Hungry or missing me??

[OooohWhatIfItHurts]

I started back at work last week (3 days per week) leaving my 11.5 month old DS with my parents.

He has a fine time with them, hasn't shown the slightest sign of separation anxiety, and I breastfeed him morning and night.

This seems to have coincided with extra hungriness - both for solids (my DM reports that he is eating loads) but he's also boob-hunting a lot more, and very insistently. That's fine when I'm there but inevitably it's now affecting his sleep and he was up at 1am and 4am last night .

Is it common for babies to go through an unsettled period when their mothers go back to work? If so, how do I deal with the demands for night feeds? Is it better to indulge him if he's missing me or does this set a bad precedent?

Or is it more likely that it is a growth spurt - he's learning to walk at the moment.

Or, do you think that dropping down to 2 feeds a day on my days at work is reducing my supply?

Any experiences would be very welcome.

Yes, it is common - he has no words to express his experience of change and no words to tell you he loves you and wants to be close to you. All he has is his behaviour - bf is part of his relationship with you and he needs more of it :)

Meeting his needs does not set a precedent. Instead, it helps him understand that his needs are important to you, and he can trust you to respond to him. This builds confidence, and an ability to form good, loving relationships in the future. What's not to like ? :)

It could also be growth spurt and need for more calories for his energy! But to him, it's all one Big Need - for mummy and the breast :)

There may be a slight drop in supply, but this is no big deal. Bf supply is pretty robust and flexible by this stage - you quickly make more when it's asked for, without it dwindling away.

My DS2 is younger, now 7 months went back to work a month ago (also 3 days) and dropped from EBF to him being weaned onto solids and also 2 formula bottles a day, although still having 3 breastfeeds.

He is now loosing interest in the breast as my supply seems to have completely dwindled (eg used to wake up in the morning leaking, now never feel full). At 10pm have been BFing him followed by DH giving a small 3oz bottle. Now when DH comes into the bedroom he refuses to latch on as he knows his bottle must be near, and sadly he know prefers it.

If you were feeding a few times in the day he was probably getting quite a lot, plus your supply will probably have dropped. I think the reverse cycling is normal in terms of going back to work. Could he have some milk from a beaker during the day? I gave milk at 2pm until around 15 months. How about feeding him at 10pm?

I'm happy to BF as much as he wants during the day but I'm a bit worried about the night activity, that's all. My job is pretty full on/stressful when it gets bus (not yet, so far) and I'm not sure I could do it properly if I'm losing a lot of sleep.

Is it commonly a short-term phase? I could manage for a while but would find multiple night wakings difficult in the long run.

Do love the little dude.

My mum did give him milk during the day, which he drank initially, but said that he wasn't bothered about it later on.

I've been gearing down to two feeds plus the occasional on demand one in the afternoon for a little while. He's seemed perfectly happy to drop them so far and very happy with food as a replacement - he does eat a lot (eg breakfast this morning was a whole Weetabix, whole banana, handful blueberries and half of my toast!). So I don't think it can be hunger unless he's really going through a crazy growth spurt.

I've been back 2.5 weeks. Dd was looking for food/comfort a lot from dh initially. She is now taking less ebm when I'm away and is more settled but is feeding more when we're together with unsettled nights. She's just short of 6 months. I hope it doesn't last but it's quite nice to reconnect when we're together and if I'm feeding constantly I can avoid the housework.