Working Without Weaning

You’ve made it! You’re breastfeeding. It’s all going smoothly-ish. And boom, you have to go back to work. Now you have to figure out pumping, bottle-feeding, and keeping up a milk supply, all while juggling the demands of your job and mothering! Whew. If you want to keep breastfeeding after returning to work, it’s important to ensure you don’t accidentally wean before you are ready. Weaning is the process of transitioning from breastfeeding to not breastfeeding at all.

There is weaning that happens at the child’s pace and there is weaning that happens at the mother’s initiation because of personal preferences. But there is also weaning that happens because of life circumstances, sometimes unintentionally. And heading back to work is often one of those circumstances.

The good news is, there are plenty of tools and tips to help you keep your breastfeeding journey going, even as a working mom, by incorporating pumping into your routine. So we’ve partnered with Lansinoh to share the best ways to ensure you don’t accidentally wean when you return to work.

1. Double pump to keep up supply when apart.

Use a double electric breast pump at work like the Lansinoh Smart Pump, which features three customizable pumping styles to mimic baby’s natural feeding pattern to maximize milk production and comfort. This will help you maximize the stimulation your breasts need to keep making breastmilk in the most efficient way possible when baby is not there at the breast. Many high-quality breast pumps are covered under insurance, so yours could be no cost or low cost. And because it links with the Lansinoh Baby App, the Bluetooth connectivity with the pump will automatically record date, time, and time spent pumping so fewer things for you to remember!

2. Schedule your pumping sessions as you would schedule a meeting!

If you want to keep your milk supply up, you need to stimulate your breasts regularly, so they continue to produce milk at the same rate as before. Scheduling your sessions to mimic baby’s usual feeding schedule is a way to prioritize pumping and avoid engorged or plugged ducts, mastitis, or just extreme discomfort! Plus you can use this milk to leave behind or your baby’s caregiver or add it to your freezer stash for later use…

See the rest HERE.