Returning to work after 12 weeks of maternity leave is one of the main reasons for stopping breastfeeding early. But, with a little organization and motivation, it is possible to continue breastfeeding your child. Once you return to work, take out your "breastfeeding plan." Here's how to breastfeed in practice when you return to work.
Expressing milk to build up stock with nursing and pumping bra:
Choose the hand free breast pump bra, which will become your companion during your working days. And it is essential that you have tamed it well before your resumption and made up a little stock of milk in the freezer. It allows your hands to be free can be very useful to save you time.
MIXED BREASTFEEDING
Introduce mixed breastfeeding gradually, about a month before resuming your work. To maintain good lactation, it is preferable to keep at least 2 feedings per 24 hours, ideally 3 and especially at night if possible, because the lactation hormones are at their highest during the night.
What options are available for mixed breastfeeding?
Breastfeed your baby on demand
To reconcile breastfeeding and return to work is not to be afraid of having an irregular rhythm. You can continue to breastfeed your baby on demand when you are with him (evening, morning, weekend), too bad if he does not have the same rhythm as at the nursery. Your baby will quickly understand that the structure is different when you are there. Continuing breastfeeding as much as possible on demand will help maintain your lactation because the more babies suckle, the more you continue to produce milk.
Quantities to be planned during the day of care:
A breastfed baby distributes its intakes over 24 hours. Therefore, even if during the first times of adaptation to the new form of care and separation it takes very little milk during the day, it will be able to compensate by the feeding of the reunion, and those of the evening and the night. In any case, it is better to provide several bottles of small capacity to avoid waste. Generally, between 2 and 6 months, the quantities of breast milk that your baby needs do not increase; you will need to provide a 400ml maximum of breast milk drawn during his day of care.
Bottom Line:
Finally, be especially kind to yourself. If you do not want to continue expressing your milk beyond 6 months (duration of exclusive breastfeeding recommended by the WHO), know that giving 1 to 2 feeds per day to your child will help you maintain lactation, especially if you can breastfeed on demand on weekends.
