If you are a first time mom with a new baby, you might be wondering how a working mother could possibly continue breastfeeding her baby after she has to return to work. When I was a new mother, I wondered the same thing. My own mother had nursed my siblings and me and had a career. Yet, I had always heard so many new mothers of my own generation saying that they either chose to breastfeed for only a few weeks or not to breastfeed at all just because they had to go back to work after the baby was a month or two old. I was so determined to provide my baby with more than just a mere few weeks of the milk that was intended for him. I had researched the facts about breast milk as well as the benefits of breastfeeding for both my baby and me. I had become an educated mommy. I found the many well documented facts about the benefits of breastfeeding. A mother’s milk actually changes composition with each stage of a baby’s growth to meet their constantly changing nutritional needs as well as immune boosting antibodies to help the baby stay healthy. A mother’s milk offers special ingredients that boost the baby’s brain development and the physical contact is known to be vital to a child’s physical and emotional well-being. I also researched information about baby formula and was glad to know that it is nutritionally sound, but I wanted to provide more than just the necessary nutrients. What I didn’t find was articles that encouraged new mothers to breastfeed even after going back to work. I found that many of the articles that I was reading were too biased one way or another. So, I embarked on an experiment of my own.
Several weeks before I had to return to work I purchased a breast pump and learned how to use it. I was a little scared that I wouldn’t be able to use it properly, but after I practiced I got the hang of it. I began to pump my milk and freeze it for future use according to the suggested procedures by the manufacturer of my pump as well as several sources from the breastfeeding materials that I had accumulated during my pregnancy. I also bought formula to offer my baby at daycare if and when I didn’t have enough milk pumped. I was not so deluded to think that I would always be able to provide my child with all the milk he needed. I knew from the many materials I had read as well as advice from my experienced mother that it would be challenge, although a rewarding one. After about six weeks of only breastfeeding I began offering my baby breast milk in a bottle and then eventually started giving him a little formula here and there before he would have to go into someone else’s care. Since he was used to this by the time I had to go back to work, the transition was not as difficult as I thought it might be. The pumping proved to be my biggest challenge the first time around but I was able to refine my process as I had more babies. While my son had some breast milk and some formula from a bottle during the day, he had only me when we would get home in the evenings and on weekends. I pumped for about seven or eight weeks after I went back to work and then I decided to stop since he was getting older and his demand was a lot more than I personally could get from pumping. I continued to nurse him when he was with me and provided formula when we were apart for another eight months or so until he was eating more solid food. At eleven months of age I took him off of the bottle and we continued our evening and weekend nursing for about another year. All this time, I worked a full time job and was still able to have a life. After he was about two or so and until he was three, he only nursed at night when it was bedtime. I had done what I set out to do. I was able to balance my motherhood with my career by choosing to mix bottle and breastfeeding. My son and I developed a close bond that continues to this day.
