Tips For Returning To Work After Childbirth
The few weeks or months that you have for your maternity leave will never be enough. When it is time to go back, you will always feel like you need a few more weeks to be with your newborn. However, you will have to go back to work at some point and so the best thing that you can do as a mom is to ensure that your baby will still be comfortable in your absence.
Knowing that your little angel is in safe hands will give you peace of mind so that you can concentrate on work. And so to make sure that the transition from you maternity leave to work is smooth for you and your newborn you should keep the following tips in mind.
#1 Make Early Preparations
It is vital to make early and adequate preparations for returning to work after giving birth. In fact, you should start planning long before you give birth. Although there are many things that you need to do to ensure sufficient preparations, finding somewhere or someone to take care of the baby is the most important one. Look for the best daycares in your neighborhood and compare them. You should then settle on the best and most convenient one and make the necessary arrangements with them.
#2 Stock Up
There are various items that you will need as you prepare to go back to work. And although you might already have them it is important to make a small checklist of these essential things that you need to make your child comfortable when at work. You will need things like a breast pump, breast milk storage bags, diapers, nursing pads and a good bag for packing your baby’s essentials as you take him to the daycare.
#3 Prepare the New Routine In Advance
You should not just wake up one day, take the baby to the daycare and then proceed to work. A couple of weeks before you have to go back to work you should start preparing your child for the new routine by doing some dry runs.
A simple dry run can entail waking up at the time that you will expect to awaken when going to work. You should then prepare the baby and take him to the daycare to familiarize him with the staff there. These dry runs will not only help to prepare the child but will also help you determine what time you will need to wake up to ensure that you do everything in your morning routine.
#4 Ease In
Easing in is an excellent idea as it will make things easier for both you and the infant. An effective way of doing this involves going back to work in the middle of the week so that you will not be away from the child for five full working days. Also, you can go back a few days before the leave ends and ease in by working for half days. The half days at the daycare will also help your baby transition or adapt to the new routine gradually.
Going back to your job after your maternity leave will not be easy, and the chances are that you will consume most if not all your time thinking about your baby. However, knowing that he is somewhere comfortable and safe will give you some peace. The tips above will help make things easier for both of you, but you should also ensure that you spend enough of your free time with him.
Author Bio:
I am Regina, a blogger at MomDiscuss. I love providing many useful tips and guides for all parents or to-be parents on pregnancy stages and baby care.