• Talk to you supervisor or human resources about your plan to return to work and continue breastfeeding. If you are a student, talk to the school counselor. Tell them your needs.

• Ask about maternity leave, support services for new parents, when and where you can breastfeed or pump, and how they can arrange a flexible schedule that allows you to continue breastfeeding. Also, check out the pumping space yourself.

• Find a childcare provider who supports breastfeeding. Consider sharing information on paced bottle feeding with your childcare provider to reduce overfeeding.

  • Assess the potential caregiver’s willingness to:

    • Feed your child expressed breast milk

    • Allow you to breastfeed prior to drop off or pick-up time

    • Properly handle and store breast milk

    • Hold your child during feedings

    • Sooth baby when upset

    • Stick to your child’s daily care routines

  • Have a trial run with the caregiver at least once prior to returning to work or school to help your child adjust to the new routine and caregiver.

• Make a plan when returning back to work or school.
• Begin pumping to have some frozen milk on hand and to get use to the pump. Freeze milk in one or two ounce amounts. Insurance companies and WIC offices can provide breast pumps to breastfeeding individuals.
• Have someone other than the parent give baby a bottle of pumped milk. If baby doesn't take to the bottle, try a different nipple or cup.
• Practice paced bottle feeding. Learn more about paced bottle feeding here.

• Pump as often as your baby feeds. For a young baby, it may be every 2-3 hours. As your body adjusts, and your baby grows, you may not need to pump this often.
• Try to adjust feeding baby to better fit your work or school schedule, like feeding baby right before and after school or work. Your baby may eat less when you are away and more when you’re together.
• Don’t have the caregiver feed baby too close to pick up time so you can breastfeed as soon as possible.
• It’s possible to combine formula feeding and breastfeeding. If you cannot express breast milk for your baby to eat when you are away, the baby’s caregiver may need to feed them formula. Ask your healthcare provider or WIC nutritionist the best formula to use for baby, and how to safely use formula.

Effective March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act amended the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers to provide a nursing individual reasonable break time to express breast milk after the birth of their child. The amendment also requires that employers provide a place for an employee to express breast milk. Learn more about changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act.

• Wait until after the baby is born to see what type of breast pump will be best for you.
• Personal electric breast pumps are often used by breastfeeding individuals who are returning to work of school.
• In some situations, a healthcare provider may recommend a multi-user electric breast pump.
• Manual or hand pumps are portable and useful for occasional pumping. Expressing your milk by hand is good to learn and will come in handy if you forget your pump.
• When you first start pumping, you may not get much milk. This is normal. It takes time to get use to the pump.
• Pumping both breasts at once, or using "hands-on-pumping" or breast massage can help you pump more milk faster.
• Start on the lowest pressure and adjust up as needed. A breast pump should have pressure that is not too high or too low.
• Most breast pumps are not meant to be shared.
• Label and date your milk. Store up to 4 days in the refrigerator and 6 months in the freezer.
• Make sure you have a proper fitting flange.

Supplies for Expressing Milk

• Clothing that can be easily opened or lifted
• Breast pump and collection kit and bottle
• Sink to wash your hands and pump parts
• Bags or bottles made for storing breastmilk
• Cooler or refrigerator for storage at work
• Carrier bag and ice packs for taking milk home
• Picture of baby
• Breast pads, if needed