Going back to work-how does this sound?

[newtonupontheheath]

DS is 26wks, currently ebf but does take bottles, and is happy also to take formula. I'll be going back to work at the beginning of June, and am looking for any reassurance/advice for keeping up the bf-ing when I'm back working.

My plan at the moment is to give him formula for at my mums whilst I am at work, and bf at all other times, including the weekends. Questions I have, if anyone has experience of this...

1. Should I wean DS off bfs in the day to give my supply time to adjust to not feeding him in the daytime?
2. If so, how long in advance do you think I would need to do this?
3. Am I being realistic to expect to be able to still feed him at the weekends in the daytime (but not in the week)

Starting to stress a bit about balancing it all now!!

TIA

No advice but I'm in a similar position - only mine will be 9.5 months when I go back to work in July. I also don't want to be massively engorged and/or leaking at work! I doubt my LO will accept missed/delayed feeds whilst I'm still around though - she lets me know extremely loudly when she wants the breast!

Is your hope plan to not express at work?

No advice but watching with interest. I go back in July, ds will be 8 1/2 months. Not great at bottles atm.

I was planning to express at lunchtime at work and bf while at home. Our added complication is that some nights I will be on call so absent for 24hrs.

No, not planning on expressing. It could be easily arranged but would just be added stress to the working day which can be avoided as DS will happily have formula!

I'd be interested to see if anyone is currently not expressing during the day when at work and then feeding at those times at weekends. My understanding was that I would need to express when away from LO to maintain supply and avoid engorgement if I wanted to feed at that time of day when I was home.

Yes I thought I would do this with DS 1. Planning on mixed feeding when I went back to work but my supply, which had never been good, completely dried up as soon I stopped EBF. I started trying to mix feed a month before I was due back at work (at 5 months).

However with DS 2 I continued to BF morning and evening everyday with formula during the day for several months after starting mixed feeding (at 4 months)and it worked really well.

I work shifts (including weekends) so I planned form the outset just to do morning and evening. Unfortunatley no expereince of feeding all day at weekend.

Good luck, it didn't work for me as DS2 found bottles easier than breast so lost interest in breastfeeding. And as he wouldn't suck for long milk supply quickly dwindled.. I was breastfeeding 3x a day (7am 6pm and 10pm).

If you want to breastfeed at weekends and maintain supply I'd strongly recommend pumping at least once during the day at work... I only work 3 days a week and it wasn't possible to BF on my non working days.

However my sister in law manages to breastfeed her DS evenings and weekends but her DS is nearly 2 and HAS NEVER TAKEN A BOTTLE or any formula. She took a year off and he has small amounts of water in the day.

To answer your other questions:

1. Should I wean DS off bfs in the day to give my supply time to adjust to not feeding him in the daytime?

I cut back a couple of days before I went back as I wanted to avoid engorgement.... Alternatively, I could have just taken a breastpump to avoid engorgement.

1. If so, how long in advance do you think I would need to do this?

A few days before - but if you are planning to breastfeed at weekends why bother?

1. Am I being realistic to expect to be able to still feed him at the weekends in the daytime (but not in the week)

Yes I think unrealistic, unless you pump at work - but it works for my SIL so you never know.

In conclusion it depends how committed you are to continue.... I was indifferent hence happy not to pump at work, if you are comitted to continue then better to pump at work.

Thanks for your replies, it has definitely given me something to think about, and I'm glad I'm thinking now, rather than leaving it closer to the time.

I will scrap weekend feeds I think-you're right foreveronadiet it is unrealistic.

I'm now veering towards giving him formula maybe a month before I am back at work in the daytime, then he will get used to having it (maybe from a cup, rather than a bottle?) and slot it into our current routine. As DS will be with my mum who we see regularly anyway, his routine when I am at work won't be too different to what it is now.

I am fairly determined to continue bf-ing as we both enjoy it, I've put a lot of effort into it and the idea of making bottles up seems like a lot of effort

I'm proud of how well we've done though and will only really be sad for myself if it doesn't work out :)

I work 3 days a week, and miss 2 daytime breastfeeds on each of those days. Initially the thought of expressing at work filled me with dread, and for the first week or so I did feel silly and stressed. Now though, I express just once, for 10 minutes in total each day I'm at work and it's just something boring to do- no stress at all when I accepted it and got used to it. Worth it in my opinion, as I'm feeding DS normally on all my days off.

zacklesmum How did you approach it with work? If you don't mind me asking....

It's probably not the politically correct answer, but I didn't tell anyone. I work at a huge university, and I express in a little-used disabled toilet, away from all the students. I have a lot of freedom in my job, so don't have to explain where I am all the time.
Yes, I know that I have the right to ask for a place , but I just couldn't face it, and this works fine for me now. Took a while to find a suitable place.

That would be what I would worry about....I know I can ask etc etc but when I go back to work I will be in a new building, new people. It's a training department, so always different people around all the time so no real consistency for rooms etc. I think getting the time away would be fine, I would just be on pins and I know this would mean zero milk!

Might have a wander next time I go in for a visit as would be nice to have another option.

Once over 26 weeks and i was back at work, DCs fed morning and night during the week, and sometimes during the day at weekends. By that stage bf was well established enough and it just seemed to work without problem.
I didn't expess at work, it was just too stressful and problematic, and I didn't like transporting the milk around, keeping it cold, hygeine issues with the pump not being sterilised after I had used it once etc.

It's not unrealistic. I used to BF my son at weekends, even though he only had morning and evening feeds during the week.

I think that should work fine. In any case the daytime feeds will drop over the next 2-3 months anyway. At 6 months I was feeding DS 6-7 times a day, by 9 months that had dropped to 3 times a day (if I was with him during the day) and twice if it was morning and evening only. Basically fine to offer whenever you are there - up toy your DS whether he wants it but your body will quickly adjust to whatever he wants.