A Baby’s Hunger Cares Not For Your Schedule
After 3 months, your young one is old enough they’ll start finding feeding ‘rhythms’, allowing you to determine a sleep and feeding schedule that more accurately matches your needs as a professional woman. Until then, this won’t really be an option. Also, keep in mind, the experts say it’s best to be there for your newborn and even breastfeed them for up to two years.
Two years is a lot longer than most maternity leave options you’ll be able to secure occupationally, so it makes sense to lean into WFH (Work From Home) solutions as soon as you know you’re pregnant. The vast majority of white collar work does not require you to be in the office physically; if 2020 taught us anything, it’s that.
Through 2021, 25%+ of the workforce was operating in a remote capacity, that number is expected to increase significantly by the end of the year and beyond. Businesses save money through remote work infrastructure. So you’ve got options as a working mom who needs to breastfeed a newborn whenever the little tyke gets hungry. Still, you must plan ahead.
But what if you plan ahead, and suddenly your body decides it won’t produce the milk your baby needs? That happens to a lot of women; breastfeeding is more of a learning curve than you may expect. Well, in that scenario, consider the following tips.
1. Situational Control
When you express, pump that milk and keep doing so from each breast until they quit expressing. This helps train your body to produce more, and more often, when you need it. However, there’s this reality to consider when you’re trying to figure out how to increase milk supply: psychological issues can impede milk production.
Apocryphal tales exist of women lifting cars to retrieve their babies. Emotional and psychological realities affect your body’s capability. So if you’re having trouble expressing, a few things you might do include smelling the clothes of your baby, putting on soothing music, putting on recordings of your baby’s voice, and finding somewhere peaceful to pump or feed.
2. What You Eat
Flaxseeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, nuts, beans, legumes, mushrooms, leafy vegetables; all these things can help your body increase milk production. If you’re having issues, explore options as regards your diet for best results.
3. Soothing Sore Paps
Sore paps make it hard for you to nurse your child. Pumping milk and storing it in the refrigerator can help you with this issue. Also, petroleum jelly will help soothe you, and even a little breastmilk massaged onto the nipples may help reduce their rawness. Nipples toughen up in time, but it doesn’t happen overnight, so be prepared.
Producing More Breastmilk
Controlling the situation when you can, eating better, and soothing sore nipples represent key ways to help you more effectively breastfeed your newborn. Balancing work and motherhood is hard, but using such best practices can help.
