Besides providing a wonderful bond between mother and baby - something no care giver can duplicate - continuing to breastfeed your baby ensures that he will continue to receive the many health benefits of mother's milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for the first full year of an infant's life, and longer if mutually desired.
If you will be separated from your baby for a long period during the day, bottles may have to be used. This can be hard for a mother who has been taught "never give a bottle to a breastfed baby" because of nipple confusion. But in fact, nipple confusion is most common during the first six weeks - when nursing is being established and baby is learning how to suck efficiently. After that time period, if a baby must have a bottle, it is best filled with mother's milk.
Providing breastmilk for your baby when you are away takes patience and perseverance. A good breast pump is important, as is a well established milk supply. Expressing milk for your baby can also be done by hand if it is more efficient and convenient for you. Your LLL leader can help you learn how to express milk manually. In any case, you need to be relaxed for your milk to let-down without the aid of baby's suck. Deep breaths along with shoulder rolls and warm thoughts of your baby should do the trick. Massaging the breast lightly (with the tips of your fingers gliding over the skin, almost "tickling" it) also helps prepare the breasts for expression.
Many do not recommend introducing bottles early before you return to work. Others say this is important. There are many pros and cons, but the more time your baby has at the breast before you return to work, the better your milk supply will be established, and the more likely your baby will return to the breast after a day at the bottle in your absence. Also, becoming saddened by the impending separation might be increased if you introduce bottles too early before you return to work. Enjoy the weeks you have to nurse your baby whenever he desires.
