When you return to work, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to wean your baby. It is a very good reason to carry on breastfeeding as your baby will miss you when you aren’t there. Breastfeeding will satisfy his/her need to be close to you.
However, pumping at work requires a certain amount of organisation and preparation. It is important to tell your employer early on that you intend to carry on breastfeeding. Ask whether it will be possible to express milk at your workplace or whether you could perhaps work from home.
If you want to express breast milk it is useful to start with pumping a few days before you go back to work so that you can build up a small store of milk. You can hire or purchase a breast pump. The ARDO Calypso-To-Go is a very quiet breast pump that you can use at your workplace; it also allows cooled storage and safe transport of the breast milk.
If you have difficulty expressing enough breast milk, try arranging your morning feeds so that you breastfeed on one side and pump from the other side at the same time.
The baby needs time to get used to the bottle; this may take several attempts. A baby often drinks better if she is given the bottle by her father, a babysitter or a grandparent. When feeding your baby from a bottle, enforce ‘paced feeding’ to avoid nipple confusion.
- Breastfeed your baby before you leave the house even if it is not her usual feeding time.
- Wear clothes that allow you to pump discreetly.
- Plan about 30 minutes for getting the pump ready, doing the pumping and cleaning the pumpsets afterwards
- For moms who have been breastfeeding exclusively it is sensible to pump every 3 to 4 hours to maintain milk production. The frequency of pumping falls off after other foods have been introduced at around 6 months.
- During the night and on days when you don’t go to work you can carry on breastfeeding your baby when he/she is hungry.
