6 Tips for Breastfeeding Moms with Kids Going Back to School

by Katie Black

Summer vacation is officially over and kids K-12 are headed to school. Once again it’s time for early mornings, commutes, packed lunches, and homework. If you recently gave birth and are breastfeeding, you may find the transition more than a little chaotic.

That’s why we decided to round up some of the best time-saving tips for breastfeeding while older siblings are back to school. And if we forgot anything, comment your best tips below for other busy parents!

1. Use a real alarm clock

It’s no secret that breastfeeding takes up a lot of time. In the mornings when everyone is in a rush just to get out the door, this isn't the time for scrolling or checking messages. Try investing in a real alarm clock and leave your phone elsewhere so you don’t have the chance to get distracted right when you wake up. If you must check messages or email, why not wait until that first morning nursing session.

And while you're buying yourself that alarm clock, why not buy one for your school-age kid as well instead of having them rely on a phone or tablet to wake them up. Kids can have less impulse control when it comes to using technology, plus it’s not good for them to wake up staring at a screen. You may find your mornings are a lot smoother when addictive tech isn’t the first thing the family interacts with.

2. Pump while driving

If you’ve been thinking about buying a hands-free electric pump, this could be your reason. Commuting your kids to and from school and waiting in the pickup line can take a while. This could be a great time to hit two birds with one stone (or two breasts with one pump?). After you’ve got the crew safely buckled, place the container in the passenger seat, attach the pump according to its instructions, start and away you go.

3. Pump directly into storage bags

While we’re on the subject of pumps, pump directly into storage bags instead of a bottle. There’s less chance of leakage, and then you can put the bags of milk directly into the freezer instead of bottles which you’d have to decant first.

4. Freeze breast milk in serving sizes

If you rely on frozen milk to keep your baby fed, try storing it in serving-size bags. Then when you need one, just grab and go.

5. Frozen lunches

You've probably seen videos on your feed of parents sending their kid off to school with a different, freshly made and aesthetic lunch every day, but let’s be real here, that is simply unrealistic for most caregivers. Most of the people who share that kind of content are influencers whose job it is to make the posts described above.

Save your time and mental energy for more important things and consider sending a lunch you’ve premade and frozen. Lots of foods will thaw by lunchtime and stay as yummy as a fresh meal. Some freeze-friendly foods are:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
Turkey wraps
Rice and rotisserie chicken (you can find whole rotisserie chickens at the grocery store for as low as $5)
Yogurt
Pastas
Cheese
Bean salad

Choose one day a week you can slap together a few sandwiches or make a big thing of pasta or rice, portion out into reusable tupperware and freeze. Then you grab and pack in lunch bags in the mornings.

Bonus: the frozen foods can act as an ice pack for any fruits and veggies you include.

6. Time your kid’s after-school-snack with a nursing session

It’s tough to balance meeting the needs of both an infant and older kids. Older siblings still want your undivided attention without the baby always coming first.

Why not try to time a feeding with an after-school snack. Then when it’s time for homework, or a school project, you can have one-on-one time helping out your older kid while the baby takes a nap.

In an ideal world parents would be getting a lot more support than most currently do. There’s simply not enough time in the day to get everything done that we want. Especially with social media it’s easy to compare your house, lunches, and morning routines with carefully curated feeds and reels from influencers and celebrities who can afford housekeepers, nannies, and even chefs.

The reality is most breastfeeding moms are stretched thin, especially if they're caring for older children as well. Your situation is unique and don’t let anyone on social media or this post for that matter make you feel like you should be doing things differently or that you’re not enough. Sometimes the best you can do is just embrace the chaos and go along for the ride.