Breastfeeding and Going to School

Cheryl - posted on 06/09/2009

I went back to school when my son was 10 weeks old and am still nursing now that he is almost a year. My biggest issue with my school, University of Illinois at Chicago, is that it offers ZERO support for breastfeeding moms. I wrote an article about it near the end of last semester and am hoping that between that and the letters I have sent to the chancellor etc. will make a difference because it is completely unacceptable. Here is the link in case you are interested:

http://media.www.chicagoflame.com/media/...



As far as advice, I had 2 different strategies which I used depending on the available space I had to pump. In a situation where I had more time but less space, I used the avent isis pump. It's super small and you don't have to worry about outlets or anything like that. When I didn't have enough time to pump each breast separately, I used a medela pump-in-style. It expresses milk from both breasts simultaneously, but you also have to deal with finding an outlet and/or using an extension cord. A lot of my professors were understanding and offered suggestions on clean and quiet areas or at least were lenient if I was a little tardy. I often had to break my pumping schedule during exam weeks or when papers were due but I'd try top make up for it by pumping once after my son went to bed at night. I hope this helps!

Christine - posted on 06/06/2009

Thanks, but unfortunately am not as confident as you are Nicole when it comes to pumping. Personally, I hate pumping with all of my being, but my daughter has to eat when I am not with her. I am not in school for the summer, but during the year my boss let me use his office. I also ussed the practice rooms in the music area and private rooms in the library.

Nicole - posted on 06/05/2009

your school has to allow you to pump anywhere, anytime. pumping in the food court works well because there are a lot of outlets for laptops already. bathrooms are gross, please don't do it in there. I am rather balls out so I shamelessly pump and nurse anywhere. I pump and eat a lot. i have pumped in the back of lecture halls before class has begun. the nice thing is, the academic community understands the benefits of nursing/pumping way better than a lot of folks.

Melissa - posted on 03/20/2009

I've done this before.  What I did was pump in my car on breaks.  I drove my car to a far parking lot, had a blanket in my car and pumped away.  I had a small cooler bag with cold packs to keep the bottles cold.  Just make sure that you try to pump as often as you can.  I was only able to pump once in 8 hours and I ended up losing my supply when he was 4 months old.  Sometimes the school can help you out with a room somewhere- just ask and I'm sure you'll get some help.

Christine - posted on 03/11/2009

Hey, I did the same until my baby was 8months old,  but the best thing to do is to ask  one of your teachers or school for a room that you could use and they should have no problem accomadating you, as for time saving tips i bought myself a little cooler to keep the milk and disposable bags to attach to the pump this way i could just pump and store it.

hope that helps and good luck