Returning to work or school after the sweet time you get being home with your new precious baby is hard for every mom, but yet, a reality for many. Because the duration of maternity leave is different for everyone, it is hard to know just how it may impact you. One of the biggest concerns with returning to work is how it will effect breastfeeding.

Hopefully by now, if you are breastfeeding, you have established a great milk supply for your baby with on-demand feedings. Babies who are younger than 3 months should be fed often, every 2-3 hours around the clock, with one occasional longer stretch (4 hrs) if baby allows.

You may have noticed that your baby will feed more often at certain times of the day – this is when your supply is naturally at less volume (totally normal!). These times would be poor times to pump extra milk to start storing for when you’ll be away from your baby. In most cases, the best times, with most volume of milk, are in the morning and late evening.

Preferably give yourself about 2 weeks to start pumping 1-2 times a day (after nursing) to collect extra milk to store in the freezer. Remember, you will only need enough milk for the first 1-2 days of work as you’ll pump at work what you will give the next day.

Check out the image below for guidelines on storing your breastmilk!

Knowing your magic number

In most work or school cases, you will not be able to pump the exact same amount of times as your baby would eat during the day. However, your body still needs to know that baby is feeding even when not with you. To help with this, about 2 days before returning to work, keep track of how many feedings your baby does at the breast in 24 hours. Let’s say that number is 9 (your magic number!). That means that you still need to remove milk from your breasts 9 times throughout that 24 hrs. This can be done with extra breastfeeding sessions when you are home or extra pumping sessions – whatever works for you! Just remember that you need to hit that magic number!

Remember that after a long day at work or school, the best thing will be to enjoy that sweet company of your baby. They may be eager to nurse more than usual simply because of the wonderful bond the two of you share. Delight in that time you have and know that you are doing exactly what you need for you, your baby, and your family.

**See your local WIC educator for information on our loaned electric breast pumps**