Working And Breastfeeding

Are you working and breastfeeding? Some moms will need to return to work while still breastfeeding, you might be asking yourself whether you can continue to breastfeed when you go back to work.

When a mom starts to work again it doesn’t have to mean the end to a breast feeding relationship. A breastfeeding working mom will have some challenges, but many moms have done this very successfully. A working and breastfeeding mom might need to work and pump if she cannot breastfeed baby at work.

Breastfeeding is recommended until baby is at least 6 months old, as there are many benefits that baby might be losing out on… read more on those here.

With an older child, moms can "reverse-cycle feed". This is when mom breastfeeds the child more regularly at night and the child is fed expressed breast milk, formula, or other food when mom is at work.

For the times that mom needs to take a trip away for a few days, she will need to continue pumping every day even if she cannot store the milk, she should then just “pump and dump” so that her milk production will not decrease.

Breastfeeding working moms that feel they want to continue breastfeeding baby when they are together, but would rather formula feed during the day: This is also possible, you can pump once during the day just to keep your supply up. This is sometimes a decision mom will have to make if her schedule doesn’t allow for pumping breast milk during the day.

Bottle feeding breast milk

Working and breastfeeding moms can pump during the day at work and then store the milk so that baby can be bottle fed breast milk while mom is at work. Sometimes a working mom might be lucky enough to continue breastfeeding through the day if baby is nearby.

Read more on combination feeding "mixing breast milk with formula"

Working moms and breastfeeding – “Getting ready emotionally and physically”

- Make that decision. Decide whether you have the courage to stick it out. It won’t always be easy, you might feel after a while that you don’t want to continue anymore. Just think of how wonderful it will be when you can still breastfeed baby on weekends or in the evenings when you come home. Give yourself a month trial period to decide whether you can handle the stress of breastfeeding and working at the same time.

- Don’t worry, you can do this! Don’t worry about too many things before you even try. Enjoy this special time that you have with your baby.

- Concentrate on getting a good milk supply and good latch before going back to work. Take as much maternity leave as you can so that you have extra time to prepare yourself for working and pumping.

What to plan for

? Can baby go to work?

? Can you work from home?

? Does your workplace have a daycare? You could actually breastfeed baby during breaks and lunch times.

? Is there nearby a daycare nearby?

- Breastfeeding and returning to work - Before you return to work, you should try to increase your breast milk supply and pump extra milk that can be frozen for the first few days of returning to work. Pump extra after every feeding…to ensure that your breasts have been emptied. Your milk supply should be well established within 4 weeks of birth. Remember that the emptier the breast becomes, the more it is stimulated to create milk.

- For working and breastfeeding you will need to get a reliable electric breast pump. And for easier use a double action pump will work even better. These breast pumps can be rented at most medical centres. Piston double pumps like the Ameda purely yours electric breast pump are portable and work rapidly and very efficiently. Breast feed baby normally on weekends so that your breastmilk supply can be increased. This is because breastpumps do not stimulate the breast as much as baby breastfeeding.

- A few days before you return to work you can start practicing the pumping routine and start stock piling your breast milk. This is so that you can become familiar with the process and how to store your milk safely. Page on storing breast milk.

- When storing your breast milk you should always add a date and time to the bottles that are to be frozen as baby should be fed breast milk that is pumped at the same time of day at which he drinks it. Morning breast milk contains natural stimulants and its effect on babies could be compared to a grown-up having a cup of espresso! This means that if baby was fed the pumped "morning" breast milk at night, he won’t be able to sleep. And even more interesting...the milk that a mom produces at night actually helps baby sleep.

- Start pumping after every breastfeeding session. Read other pumping tips

- Remember that in the first working and breastfeeding days you might only pump an extra tsp or so, but as you continue your milk supply will increase

- For a working and breastfeeding relationship you will need to let your employer know that you will require some extra time for expressing breastmilk during the day. Make sure that you have a private place for pumping breastmilk at work.

- Choose a bottle that has a nipple that doesn’t flow too easily. This is so that baby doesn’t start to prefer the nipple to the breast and also so that baby doesn’t overeat. Any nipple with one hole in it should work. Avent bottles for bottle feeding breast milk are the closest so far to a real nipple. Baby can also be cup fed while you are at work.

- Some moms might decide that they would like to pump exclusively when they go back to work. Exclusive pumping guidelines

How much breast milk should you pump during an average eight hour day?

Breastfeeding working moms will usually need to pump at least 15 ounces of breast in an eight hour working day.

Get a wet nurse or consider cross feeding

- Pumping to increase milk supply guidelines - low milk supply page

- Leaking breasts

- Alternative breastfeeding methods

- From breast to bottle

- The benefits of breastfeeding

- Weaning from breastfeeding guide

- Breastfeeding a toddler

- Lactation stories

- Working at home with SBI

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