6 months after maternity leave, you must return to work. If you do not have good preparation, you will be in a state of stress, fatigue when reeling between work and family and children. This leads to the risk of losing breast milk, which means the baby loses invaluable immune support that no formula can provide.
So what to do to have the best mind when returning to work?
Mother needs to be determined to maintain breastfeeding her baby
You need to believe that you can maintain breast milk supply for babies until they are at least 2 years old if they milk regularly and ensure proper nutrition and rest. Maintaining breastfeeding will keep your baby healthy, not suffering from pests and good digestion.
Mom needs to be ready so that after going to work, I won't be in a state of stress.
Seek for family support
You need to prepare your baby caregiver at least 1 month before you go to work to have time to get acquainted with new caregivers. You will need to choose a way for your baby to have expressed breast milk. Feeding with a spoon / spoon or learning to drink with a cup / joint has the advantage of being easy to clean. But babies are prone to being saggy when feeding with a spoon and taking a lot of time when feeding with a cup / joint, so it requires the caregivers to be skillful and persistent. When your baby is used to breast feeding, you can practice bottle-feeding when your baby is 3 months old or if you have to go to work at 2 months old, you can practice when your baby is 1 month old. At this time, the baby has good breastfeeding skills so bottle-feeding does not make babies forget how to breastfeed.
When you are at home, you will breastfeed directly and when you go to work, your family members will breastfeed your baby with expressed milk. Bottle feeding, even though it is more convenient to feed with a spoon or drink from a cup, cleaning the bottle is more complicated. When your baby practices a bottle or a spoon, let the person who will take care of your baby practice and avoid going to another room temporarily. Your baby has a very sensitive sense of smell to their mothers, knowing that there are mothers around the baby will not practice new ways of eating but just want to breastfeed!
Seek support from the workplace
You will have to express milk every 3 hours, every 20 minutes. Seek support and compassion for your colleagues and your boss. You can negotiate with your boss to allow you to work flexibly to make time for your baby to express milk. For example, you can use 60 minutes of rest every day in parental until 12 months to have 2 milking breaks outside the lunch break. Convince your boss that if your baby is breast-fed, your baby will be healthier, so you'll be less likely to take time off to take care of your sick child and work will be more efficient.
Balancing work and child care is not easy for new mums.
Prepare a tool for storing milk
You need an insulated foam bag and canned dry ice to transport milk from home to work. If using a refrigerator at work to store milk, you should put it in a plastic container and place it in the freezer to avoid contamination. If the workplace does not have a refrigerator, expressed breastmilk can be safely stored for 24 hours in a thermostat containing ice so that the temperature is 150C.
When preparing to milk?
If you breastfeed directly from birth to now, you need to start expressing milk for about 4 weeks before returning to work. The first week, you just need to squeeze once a day. For the next three weeks, you increase by 1 cup of milk each day. Two weeks before you start working, you start to practice expressing breast milk. Frozen milk tastes different from breastmilk, so babies may not like it at first. Remember not to shake the milk bag or milk bottle after defrosting, but rotate gently to minimize changes in the taste of the milk.
How to store breast milk
You can use a dedicated bag to store milk or a glass bottle to store milk. Plastic storage bottles significantly reduce IgA antibodies in breast milk. If using a plastic bottle to store milk, only use BPA free plastic to avoid the harm of bisphenol A on the child's endocrine system. If you store milk in the refrigerator cooler, you need to make sure the temperature is stable at 40 ° C and don't leave the milk in the refrigerator door. Milk stored in the cool compartment can be stored for 4-8 days, depending on the hygiene level when expressing milk. Milk can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Milk stored beyond 3 months will greatly reduce its quality. Remember to date the milking on the bag or bottle.
How to thaw milk
You put the curd in the cooler overnight to defrost slowly. You can soak the defrosting bottle in a 400C cup of warm water for 20 minutes to warm the milk before nursing or you can give it a cool milk without hot soaking. Research shows that milk heated to 370C loses more fat by sticking to the walls of the bottle than 40C milk.
Maintain an appropriate diet for nursing mothers
When you go to work, you are more likely to forget to drink enough water, which will affect the amount of breast milk. In addition, the diet should be maintained in a balanced and nutritious manner to ensure work health and create milk for children. Avoid skipping breakfast due to rushing or eating out.
With good preparation, you can continue to maintain breast milk for your baby when returning to work. Milking regularly will help you keep breast milk until your baby is 2 years old. Breast milk will help protect your baby from diseases that are waiting to attack when the amount of maternal antibodies transmitted to the baby through the placenta has exhausted. Trust your own abilities and the love of a mother to help you succeed.
Clinic Hours - City International Hospital (CIH)
Office-hours visits:
- Pediatric clinic is open from Monday to Saturday. Morning hours: 7:00 am - 12:00 pm. Afternoon hours: 1:00 pm - 4:30pm.
- Schedule an appointment: (028) 6280 3333. press 0 and talk to the operator.
After-hours visits: Please visit our Emergency Department for examination
- Service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Emergency call (028) 6290 1155.
For any further information about medical services provided by City International Hospital, please contact:
- Address: No. 3, 17A Street, Binh Tri Dong B Ward, Binh Tan Dist. (Next to AEON Mall Binh Tan). Ho Chi Minh City.
- Operator: (+8428) 6280 3333, ext. 0
- 24/7 Emergency: (+8428) 6290 1155
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General disclaimer
Always consult your doctor regarding any concern about your health. Your doctor will be in the best position to give the appropriate medical advice. For suspected undesirable drug reaction and seek medical attention immediately.