Babies Worldwide

It’s always a challenge to go back to work after having a baby. While many new moms look forward to getting back into the routine and back into the adult world, returning to work, especially when breastfeeding, is rarely easy on mom.

Maternity leave is coming to an end and while you may be looking forward to getting back into a work situation and back into the world of adults it is not going to be a piece of cake especially if you are a breastfeeding mom.

The biggest worry will be how do you continue to breastfeed while working – either full or part-time. The options available depend on where the baby will be in relation to where you will be, the type of job you are doing, the babies age and your ability to pump, and whether or not you wish to supplement with formula.

If you are lucky enough to work in the same building as your baby is in then it may be possible to visit your baby during the working day in order to nurse. This close proximity allows you the freedom to feed your baby instead of having to rely on the pump.

Unfortunately not all moms work that close to their baby they are either too far away from baby to be able to drop in to nurse or have a job which doesn’t allow frequent enough breaks to keep up with nursing. In those cases your best option is the pump. Using the pump will enable you to maintain your milk supply and give baby the ‘perfect food.’ The downside is that many moms aren’t physically able to pump enough milk or have a job which doesn’t allow for pumping throughout the day. If you are able to return to work when your baby is a little older (four to six months old) you may be able to pump enough at lunch or at night to leave a bottle and supplement with baby food. If your baby is younger and you’re unable to pump, there is always the option to supplement with formula. There are plenty of formula options which will give your baby the nutrition she needs when you’re at work.

Regardless of which solution works best for you and your baby, in order to make it work you should prepare for returning to work before it happens.

• Try talking to breastfeeding moms within your own work place. They will be able to let you know the ups and downs of breastfeeding baby in that particular organization. They’ll may also be able to offer solutions to problems you might have
• Make a plan. Tailor it to your unique situation and needs.
• Get your baby ready for the changed situation it will find itself in. Whether you’re going to be using pumped breast milk, formula, baby food, or any combination of the three to feed baby while you’re at work, you need to give baby several weeks of experience with the nutritional source of choice.
• Get baby used to been without you for longer periods. When you are going back to work try for shortened hours.

Tags: breastfeeding, returning to work

This entry was posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Baby Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.