The Back to work transition

The first couple of weeks home with your baby is a tumultuous time to say the least. It is full of so much amazement, sleep deprivation, joy, learning, and love. You might be in such a haze that you may or may not even remember this period very clearly. It is the minority of families in our practice who have the luxury of having one parent stay home with the baby full time. Most families are faced with the huge transition that hits when one or both parents need to return to work. The luckiest families have flexible, understanding jobs and a local grandparent who can’t wait to baby sit. If you can work part time, that is often the perfect balance. The rest of you are left trying to figure out the best option. One of the biggest issues that many of the breastfeeding moms face is how to successfully continue to nurse. If your baby has never taken a bottle, try to give yourselves enough time for them to get used to one. Babies may refuse to take the bottle from mom. They know that breast is right there! They can smell it! It is best to have the other parent or caregiver be the one to offer  the bottle. Ideally offer fresh breast milk, so that there aren’t too many changes at once. Try the bottle a bit before the baby is genuinely hungry. Some babies are remarkably easy and go back and forth between breast and bottle with ease. Others like my daughter Alana, can make it much more stressful. Alana screamed for an entire day. Luckily she was with a very patient and experienced caregiver who eventually had success. Local lactation guru Nurse Charity shared some successful pumping tips. She suggests that you start pumping 7-10 days prior to going back to work. Nurse Charity's Wisdom about various pumps Yes, this will bump up your supply, but going back to work usually does tend to decrease the supply over time, so starting at a higher level is good. Prior to pumping do an all over breast massage. Bring a photo of the baby or an outfit with that wonderful baby smell. Hopefully your job will be supportive of your need to pump and you will have a comfortable area. Frequent short pumps are just as good as trying to carve out one or two long sessions. Nurse Kenlee suggests making a “nursing play list” or having some strong association with nursing that you can take with you when you are pumping away from the baby. In general in order to protect your supply, make sure you drink plenty of fluids. Eat a healthy diet and make sure you get adequate rest. (I know, I know, but I had to add that) Do lots of skin to skin contact when you are with your baby. It takes some effort but many moms are able to successfully produce enough milk that supplementing is not needed. KellyMom is an excellent source for guidelines on storing the milk. If you have fresh milk, use it prior to defrosting your frozen stores. I always suggest putting a baggy full of ice cubes in the freezer. As long as they stay frozen as cubes, you are assured that the freezer has maintained the correct temperature. If the ice cubes refreeze into one clump, the milk can no longer be trusted. Make sure that all the milk is dated. Make sure that your milk freezes well. Some moms have an excessive amount of the enzyme lipase in their milk. The milk remains safe but has a nasty smell. Scalding the milk prior to freezing it will eliminate this issue. You don’t want to be the one who discovers this after you have a freezer full. The lipase has some health benefits, so if it isn't causing problems, don't bother scalding the milk. While many moms have no trouble keeping up with their supply, others are not so lucky. Please don’t spend even a minute beating yourself up. Do not be the parent who limits the amount of milk the baby is allowed to have due to supply. Do not be the parent who is incredibly stressed out if they are an hour late home from work because the baby will starve. Simply do the best you can and take advantage of the fact that there are many excellent formula supplements out there. Being a good parent is not only about the breast milk. Be careful that your child doesn’t swap their days and nights. If moms aren’t careful, some babies refuse the milk during the day, but wake up every couple of hours to nurse during the night. Sure, the baby is getting the milk they need, but mom will lose her mind from sleep deprivation. Let me repeat myself. An intact mom is more important than breast milk. Beyond the issue of feeding is the huge question of finding a loving caregiver in your home or a safe place to send the baby while you are at work. Many of our parents have success with small family day cares or nanny shares. Once kids are away from the safe relative quarantine of your home, they are going to start getting all of the little childhood colds and viral syndromes that are a rite of passage for most kids. Having a solid conversation with the daycare, other parents and/or nanny is essential so that everyone is on the same page regarding which symptoms necessitate staying home.  Do your kids still have cooties? Take a moment to click on one of my all time favorite blog posts. It is all about striving to find balance between all the various aspects of your life. It is never more relevant than during this transition. Nurse Judy's Pie Theory

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