Breastfeeding - Breastfeeding and Returning to Work

Many people think that returning to work is incompatible with breastfeeding. Some women don't even start breastfeeding for this reason. Returning to work is no more incompatible with breastfeeding than it is with parenting. Stay-at-home parenting is of course better for your baby and better for breastfeeding, but many people who work manage to be good parents and many mother who return to work manage to continue breastfeeding.

The beginning:

• Breastfeeding for even a few days is beneficial to your baby. Even a single breastfeed is better than none.
• Start breastfeeding your baby even if you are returning to work in a very short time.
• Some people don't start breastfeeding because they think they can avoid engorgement upon return to work by not breastfeeding at all.
• It does not work this way, however. Your milk will come in whether or not you breastfeed.
• If you are not breastfeeding, the milk will stay in your breasts and you will be much more likely to suffer from engorgement and mastitis.
• If you are planning to pump or express milk to relieve engorgement and prevent mastitis, you are already planning to do what it takes to continue breastfeeding your baby after you return to work. Start breastfeeding your baby!
• In the past, women used to be given lactation suppressing drugs in the hospital to prevent engorgement. These drugs turned out to have nasty side effects and, as far as I know, no one uses them any longer.

When you return to work:

• The longer you stay home with your baby the easier it will be to continue breastfeeding when you return to work. Take as much time as you possibly can.
• Get a hospital-grade breastpump.
  • This is important as hospital-grade pumps are much more efficient than smaller ones.
  • These breastpumps are expensive. You can buy one if you are sure you can sell it later. Otherwise, rent one. It'll still be cheaper than bottle-feeding (even if you include a couple of visits by a lactation consultant), and of course it's much better for you and for your baby.
• Nurse your baby last thing in the morning before you leave for work.
• If you take your baby to daycare, nurse just before leaving your baby there (the daycare place might have a comfortable chair, or you can nurse in your car).
• When you return home from work, breastfeed your baby as soon as you can.
• If possible, visit your baby to nurse once or twice during the day. Some employers have on-site childcare and provide nursing breaks.
• Nurse your baby several times at night. This is easy and won't disrupt your sleep if you sleep with your baby.
• As many times as you can, pump your breasts after nursing your baby. Save the milk for your baby sitter or daycare provider.
• If you can't nurse your baby during the day, pump at least once or twice and save the milk for later use. You can do this in any private and comfortable location. You might ask your boss to let you access an unused meeting room for this purpose. Some employers provide "lactation rooms" for their employees. Some even have full time lactation consultants on staff.
• Nurse as often as you can during weekends and holidays.
• Consider working part-time. It's a lot easier to continue breastfeeding if you don't have to be away from your baby for more than a few hours at a time. If you work for half a day, you might miss just one breastfeed a day. You can easily make up for this by pumping once at work and a couple of times at home (after feeding your baby).
• Be prepared to give your baby some formula or other foods (depending on your baby's age). It's unlikely that you'll be able to produce enough milk to feed your baby exclusively on breastmilk if you work full-time.
• Don't neglect to pump regularly. You're doing it to keep up your milk supply as well as to provide extra breastmilk for your baby.
• If you're nursing a toddler, you'll be able to continue indefinitely without any pumping. Consider yourself lucky.
• This will work for most mothers. However, some babies will gradually wean themselves when their mother returns to work. Be prepared for this so you don't get overly disappointed if it happens.

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