Going back to work- combination feeding??

[ppandj]

Hi there

I have recently been offered a new job where I will be working part time and doing either 3x evening shifts or 2x night shifts per week. This is inset was of returning to my ok job which would have been full time mon-fri. My DP works mon-fri so our childcare needs will be minimal and both sets of parents are able to cover this.

My DS will be 6-7mo by the time I actually start this job. Currently he is exclusively breast fed. Ideally I would like to continue to bf as much as possible but obviously we will be starting to wean by then and will likely need to start combination feeding.

When/how should we start introducing this? Is it better to just switch to formula by then? I'm a bit unsure of the logistics. At present, DS (17wo) will take a bottle of EBM from my DP but will not take one from me. Should I be trying to feed him from a bottle?

Thanks in advance!

[ppandj]

*Instead of returning to old job! Sorry for typos. X

[girliefriend]

What time will the evening shifts be?

I wouldn't worry about cutting down too much as am guessing most of the bfs are during the day anyway? Can you express milk for him?

Otherwise if he is happy to take a bottle I wouldn't be too worried.

[ppandj]

The evenings will be 5-11pm and nights 10.30pm-8am, so I will still have most days with him apart from after a night when my mum/mil will look after him for the morning while I sleep. Thank you for your reply!

[ppandj]

Doh! So yes the daytime feeds will carry on and he usually feeds about 2-3 times during the night but when he does have a bottle from DP he tends to sleep for longer.

[girliefriend]

If it were me i would maybe aim to cut down especially at night, I was told to only reduce by one bf a week to reduce the chances of getting mastitis.

I went back to work when dd was 8 months and mix fed up to nearly a year by which point it was only one bf a day.