Breastfeeding Your Baby while you work
Janice Wee
I breastfed both my babies even though I had a demanding full time job. It is possible, but it requires a lot of effort. Determination. Willpower. And of course, a good breast pump.
I started breastfeeding my babies from birth. I was lucky. The hospital where I bore my first baby had a breastfeeding consultant. With her advice and support, I was able to overcome most of the initial problems with breastfe eding. Things like engorgement, a few days after baby is born which leaves you with painful, rock hard breasts full of milk that wouldn't come out. Baby would suck but not be able to extract the milk and cry in hunger. Mom is left in pain and frustration. For that, hot towels, as hot as you can take, applied as compresses on the painful breasts as you massage the breasts for 15 minutes to soften it before offering baby his meal.
Once you and baby are finally happily settled in a breast feeding routine, for most of us working moms, it is time to go back to work. The hours of separation would mean the end of breastfeeding as the milk dries up.
A lactating mom's breast produces milk according to the baby's needs. The more baby drinks, the more you produce. Likewise, once baby stops drinking you soon stop producing milk. To prevent that from happening, every 4 hours, you have to express out the milk.
A working mom's schedule could be like this. Half and hour before leaving the home, breastfeed baby. If baby wouldn't drink, then use a breast pump to express the milk and store it in the fridge before going to work. Leave with a insulated container large enough for an ice pack and bottles of milk and the breast pump.
Reach office 15 minutes early, spend 10 minutes expressing what you can, seal up the milk in a bottle or milk bags, hide in a box, hide box in a plastic bag and keep that in the office fridge. Dump the ice pack in the freezer compartment of the office fridge.
Lunch time, have a really quick lunch, packed food whatever, and spend half an hour in the toilet expressing the milk. Seal that up, hide it in a box, in a bag and keep in the fridge.
After office hours, straight to the toilet and express some more milk and store that up too.
After work, time to go home, if 4 hours or more have passed since your last milking session, express again.
Pack up everything put the ice pack in your insulated container packets or bottles milk on that ice pack and bring everything with you home quickly. Once home, put everything in the fridge so baby has fresh breastmilk to drink the next day while you are away.
About the author: The writer is the webmaster of Baby Must Haves which covers what you need when you have a baby.