To be worrying about return to work and BF?

[SparkleHorse82]

I go back to work in three weeks, part time. Baby will have just turned one. I am still breastfeeding - a LOT. She blows hot and cold on solids, and isn't great with finger food. Some days she just rejects everything and feeds.
I am going to carry on BF, partly because she has cmpa and I can't be arsed finding a prescription formula at this stage. I am hoping to do morning, evening and night on the days I work and on demand otherwise, until 18 months if I can.
I will be away 10 hours on a working day (maybe 30 mins longer). I really don't want to have to express at work, but when she randomly slept through last week (it hasn't been repeated) I ended up with terrible blocks that took 3 days to fully clear. I can't have that going on while I'm trying to work.
Will hand expressing at lunchtime just to take the pressure off be sufficient? I bloody hate properly pumping.
Anyone with useful experiences to share? Tbh I'm dreading going back to work and this is just another thing for me to stress about over it!

I went back at 10 months my baby had taken well to solids by then but wasn't a great drinker. I fed first thing (7.30) straight after work (6) and last thing at night (8). I tried to do this for a few weeks before I went back so my boobs got used to it - I'm not sure how I'd have coped feeding loads one day and less others. I made sure she had plenty of dairy in her diet - she always liked yoghurt etc. It's worrying when they don't eat or drink well but that will change over time

I went back doing long shifts when my voracious feeder was 8.5 months. It was fine. I hand expressed about halfway through the day to prevent engorgement and that was sufficient. She was feeding round the clock at that point but she made do with toast/water/yoghurt until I got home.

I found I needed to express at least once during the day or I ended up feeling engorged.

Depends if you really want to keep your supply up. At that age I didn’t really so I used pads for a few days / a week and my boobs adapted. I also didn’t offer on my days off except at my usual morning and evening feeds so I was really overall winding down and my ds responded with getting into food and taking cow milk in a cup well at 12mo (bottle refuser).

I fed morning and evening and all night after return to work at 8 months. I was fine not pumping in the day, but as pp said I started that routine a few weeks before going back. Also stuck to it on non working days.

Top tip is to always have a strategic scarf in your bag for any leak cover ups! Also useful for sticky handprints you don't see until you're in the office.

Pumping is indeed a pita. I had to go back between 6 and 9 months for all my 3 and I had managed to stop pumping by 1 for all of them. I was out about 9 hours a day and went from twice per shift to none gradually. Once they were 11 months + DH sometimes gave them a cup of cow's milk if there wasn't any expressed available. Does your DC take any non-dairy alternatives?

If you feed right before /after work you might get away with it, with the odd bit of hand expressing during the day.

Mine all liked feeding more at weekends and on days off and it still seemed to work out ok.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone. I don't really want to keep my supply up. She doesn't really like the alternatives as a drink, but she will be offered them when I'm away and I would like her to adjust. I've tried dialling down day feeds but she just refuses solids when she's hungry and I'm there (she will eat more solids when I'm not there) and gets more and more angry. At the moment we are down to four feeds a day, two of which we will skip time wise (10am and 3pm) but I will do a 5pm feed plus a 7pm feed before bed when I get back so she's only skipping one opportunity to feed.
I'd really like to end up just doing morning and evening within the next few weeks but I can't see how we're going to get there...
I guess I will try hand expressing and see how I get on but carry a pump with me in case I feel I need to fully empty my breasts.

I went back 3 days a week when baby was 10 months old. She's 17 months now and still breastfeed when I'm there. When I'm not there she just has more snacks and water, occasionally cows milk.

She has never been a big eater. Some days she hardly had any solids at all but she is getting there now. Returning to work didn't really affect her eating or breastfeeding habits much at all.

The first few weeks I did become a bit uncomfortable but supply quickly evened out.

You're not on your own sparkle - I'm also starting to get very anxious about returning to work. Fortunately for me DD2 is a good feeder, so as long as I'm able to work during the day she'll be fine with food, yoghurt and water. My main concern is how she'll be without me!! She's a complete mummy's girl!!

I'm speaking to my work next week about my return (whilst desperately hoping for a lottery win /looking for something to do from home). Once I know what my hours will be I'm going to try and sort our routine around that in terms of feeds, and see if I can get her used to leaving me. Will try and build that up over the 6/7 weeks before my return.

Does your DD have dairy alternatives? My first DD had an issue with cows milk when she was very young (bad reflux plus rash) and she grew out of it. Tried her on the odd bit of baby food with cows milk in, then gradually made our way up to petit filous. Just after her first birthday we tried her on normal bottle of cows milk. She was fine. Drinks gallons of it now!!

Whilst trying to establish your routine over next 3 weeks can you try and keep busy / breasts covered during day? It might sound silly but we've pretty much dropped day feeds recently. She's too busy playing etc during day to think, I try and get her to nap in pram instead of my arms, and I wear higher necked tops so it's harder for her to help herself!!

Good luck with it!!

I did 9 months of expressing at work. I had an avent double electric pump that was bloody amazing. It can be done and it helped me with the transition of going back to work. My son hadn't had much time with dh putting him to bed so it did take a couple of weeks but it was fine.

I do 12h shifts, and at 8 months my babies drank water in the day when I was away, then made up for it at night. I found I needed to pump once in the day for about 2 weeks, then my supply just regulated itself and I didn't have to do anything

As she has cmpa and won’t take solids well then you’ll either need to find an alternative milk or feed her.

My two couldn’t handle dairy and kept BF them until they were three. Went back to work when they were 1&10 months respectively.

I fed in the morning, when I got home and in the night. I also expressed at work.

My youngest didn’t really drink much and lost a fair bit of weight which was a worry but she gradually came back to a decent weight after seeing a paediatrician.

I also got them drinking calcium fortified oat milk. As they got older they could tolerate bits of cheese. I was most worried about calcium intake!

Speak to your HR - we have a ‘quiet’ room set up in our office for the use of someone who is expressing - maybe something similar can be put in use for you x

I'm glad you posted this OP. I've been back at work 4 days a week since DD was nearly 6mo. She gets through 360ml (12.7oz) of EBM at nursery each day which I have to pump over 3 sessions to produce - it's a right ball ache.

But she turns 1 in a few weeks and I want to stop pumping at work. I think in the couple of weeks before her 1st birthday I'm going to drop a session each week and top the bottles off with goat's or cow's milk so my boobs get used to it and she gets used to the taste, until it's 100% cow's milk. I think I did similar with DD1 who's 5 now (can't quite remember!). I still bfed her morning and night, dropping to just night feeds at 18ish months and stopping altogether at 22 months.

I still bf my 18 month old and I express in a first aid room after I have lunch. I use a Madela electric which is so awesome. Speak to your HR OP - hopefully they will make arrangements for rooms etc.

I would express by hand just to avoid engorgement. Your body should adjust in 3-4 days if you don’t express too much.

My DD (17 months) has a dairy allergy and drinks Alpro growing up soya milk as recommended by the hospital (since she was 12 months). Could be an alternative to dairy free formula if she needs milk during the day( which tastes revolting anyway!!) ? My DD wouldn’t take it from a bottle but happily drinks it from a tommee tippee cup.