A lot of women feel like they need to give up breastfeeding when they go back to work. Whilst I will tell you that is certainly not easy, it is possible to continue to breastfeed your baby after you go back to work! I am currently a stay-at-home Mom, but when my first child was born I was working and going to school full time. Thru many sleepless nights and endless dedication, I did manage to breastfeed my son for a solid 13 months. It is possible! So let me go over some things that may help you!
Know your rights! There are laws in place to protect you as a breastfeeding Mom! Please check out these links for more information:
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs73.pdf
Breastfeeding State Laws
I do have some tips that worked for me as far as pumping while I was at work and school. Letting down to a pump is definitely an acquired skill. There are some things that can help you let down, and to maximize your amount of expressed milk. For some Mom's just thinking about their baby is all it takes, but with technology these days... You can do even better! I found that looking at a current picture of my baby definitely helped me let down, and also looking at a video of my baby was an even better trick! My video I made was of my son actually crying when he was hungry! It was right there on my cell phone whenever I would go to pump. I will tell you that this did have a funny side affect. I was so trained to let down at the sound of a hungry, crying baby that if I was in Walmart and someone else's baby cried... I would let down! Ha ha.
Something else to think about is investing in a good quality pump. If you only need to pump occasionally for the evening out with your spouse, then a hand pump may do just fine. However, if you are working and pumping on a regular basis you might want to consider getting a really good breast pump. I personally recommend Medela products. I used their Pump In Style, and really loved it! You can even rent a hospital grade pump, a lot of Hospitals offer their pumps for rent :)
I mentioned in a previous post that the best way to ensure a good milk supply is stimulation from your baby. So if you are away from your baby during the day and pumping, it is still very important to make sure you nurse baby as much as possible when you get home! Spending lots of skin-to-skin contact your baby will also help to maintain your milk supply. One way I did this was by wearing my son as much as possible when I was with him. A second way I got lots of skin-to-skin time with my son was when we shared sleep at night.
Please visit this kellymom.com link for more information on maintaining a good milk supply:
Establishing & Maintaing a Good Milk Supply
***I would like to invite any Mom's who have experience with pumping at work to please comment on this post with any other helpful tips!! Thank you!!
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