossner   (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew)      [UUCP]
                       (orca!andrew.tektronix@rand-relay)  [ARPA]