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What ARE the best clothes for pumping breastmilk at the office? What should nursing mothers wear to pump at work? This is a question I get asked so often, I thought we’d have a discussion about it.
(We have talked about it once before, from guest poster Jenny Hamilton, who had some great general advice, as well as advice on how to travel for business while pumping.)
Here’s the latest question, from reader K:
Here’s my dilemma, I’m headed out for maternity leave in a month or so and am looking for professional clothes that are nursing / pumping friendly. I don’t want to break the bank, but most of what I’ve found so far is either cheap looking or totally inappropriate. I don’t need to “show off my new assets” at work. I just need to be able to look professional and pulled together, and pump without having to strip all the way down. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Congratulations on your baby! The current American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines suggest that mothers nurse their children for the first year of their life (recommending that babies exclusively eat breastmilk for the first 6 months).
I’ll say up front that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with formula if that’s what you choose to do. (I’ll also note: it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing proposition. You can nurse her for 3 months, then just nurse morning and night with your child and give her formula in the middle of the day, skipping the pump entirely. We have an entire post with combination feeding tips for moms who choose to offer both breast milk and formula.)
But: working moms who pump — you guys are rockstars in my book. I’m always inspired by commenters who talk about having pumped for long periods of time (I think one commenter was recently celebrating an end to four years of pumping!) Even in a perfect world, it takes dedication and drive to pump regularly — but I’ve also heard war stories from friends, about trekking to windowless closets with pumping equipment, about enduring funny looks and having to explain their various funnels and contraptions when they rinsed them off in the ladies’ room. It ain’t easy.
{related: all our tips for pumping at the office}
First, let me set the scene for those of you not yet familiar with pumping — we’re talking 10-20 minute sessions with the pump, every 2-4 hours, depending on how old your child is.
(Another thing that depends on the woman is how strictly you have to stick to your schedule — some women will be uncomfortable and maybe even leaking if they miss their schedule by 10 minutes; others can miss an entire feeding before they’re uncomfortable.
To maintain your “supply” it’s best to stick to a schedule, though.) You can rent or buy a variety of different pumps, from handheld ones to hospital grade ones — I had the Medela Pump in Style, which just looks like a black tote bag, plugs into a wall or a car outlet (!), and I found pretty easy to operate. (Your insurance provider may reimburse you for the pump.)
I always found it easiest to pump both sides at once, using a supersexy bustier to hold the funnel. Depending on the woman, you may or may not be able to continue working (at least typing or reading) while you’re pumping; but you may have to look at pictures of your child to get in the right place of mind to encourage your milk to let down. Pumps vary, but my pump makes a fairly loud mechanical sound — I would not be able to be on the phone with it, or do it discreetly in a shared space.
Certain parts of the pump should be cleaned frequently — the foghorn-like things you attach to your breasts, the valves the milk goes in through, and obviously the bottles and caps. You may want to buy a mini fridge for your office, or at least carry a cooler/lunch tote with an icepack — you should refrigerate breast milk that won’t be drunk in 2-3 hours. I was advised to only “mix” breast milk of the same temperature (e.g., cold with cold, not cold with warm) — so you’ll probably need at least 4-6 bottles to get through one day at the office.
{related: what to wear to work after maternity leave }
What to Wear to Pump at Work
Now on the question at hand: WHAT TO WEAR? I never pumped regularly, so I will defer to the readers on this, but here are some of my thoughts:
{related: some tips on nursing clothes for working moms}
You definitely want to wear a nursing bra. I hate nursing bras, so I don’t say this lightly. But I always found it easiest to pump with a nursing bra on — it gives the girls a bit more support and helps position them in the right place.
You want something that will make it easy to put the pumping corset on (for mine, you wrapped it around your midsection, and zipped it up). I honestly just found it easiest to wear t-shirts or pullover tops that I could push up to around my neck for the pumping session. I’ve always heard readers recommend wrap dresses, but to me it seems like you’d have to get entirely undressed in order to put the corset on. (Trust me, you don’t want to wear the corset unless you’re actually pumping.) Similarly, the problem with button-front blouses is that you’ll probably have to unbutton them entirely in order to get it on.
Avoid V-necks and anything low-cut. Not only will your breasts be a different size than they were before you were pregnant, but they may be different sizes throughout the day. It depends on every woman, but in general I think you’re going to want to stick to tops with a lot of coverage, especially at work. I never bought one of these, but my friends swear by nursing camisoles — they help raise the neckline of everything you’re wearing, but they open up for easy access. Some have shelf bras, some don’t; they even exist for DD+ sizes.
Don’t spend too much money on nursing clothes. Not only are they really not intended for pumping, I had bad experience after bad experience with them — I bought 15 pieces of nursing clothes and found ONE that I thought was intelligently put together for the dual goals of “nursing my child easily” and “not exposing my entire breast to the world.” (My favorite one was a double layer top, similar to this Gap one.) You do need one or two tops — at the very least for airplanes (they recommend you nurse your child for takeoff/landing — the sucking helps with the ear pressure), playdates, and doctor’s visits (trust me, you’ll want to nurse after your baby gets shots) — but I don’t think you need an entire wardrobe of them. I’ve never purchased from the brand, but Hadley Stilwell makes professional looking nursing clothes.
