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The date on your calendar is slowly approaching and whether you are excited to get back to your normal routine and have adult interaction again, or you are dreading the moment you have to leave your sweet baby behind, or a combination of the both, there are some steps you can take to make the transition easier and less stressful.
Dry Run
About a week before your scheduled return date, do a dry run. Get up, get everyone ready for the day, load everything up, drive by the day care or babysitter (perhaps even consider doing a half day drop in), and drive to work. This is beneficial in several ways, you will get your timing correct, you will see areas where your plan may not work and you need to adjust and if you do a drop in you can address in issues with bottles or feeding that might come up.
Return Mid-Week
If at all possible return mid-week so that you are guaranteed a short first week. I actually returned during the Christmas Holidays with my last baby so I was guaranteed two short, slower weeks in a row to get back into the swing of things.
Alternate Care
The first few days you may want to consider alternate care for the baby such as your partner taking a few days off or grandma coming to babysit instead of a regular center or sitter. This will ease up to morning rush a bit and give you a few days to adjust yourself before adding baby to the mix. Since I returned during the holidays my husband was able to stay home with our son my first two weeks back as he was usually off during this time.
Organization
I highly suggest buying a days of the week clothing sorters for both you and baby, that way every Sunday (or whatever is the day before your work week starts) you can lay out everyone's clothes for the entire week so in the mornings your just grab and go. This goes for your pumping bag, baby bag and lunches too, get as much organized as you can at the start of the week so that you just grab and go the rest of the time.
This can be a stressful transition, but by taking these steps you can take some of the worry out of your return and make those first few weeks go smoother until you get into a great routine!
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