Q: What kind of breast pump do I need? Can I get my breast pump covered through insurance? If you’re returning to work outside the home and want to continue providing breast milk to your baby, the right breast pump is a must. You’ll be spending hours with this piece of equipment and it will be essential to maintaining your supply while you’re at work. … Continue reading Buying a Breast Pump: What You Need to Know
Heading to work after the birth of your baby? You likely have lots of questions and concerns about how to balance working and breastfeeding. You are not alone! The United States Breastfeeding Committee reports that one-third of working mothers return to work within three months of the birth of their child, and two-thirds return within six months. Breastfeed Chicago knows that maintaining a successful breastfeeding … Continue reading Breastfeed Chicago’s Ultimate Back-to-Work Guide
Q: Bottles are hard to choose! How do I select the “right” one? and Q: My baby won’t take a bottle! What do I do? Did I wait too long to try one out? Bottle feeding and breastfeeding require very different skills from your baby. Learning to feed from the breast and the bottle are very different processes and both require patience. Some babies are … Continue reading Choosing a Bottle & What to Do If Your Baby Refuses It
Q: How much milk will my baby drink while I am gone? Your baby will likely need between nine and 14 ounces for an eight-hour workday with reasonable commute time. Research on breastfeeding babies has shown they eat 24-32 ounces per 24 hours, which translates to 1 to 1.5 ounces per hour. Using these numbers as a guide, multiply the number of hours you’ll be … Continue reading Pumping: How Many Ounces of Breastmilk Will Baby Drink While I’m Gone?
Q: How do I talk to my employer about a place to pump? What are my rights? What can I do if my coworkers or supervisor give me a hard time about pumping? Breastfeed Chicago and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois teamed up to bring you a very informative webinar to walk you through the laws that protect your right to pump at … Continue reading Pumping at Work: Talking to Your Employer & Knowing Your Rights
Q: How much milk should I have stashed away in the freezer by the time I go back to work? How could I possibly pump enough to use for months of work? One of the most common questions we see on our Breastfeed Chicago parent support Facebook group is about how large of a stash to have. The most basic answer is to have enough frozen … Continue reading How Much Milk Should You Pump Before You Go Back to Work?
Q: How do I make sure that my baby’s caregiver doesn’t overfeed my baby? My childcare provider keeps saying that I need to send bigger bottles! Help! When interviewing potential caregivers for your baby, ask them about their experience caring for breastfed babies. Make sure they know that they play a very important role in helping you to successfully breastfeed your baby. Breastfed babies generally … Continue reading When Your Childcare Provider Asks You to Send More Milk
Q: How many times a day should I aim pump at work? You should aim to pump as frequently as your baby nurses while you’re with them. This usually means pumping somewhere in the range of every two to three hours. How frequently your baby nurses (and how frequently you’ll have to pump pump) also depends on your breast storage capacity. Breastfeeding parents with a … Continue reading How Often Should I Pump at Work?
Q: Where do I store my milk while I am at work? The answer to this question will vary depending on the conversation you had about pumping accommodations with your employer (see question 2). Your employer may offer a communal refrigerator or a mini-fridge to store your milk in. If no fridge is available, a cooler or soft-sided storage device with ice packs can keep … Continue reading How to Store Pumped Breast Milk at Work
Q: I hate pumping! What can I do to find the motivation to keep going? We get it–pumping isn’t fun! Sometimes it helps to set up comforting and positive routines in your workday to encourage yourself to pump. Here are some ideas we’ve heard from other breastfeeding parents that helped them to push through pumping difficulties to reach their working and pumping goals: Set an … Continue reading 7 Ways to Keep Up Your Pumping Motivation
