But later on, many families find it useful to have a little expressed breastmilk stored up - just in case! It's also useful to mix with solid foods after your child is 6 months old...
But of course, when the time comes to return to work, you will probably find expressing invaluable. The end of your Maternity Leave certainly does not have to mean the end to a Breastfeeding relationship with your child. Your child will love the benefits - a great bonding experience for when you come home...the immune response...lots of vital nutrition.
You will love the feeling that you are still doing something uniquely Mummy for your child! Here's an image to show how proud one Mum was of her achievement!
Working without Weaning
Here are a set of useful links on returning to work from the lovely folks at BfN, and also another great article from Dispelling Breastfeeding Myths. A page here holds one working Mum's story, complete with her top tips. Also a US-based page from Best for Babes.
Does the company you work for have a lactation support policy for mothers who are returning to work? Do you even want to discuss breastmilk with your employer... is it a private matter?
They may not have a clue - so you will want to take the lead & educate your employer about your needs as a returning mother (and I'm sure Peer Supporters will be glad to assist you with this). You are doing the mothers who follow you a favour. Talking about where & how you will pump signals to your employer that you will definitely be returning to them! Marie Biancuzzo encourages her American readers to speak up.
A more British viewpoint available at Maternity Action: here.
Let's remember, if a mother is welcome to pump at work it improves the bottom line - by increasing staff loyalty, improving productivity and reducing sick-days.
Some golden employers provide a "lactation lounge", with places for the children's pictures, mini-fridges, rented pumps, advice leaflets at various stages of maternity leave... Ooo, you would be desperate to return to work for them, eh?!
In truth, all that women who pump need from their employers are:
...a door, a plug, a fridge and a sink. But a chair, the time & some respect help, too.Staff previously may have pumped in their car, pumped in the toilet rooms (ugh), skipped lunchtime in order to pump... or they may have chosen to wean because they were returning to work. Your pumping time does not need to be paid time, if that causes an atmosphere with your co-workers.
Another post here which discusses issues about employers and returning to work - again it's American, sorry.
A super one from Northern Ireland aimed at employers (from 2006), and an interesting book here about supportive colleagues.
Not all mothers need a breastpump.
Hand expression is a simple technique which all women should learn - and it's free! Hand expression can be more productive, perhaps because of the skin contact & instant feedback. Also you don't have to fiddle about cleaning the pump! All you need is a clean bowl, or jug - something with a wide top will help.
New mothers should all now be taught how to hand express their milk (and why they may need to). This is part of the program in maternity units which have become 'baby-friendly'. If you need a refresher, there are instructions here on the Marmet method (also here on iVillage) of hand expression. Coach Linda tells us about the Knack of Hand Expression. The Real Baby Milk site gives advice complete with pictures. Very clear instructional video of hand expression, also here from Dr Jane Morton.
I'd particularly recommend you have a look at the Jane Morton video: here - which explains why learning to use your hands as well as a pump is very important.
It may not be vital to pump in order to go back to work, though - you can read the stories of some mothers on this LLL page. Having your child in childcare close to your workplace will help.
If breastfeeding goes smoothly and a mother chooses to take her baby with her wherever she goes, she may never feel the need for a breastpump - soon your child will generally feed at predictable intervals so that the mother can slip out for a time without having to worry about missing a feeding.
How to do it?
Pumping, expression - an excellent page by Dr Jack Newman.
Breastpumps 101 course.
KellyMom discusses the amount of milk you may expect to pump.
Take care not to overdo it - a sore nipple or even a blister can be the result if you are using too high a pressure, have a poor fit (e.g. nipple not in the centre/ too big for that pump design), or if you pump for more than 20 minutes on one side.
An overview here from the LLL about different types of breastpumps.
Some advice on using electric breastpumps from the ABA.
Some advice here on buying pumps second-hand; after all some pumps are very expensive.
Here's the story of one amazing mother who had to feed her child exclusively by pumping breastmilk.
How to store Breastmilk
Advice from the LLL on the storage of expressed breastmilk (EBM)...there are many other such pages which offer quite a variety of answers. Recent research shows us that breastmilk remains fresh & potent when stored in a fridge for up to 4 days.
