To Return To Work And Continue Breastfeeding
It also provides greater comfort and safety. Keep in mind that breast milk protects babies from infection.
Children who are breastfed have a significantly lower risk of suffering from serious diseases, such as gastroenteritis, respiratory infections, urinary tract infections or ear infections.
Furthermore, breast milk also protects the health of the mother. Mothers who breastfeed their children are less likely to develop breast cancer, some forms of ovarian cancer and hip fractures, due to osteoporosis in old age.
Despite the benefits of breastfeeding, combining with professional life is not always easy.
Most mothers who feel bad about leaving their baby when they return to work reveal that breastfeeding helps them cope better with the problem.
In continuation of this, returning to work may be the first time you are separated from your baby for an extended period of time. This means that it is a difficult time for both you and your baby.
5 tips to get back to work and continue breastfeeding
Below, you will find 5 useful tips if you would like to return to work and continue breastfeeding:
Start giving your baby bottle from an early age.
Many breastfeeding mothers make the mistake of not giving their baby bottle until they start working again. You need to get your child used to using a bottle from an early age.
Most experts recommend introducing a bottle of squeezed breast milk, at about 3 months of age, when breastfeeding is firmly established.
2. Get yourself a milk pump
In order to give your baby a bottle of breast milk, you first have to squeeze that milk – usually with a breast pump.
The best time you can do this is usually after the first breastfeeding of the day. Here, milk production is at its highest point.
When you have finished pumping out milk, store the milk in the refrigerator or freezer. It will stay fresh for 5 days in the fridge, and for 5 months in the freezer.
Be aware that your storage containers are made specifically for breast milk. They are both disinfected, suitable for freezing and do not leak.
Find a suitable place to pump milk at work
Usually, large companies have private areas where you can pump milk. In the event that you work in a small company, you may need to be creative when it comes to finding a place.
Whether it is an intimate area or a bathroom, make sure it is as hygienic as possible. In these cases, antibacterial cloths can be very useful.
4. Relief by returning to work
For working mothers, the first week back at work is one of the most complicated, according to being separated from the baby.
In such a case, it is good if you try to talk my my company about ways in which the transition can be handled.
5. Schedule your breastfeeding and pumping times
Throughout working hours, experts recommend that mothers should breastfeed before going to work. They will then have to breastfeed again when they get home – in addition to any other time when the baby wants it.
At work, you can try pumping milk out at the times you would normally breastfeed, either 2 or 3 times a day.
6. Plan ahead and have the right equipment at hand
Planning is important when you need to return to work and continue breastfeeding. According to this, make sure that you always have your milk pump with you. Then you can pump milk out during the day.
We recommend that you follow the advice above to make it easier for you to return to work and continue breastfeeding.
Many mothers believe that this separation represents the end of breastfeeding. But, as you have seen, good planning and the desire to continue breastfeeding can also make it possible.
