Back to Work or School Planning

Make work or school preparations before the baby arrives

• Talk to human resources, your supervisor or student services about your pumping plans.
• If your job or school has a pumping room, visit the area and ask how to use it.
• Find out how to get a pump (through insurance or buy your own).
• Talk to different child care providers before making a choice.

Prepare your baby for a bottle

• Many breastfed babies may not be willing to eat from a bottle at first. Try to give your baby a bottle regularly for at least 2 weeks before your baby begins child care. 
• Have someone else feed your baby from a bottle. 
• Offer a bottle when your baby is relaxed and not quite ready for a feeding. 
• Put a small amount of breast milk (1 to 3 ounces) in the bottle to avoid wasting milk if your baby refuses. 
• Try warming the bottle’s nipple under warm running water to bring it to near body temperature.
• Do not force the bottle into your baby’s mouth. Tickle your baby’s mouth gently with the bottle nipple and let your baby draw the nipple into their mouth. 
• Practice paced bottle feeding, letting baby control the feeding pace – allow them to take breaks when needed. 
• Watch for fullness cues – if baby is giving cues of being done, even if baby has not finished all the milk in the bottle, do not try and continue to feed. 

Tips for storing breast milk

• Store your breast milk in small amounts (1 to 3 ounces). Your baby may not eat a large amount at one feeding and your milk is too valuable to waste! 
• Consider freezing milk in ice cube trays and storing the cubes in breast milk storage bags for ease of thawing later. 
• Only store breast milk in clean glass or BPA-free plastic bottles with tight fitting lids and storage bags approved for breast milk. 
• Always label bottles and storage containers with your child’s name and the date you pumped the milk. 
• Store milk toward the back of the refrigerator or freezer, where the temperature is more constant. 
• Be sure to keep breast milk cold during transport to your child care provider. When using insulated coolers, keep ice packs in contact with milk containers at all times and limit how often the cooler bag is opened. 
• Once frozen milk has begun to thaw, it cannot not be refrozen. Thawed, refrigerated breast milk must be used within 24 hours, or within 2 hours if left at room temperature. 
• According to Connecticut child care regulations, any unused portions of breast milk not finished by your child must be thrown away as harmful bacteria can grow, making the milk unsafe.