Prepare for possible leakage, either by wearing nursing pads or by wearing prints. Not every woman has problems with her breasts leaking — I bought a 4-box set of Lansinoh breast pads and used like 4 pads total. It may happen because you’re still new to breastfeeding; it may happen because you miss a feeding/pumping session; it may happen because you hear something heartwarming and lovely during the day. At the very least, have a scarf in a neutral color, if not an entire back-up outfit at the office, if something goes awry.
Put a towel with your pumping kit, and lay it across your lap when you’re pumping to protect your pants or skirt. When you’re done pumping, you can wrap your supplies in the towel (so nothing drips around the office) and take the wrapped-towel to the bathroom to clean ’em. Pumping can occasionally be messy! (If any should spill on your leather office chair, or office carpet: clean it up asap. Trust me on this.)
Readers, what are your thoughts on pumping at the office? What are the best clothes to wear for pumping?
CapnKate
Also, in terms of a woman’s right to breastfeed at work, I just wanted to note that there is no such right. It is not considered employment discrimination to refuse to permit a woman to breast-feed or pump at work since “lactation is not pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.”
So, there’s that…
K
This is changing – the Affordable Care Act requires all employers to provide a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year each time the employee has a need to express milk, unless this would cause the employer undue hardship. (However, an employer does not need to compensate the employee for time spent breastfeeding or pumping.)
anon
ACA aside, it actually is the law in California. And I don’t think CA is the only state.
Ms. Van Squigglebottoms
DC also protects the rights of nursing mothers.
AmyRenee
Actually, its now part of the Fair Labor Standards Act that employers have to provide breaks and and private, non-bathroom place to pump. Technically, however, the FLSA policy only applies to non-exempt (hourly) employees, but many workplaces are applying it to all workers.
http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/Workplace/WorkplaceSupport/WorkplaceSupportinHealthCareReform/tabid/175/Default.aspx
Anonymous
Troll. Whether you were before or not, you are now. Congrats.
DH
Informing women to be sure of their rights is trolling?
Anonymous
A surplice dress almost every single day for six most now, or occasional button front shirtdress. Nursing bra or regular structured bra w room for jamming in flanges… have to take that off at home to nurse but great for pumping and feeling shaplier than w lame nursing bras. No wardrobe stress so far. No Bustier use tho bought one. A milkies milk-saver. An extra blazer in-office just in case. Best feeling to come home and nurse. Worth it.
KD
Office Clothing: I wore any shirt that you could lift up or button down part way easily. Under each one, I wore a Nordstrom BP tank top (the ones with spaghetti strings) so no matter the top layer, I had a second layer. The strings were elastic enough to pull down to get the girls out to pump. Even though I’m not pumping anymore, I still wear the tank tops and the straps are fine.
Leakage: I never used nursing pads. Instead, I wore long scarves to accessorize and in the event I did leak, they hid the wet spots.
Pumping Aparatus: I used one set, washing after each pump session, and then threw them in the dishwasher at night. I only used one set of bottles the entire day because after each session’s milk cooled, I consolidated in a 16 oz Nalgene bottle and brought it to my son’s daycare. That way, they only used the bottles they needed and any extra milk could be added to the following day’s milk.
Personal Testimony: I found that by establishing a fixed pumping schedule and routine for how to set up/take down the pumping pieces, it became second nature. I started when my son was 9 weeks old and stopped at 1 yr. One really neat thing that came out of this is that the pumping breaks allowed me to mentally reconnect with my baby.
Ms. Van Squigglebottoms
Late to this conversation, but I’m so glad we’re having it. I pumped while a law student, and it’s not easy! Nursing bra and pads are a must. I had to lug everything on the subway, together with my law books, so I just used a lightweight manual pump – no special attire required. For me, the tricky thing was to keep the milk cold without a refrigerator until I got home, and to get to class on time, with not-so-great breaks for pumping. It was tricky, but worth it. Best of luck to the OP!
Rebeccah
I’m midway through 8 months of pumping, and why the heck have I not thought about buying multiple pump parts before?! Will be doing so promptly.
One tip I haven’t seen in this thread is to keep a nursing cover in your pump bag (like this: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3916762) so that if you’re pumping in your car or the building guy lets himself into your office to fix the a/c, you’re not caught with everything in full view. Plus, a long enough cover can help protect your lap from milk stains, if positioned properly.
Rebeccah
I mean, I’ve been pumping for 8 months and am doing so now! (sleep-deprived brain makes coherent sentences difficult sometimes …)
L
I’m a little late to the game, but thought that I’d share. I never bought one of those hands free bra things, but rather made my own “hands free” device. I used two elastic hair ties and looped them together to form a figure 8. Put one end around the horn of the funnel and the other hooked onto the hook of my nursing bra. It provided enough support that once the suction got started it allowed me to continue working while typing. Also, I used to wash my pump parts after every time, but quickly got tired of that. I put the whole apparatus in the fridge after pumping and wash the whole thing just once a day in the evenings.
Going on month 11 of pumping at the office and baby #3 is on the way. No end in sight for easy access shirts and the hum of the Medela pump for me….
Jill
No dresses. Have spare pump parts at the office and know where you can rent a pump in an emergency if yours breaks. Also, I hate to say it but it’s not always true that, as Kat said, you can breastfeed full-time for the first three months and then go to only mornings and evenings, supplementing with formula. Some moms unfortunately will lose their milk supply if they try it. But it’s still better to try that than to give up on nursing altogether, if pumping at work is not a good option and you want to keep nursing. (I pumped for my twins and supplemented without guilt; I would have had to pump all day long to make enough milk for them. But I was lucky enough not to go back to work until after nursing full-time for six months.)