Nursing When You Go Back to Work

Some women think because they have to go back to work they can’t nurse their newborn baby. Nursing your baby or at least giving them breast milk is so important for their health. It is possible to give your baby breast milk and it’s fairly simple to do.

When you return to work you will have a babysitter watch your little one. Whether you have a family member or friend watch him or you take him to an in-home daycare or a daycare facility, you will need to take food for him to eat. When they get older you may find a facility that will supply the food, but when they are this young, it’s something you must do yourself.

You will need to check the rules of the daycare, but most times they will allow you to come to the facility at lunch and nurse your baby. If you can get your baby on a schedule so he eats when you take him, at lunch, and then once you get back, you won’t have to worry about pumping or bottle feeding. This also works when you have a child that won’t take a bottle.

If this is not an option or your baby can’t wait for you, then you will need to come up with another plan. This article will show you these different options.

1.      Pump

You can purchase a breast pump and pump every few hours. Then you send 5-6 bags with your baby each day for them to drink with a bottle throughout the day. Breast pumps are the best way to get the milk for your baby to drink when you can’t nurse him yourself. The stores have nipples that are really similar to the breast so your baby really won’t know the difference. This is good because you don’t want them to not want to nurse when you have the opportunity.

To pump enough milk for your baby, you will need to do this at least four or five times a day. It’s even better if you can pump on the weekends as well. That way if something happens and you can’t pump one day you will be ahead and your baby won’t have to drink formula.  Figure it this way. Each time you pump is basically one feeding for your baby. Look at the number of times he eats in a day, and that’s how many times you need to pump to make up for that.

2.        Breaks

If your daycare or sitter is close to your work, your boss may allow you to take a break every few hours to go nurse your baby. You may be able to come in a half hour early and leave a half hour later to accommodate for this, but it will be worth it for you to be able to continue to work and nurse your baby as well. If you talk to your boss ahead of time and let her know what your plan is and you work hard and diligently while you are there, she will more than likely say yes. If she doesn’t then you will have to go with the pump and take a couple of breaks during the day to pump.

As you can see, there are ways around nursing and going back to work. If you set your mind to this, it will work out one way or the other and your baby will get the best thing for him.