Giving up Breast feeding

[myrtlemaggot]

My ds is 11months old and has been breast fed since birth, he has never had formula milk, but drinks EBM from a cup quite happily while at nursery 3 days a week. When he is one I want to give up breast feeding, at least during the day, as I am going to be working 4 days a week and my job will get more demanding in terms of travelling, over night stays, entertaining customers etc and it will become very difficult to express and store milk. So my questions are: 1. Do I just replace the day time feeds with cows milk one at a time 2. If I continue to feed morning, evening and during the night will this be more unfair to DS as I may have to spend some nights away from home. I don't think I am really ready to give up totally, and I'm pretty sure DS isn't either, but I don't want to cause him more stress than I would if I made a clean break.

[hunkermunker]

At this age, your supply is robust enough not to feed him more frequently than "when you're with him". Express if you need to when you're away from him, but don't worry about doing much more than hand-expressing a bit off to relieve any discomfort you might feel if you are away from him for a longer than average period of time.

I also work four days a week (have done since DS2 was a year old, three months ago) and sometimes DS2 goes to bed without a bfeed, having not been bfed since about 7.30am. He often wakes for a feed if he's not seen me at bedtime (and if he has - grr!), but I think bfeeding is a nice way to reconnect when you've been at work.

I don't replace feeds with cow's milk - he has some sometimes when he's with his grandparents, but he's not massively keen on it, so I don't make a big deal of replacing feeds with it. He eats cheese, yoghurt, etc.

If you're not ready to give up, don't. It's been part of the relationship you've had with your DS since birth - he knows you as the person who breastfeeds him and if you stop doing that AND start going away for work, personally, I think that might confuse him even more.

It's definitely feasible for you to continue to bfeed, so I would say give it a go. Good luck!

[GreebosWhiskers]

My ds is only 5 months so I'm not really qualified to give you advice but what Hunker is saying sounds like good sense. If you and your lo don't feel ready to give up yet then I hope you manage to find a way that works for you both & helps keep the closeness of bf going a little longer

[hunkermunker]

Just to add - I work four long days a week - I'm full time but compress my hours - 10-hour shifts, so away from him for 12.

[Malaleche]

i bfed DD1 till she was 17 mo but the number of feeds per day tailed off gradually till she reached that age. The last feed to go was the bedtime one. I think if you still bfeed your LO first and last thing each day the nutritional value will be worthwhile and the cuddle-value too! I never gave DD1 cows milk to drink, just lots of cheese, yog and fruit and veg which also contain calcium etc of course. She's one of the healthiest in her class if the amount of colds she gets and how long they last is anything to judge by...

[harpsichordcarrier]

I dont think it would be unfair to carry on feeding your ds when you are there and if he wants to! I know lots of women who carry on giving one or two feeds a day for months and years even. my experience with dd1 is that I left her with her daddy for two/three days on a few occasions and when I got back we just picked up where we left off. she finally gave up around 3 and a bit but don't let that put you off
I found the bf relationship changed but on many occasions I thought to myself - thank goodness I am still bf. getting her to sleep on holiday or in a strnage place, when she had chickenpox, etc etc

[myrtlemaggot]

Thank you all for the advise. It is good to know that I can keep breast feeding despite a demanding job. Hopefully DS and I wil both benefit from the ability to reconnect with a breast feed after a hard day!