Returning to work and number of breastfeeds

[TheWaterHorse]

DD is 10.5 months old and I will be going back to work in two months when she is just over 12 months old. I am still breastfeeding her and hope to continue after I return to work.

We have been doing BLW and after eating very little, DD has just started to increase her solids (probably over the last month). She is still having 5 or 6 breastfeeds a day (plus night feeds some nights) but I have noticed that these feeds do seem to have reduced in length over the last few weeks suggesting she is reducing her milk intake.

When I return to work, I will be able to feed her before and after but not between 7 and 5pm for four days a week. Is this likely to be something DD will be able to cope with, or should I be taking action over the next couple of months to get her off breastfeeding during these hours?

My preference would be to carry on as we are and let her continue to reduce feeds gradually at her pace, but I don't want going to nursery to be more of a shock for her than it has to be.

Does anyone have any experience of this issue that they could share?

Thanks

Can youexpress? That's how I managed going back to work when DS was a similar age. I did it once in the morning and once at work so had enough milk for one drink a day. He fed a similar amount o your DD.

Then after a while I stopped expressing and DS had oat milk (dairy intolerant) in the afternoon.

On my days off (I do three days), I fed as I would normally. He seemed to cope well!

I've just gone through the whole return to work and breadfeed thing.

My DD started nursery when she was 10.5 months too and completely refused a bottle. We were only doing four feeds a day so was worried about the two feeds I wouldn't be able to give her during the day.

I didn't change my routine with my DD until the day she went to Nursery on advice by friends/nursery and the fact she wouldn't take anything to drink from cup/bottle when I was around.

Nursery were brillient they handled giving her ebm in a cup, they tried to keep to the times I fed her, then at snack time and in different cups, but eventually we gave up and she has cows milk (this took 2 months). She wouldn't have ebm or formula so has minimal cows milk to drink during the day. She's offered water at meals but again doesn't take much then.

I did organise a two week phasing into nursery before I started work, just to settle her in. I started with two hours with no feed, increased it too include a feed, then she stopped for lunch and then building up to a sleep. I did pay for a couple of the sessions as my nursery only offer one settling in session, but they did most of them for free. They preferred to offer a longer settling in as she wasn't bottle fed and wanted it as smooth as me.

She now takes two huge feeds a day and some water out of at cup at meatimes. She also likes drinking out of a glass and esp in the hot weather I've been encouraging this. She's surprisingly good at it!

Hope it all goes well, but I would speak to your nursery too to see if they can help with the settling in.

Nikki

Thanks Both.

I might express - what I may do is try and build up a stash over the next few weeks and see if I can get her to take it from a cup (she's a bottle refuser). I don't really want to continue expressing once I am at work though, as I think work will be stressful enough without trying to fit expressing in as well). However, she will be over 12 months by then so could try getting her onto cow's milk for a couple of feeds a day.

Also, I know a lot could change over the next couple of months. She has just started to cut back on milk a bit over the last few weeks so could well drop a feed or two before she starts nursery.

Nikki, that's a good idea to speak to nursery about it - I can ask them what they think when I speak to them to arrange her settling in sessions.

Iggly, it's reassuring that you DS adapted to when you weren't there but carried on feeding as normal when you were. Hopefully DD will also take this approach. She may well increase her night feeds to compensate!