Jordan Strauss/WireImage
January Jones plays TV’s iciest mom on Mad Men, but she and Betty aren’t alike in their mothering techniques.
“I think my fans make cracks about it, but they don’t actually think I’d bring any of Betty’s parenting into my own life,” she told PEOPLE during the show’s press junket Tuesday.
“What’s nice is that the expectations for my parenting is very low, so I can really only exceed the expectations.”
Fans need not set the bar too low, though. Jones, 34, was back to work almost right after she gave birth to her son Xander Dane last September. “I think I went back to set six or seven weeks after, so he was really little,” she says.
Keep up with January Jones in the pages of PEOPLE Magazine by subscribing now.
Jones was determined to spend time with her son, even during long days on set. “I had the baby and the baby nurse in their own room so I could go back and feed him every two hours,” the first-time mom recalls.
“If I felt like he needed me, or if he needed to eat, or even if I just needed a squeeze because I was having separation issues, I would go back and see him. It was such a blessing that I wasn’t separated from him.”
Jones tells PEOPLE that the biggest challenge of being a mom on set was the exhaustion. “It was hard to work long days and then go home and not sleep,” says the actress. “It’s getting harder, not easier, so I’m a little concerned!”
Jones’s secret to staying high energy through the grueling shooting schedule? “I have a great doula who makes sure I’m eating well, with vitamins and teas, and with placenta capsulation.”