Managing Breastfeeding
Post maternity, new moms who are juggling breast feeding and working, it won’t be easy. This involves not only the time you will need to teach your child to get used to sucking the bottle, teaching the caregiver how to feed the little one; but also moment when your breast might get engorged at work and begin to leak. To avoid embarrassment, choose designs and fits that camouflage leaks well. Here are a few other things to keep in mind:
- The first couple of weeks might be difficult. But instead of giving up and resorting to formula feed for your child; give yourself a month long trial period.
- Teach the care giver how to warm your milk. Although it can be given straight from the fridge, it is better to warm it because infants relate to it more. It tastes like mother’s milk straight from the breasts. To make it easy for her, store in small amounts so that the thawing becomes easier.
- Label and store your milk in different bottles. Make the labelling easy for the care giver to understand
- Make sure any milk that remains unused after a day is discarded
- Inform the care giver to hold your child when she is feeding her. If she fusses then show her how to give her a pacifier for a while which the infant can suckle one.
- Give yourself a week to get to know your breast pump well. Read the manual carefully.
- One of the best times to pump your breasts is early in the morning. Don’t panic if not much comes out initially. With time the milk ejection from the nipples improves.
Plan for the Following Day
For a new mom who is heading back to work after maternity, it takes some time to get used to a routine. Especially with a tiny one at home who craves for the mother’s attention when she returns from office. So find some time in the evening hours when you can prepare yourself for the following day. Be that choosing your clothes, typing out a pending mail or adding the finishing touches to the client presentation that you need to make the next day. Try and avoid doing this during the baby’s waking hours though. She needs you too. So keep it for the time when she has slept off after a few cuddles from you. Since you are returning to work, planning will relax you and will also avoid extra rush during the morning hours. Also, get up a little earlier than usual. That will give you time to shower, dress and eat and yet give you tieto feed your child before you rush off to work.
Start with a Short Week
When you join back work after maternity, choose the middle of the week instead of the beginning. That will make your first week a short one. This will help you to slowly get used to returning to work and will ease out your child’s tension too. Especially since this is the first time that she will be left with a caregiver. No matter how little, they do understand the difference between a mother’s presence and that of someone else’s.