(An important note - some women find their milk smells (tastes) off/soapy/rancid when it has been frozen & defrosted. This is due to too much lipase, a problem easily solved by briefly scalding the milk before freezing. Test a sample before you start to build up a large store in your freezer! Get advice about this if you need your child to take lots of expressed milk. Read more about this on the Motherwear site.)
Remember, it's not the same as pasteurised cows' milk. That's the whole point!!
I know it would be a faff, but the research described in this New Scientist article could be of interest to those storing morning milk to feed a child later on in the day.
Donating
If you are lucky enough to produce an excess of lovely breastmilk, why not sign up to donate some milk to your local Milk Bank. The milk will be used to help sick and premature babies.
Watch the UK AMB video to find out what happens. (5 minute video)
For us here in Flintshire, the nearest units are on the Wirral (Clatterbridge - they just celebrated their 400th donor, Jan 2010) or the Countess of Chester Hospital. You collect the milk, stash it in your freezer & the milk bank periodically come & collect it - easy!
You may be able to help mothers such as Dawn Hockey.
Latest ** there is an new movement of milk-sharing, organised online - which is a useful second choice for anyone who cannot fulfil all the requirements for a milkbank, but still wishes to donate. Not yet sure how that will work, but here's some info for you.
Giving the milk to the child
What containers to use? Read more about cup-feeding here, and below. Most folk will assume that a child under one needs a bottle, but this is certainly not the case.
Many wish to avoid BPA in the plastic bottles.
Choose (and stick to) the slowest-flow nipple available, don't go for the older-baby sizes.
There are several bottle/ teat designs which claim to be "more like the breast" - well, only a breast is a breast, but they may help in some circumstances. For example; one of the newest ones, don't know if it's available in the UK yet (Mimijumi).
Be aware of the 'third nipple' problem (nipple confusion) if you decide to introduce an artificial teat to your child of less than 4-6 weeks. This includes teats for bottles, as well as dummies. Babies can get confused by the different sucking action they need to use with the other nipples. A cup, syringe or spoon will be perfectly fine for young babies who need to be given supplemental feeds (of either human or artificial milk). Ask for advice on this. See the AXifeed cup (good value?), or the Doidy-cup (seems to be more widely available).
Watch a video showing how to cup-feed a very young baby.
Certainly, if your child is over six months old there's no particular reason to use bottles. A trainer-cup can be an excellent container (most breastfed babies find it easier, and dentists will recommend it for exclusively breastfed babies, too).
from an NHS advice site:
To keep your baby's gums and teeth healthy, your baby should start using a drinking cup when he or she is about six months old. By the time they are one, babies should have stopped using bottles with teats. To be able to drink properly a baby needs to learn to sip instead of sucking. A beaker or cup with a lid that lets the drink flow is best. It's better not to use a non-spill cup that needs to be sucked, as this doesn't help your baby to learn to sip.
Don't rush to buy lots of the same design - you'll probably need to try a few different designs before you settle on one that suits!
Remember your breastmilk could also be very useful when you are beginning to feed your child with solid food after six months old. By adding your milk, the flavour will be more familiar.
Breastmilk also makes a good handy medicine for several different conditions (even for older members of the family).
Here's an article explaining the issues around allowing a child to decide when it's full. Bottle-fed children are more likely to be obese later in life, and it's thought that this may in part be due to parents' control over when to end the feed. (Also news here about research into the link between toddler's continued use of bottles and childhood obesity.)
Keep it very clean! Such a shame to avoid the tummy troubles often associated with f***ula milk only to give them a tummy bug when you've expressed.
If you are concerned that your child is refusing to take your milk any way (except the way nature intended!), then you may find some of the tips in this article helpful (click here).
Common solutions are to get another adult to feed your child (when your baby can hear, see and smell you, they are less likely to want to take milk from another source - it will get better). Hold the child so it is sitting on a lap & facing outwards. Try and be patient.
More advice here on using bottles to feed children who are also breastfed (mixed feeding).
Take it steady... you & your child will get there in the end.
And finally, here's a lovely page of advice from the ABA which you could print-out to share with your child's caregiver.
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