Working Mothers
Returning To Work
Once you return to work, you can continue to breastfeed. If you live close to work or have an on site day-care, you may be able to breast feed during your breaks. If that isn’t possible, you have 2 choices:
1. Keep your milk supply by using a high quality automatic electric breast pump to express milk during the day. Save your milk that you collect for your baby sitter.
2. If you don’t want to or can’t pump at work, you can gradually replace daytime feedings with formula while you’re at home but still continue to nurse at night and in the morning. The milk your body produces may not be enough to keep your baby satisfied, even if you only need enough for 2 feedings.
Advantages of Express Pumping at Work
Pumping at work will help stimulate your production of milk, so you’ll have plenty available when it comes time to feed.
You can also collect the milk you pump, so your baby will have the health and nutritional benefits of breast milk even when you aren’t there.
To make things better, pumping can be an ideal way to feel a connection to your baby during the work day. Although it can seem like a hassle, many mothers find that the benefits of breast pumping far out weigh the inconvenience.
Prepare in Advance
Most working mothers have arranged how much time they will take for maternity leave. With your return to work date in mind, if you decide to continue breastfeeding, get into the habit of pumping and storing your milk at least a month before hand.
This gives you time to feel comfortable with expressing before you are put under pressure to do it at work and also gives baby time to adjust to taking a bottle.
Breast milk can be frozen and sterile storage bags are readily available. If you freeze some of your expressed milk it can thawed and gently warmed so your baby can be fed during your absence.
A warning though, don’t try to bottle feed your baby yourself, chances are they won’t accept it. Rather, get your partner, grand-parent or friend to introduce a bottle - preferrably while you are not around.
I remember too well the battle we had with our first daughter. I was going back to work when she was 4 months old and my husband was going to be ‘Mom’ for a while. It didn’t matter what we did, who we got to feed her, she point blank refused to take a bottle.
It was with some anxiety that I returned to work the first day. However, when my husband braced himself expecting to do battle at her first feed after I had left for the day, she meekly polished off the bottle and started a second!
To Manage Pumping at Work
You will need to have the following:
- Breast pump, preferably a fully automatic electric pump with a double collection kit so you can pump both breasts simultaneously.
- Bottles or bags for collecting and storing the milk.
- Access to a refrigerator or cooler to keep the milk cold until you return home.
- Breast pads to help protect your clothes if you start to leak.
Make sure that you get used to pumping before you return to work, so you’ll know what to expect and how it feels. You’ll be much more confident with pumping at work if you already know that you can produce enough milk.
At work, you’ll want to have somewhere that’s away from everyone else when you pump, such as an empty office, empty room or locker room. This way, you’ll be away from everyone else and you can have the quiet tranquillity you need to pump. In most offices, this shouldn’t be a problem.
For the time frame, you’ll want to pump every 2 - 3 hours if possible. If you can’t, every 4 hours or so will have to suffice. After you have finished pumping, store the milk in the bags or bottles in a refridgerator, clean yourself up, then go back to work.
When you return home, you can feed the milk to your growing baby.
For information on Expression and Pumping go to the Expressing Breast Milk page.
If you are returning to work and want to wean your baby, check out the Weaning Baby page.
