Returning to work 101 or 'How to feed 7mo with least expressing possible...'

[binkybonk]

Hi I need some help with working this out, I've had a quick search on past mumsnet threads and kellymom but need more specific advice, so hoping someone has experience of something similar to this.
I'm returning to work when PFB DS is 7 mo. He is ebf at the moment and a serial bottle refuser (although I haven't lost hope yet and we're trying cups now). I would be able to breastfeed him at 7am and from 4pm onwards. I'm keen to minimise bottle feeds just because atm he doesn't take them and it saves faff. In your experience how many/ few feeds could he cope with between 7-4?
Ta :)

Well, my DD was a little bit older, 9 months, but she managed that sort of duration at nursery, with BF before and after. She never would take a bottle, so she had water during the day from a cup and lots of dairy products such as yogurt and cheese. I did get engorged during the day at first though till the routine settled down. We carried on like that till she was 2 and a half.

Thanks for your wise words :)

We also have a serial bottle refuser and he coped when I went back to work. DH spoon fed him initially (he was 6 months old when I went back), and now at 9 months he drinks really well from a cup. I'm out of the house rather longer hours than you will be, and he has two feeds while I'm gone - I'd have thought you could get away with only one feed while you're out provided that your DS is eating some solids and drinking water by that stage.

Sorry, should have added that we just give formula, I don't bother expressing. It doesn't seem to cause me any problems during the day when I'm away from DS.

You can get away with no expressing.

DD at 7 months was on one 3oz bottle at lunchtime (but fed during the night). By 10 months she was on no daytime milk, but if your happy for some night feeding you can (and others have done) without at a younger age. I stopped expressing at 8 months and used a combination of freezer supply and xmas holidays until we ran out.

Hi! I'm gearing up to go back to work at the moment so am shoe-horning my 7mo into a routine rather than just wandering around with my boobs out 24 hours a day, as I have done up to now. (Not literally.)

He has very easily gone from always being fed at the first sign of trouble to feeding at 7am, 2.30pm, 6.30pm and sometimes around midnight-ish if he wakes up. DH is currently giving (attempting to give) the 6.30pm feed as a bottle to get him used to it (he's refused every night so far, but we just keep offering it assuming that one day he'll take it) and then when I go back to work we'll transfer the bottle to 2.30pm and I'll go back to giving him the 6.30pm feed myself.

I just thought it might be helpful to know as, although I don't know how old your DC is, until about 3 weeks ago I couldn't even conceive of being able to leave DS without my boobs all day..... turns out he's far less worried about it than I am though

Oh, I should add that he took to solids pretty quickly and so he's having 3 decent meals a day as well as milk, in case it sounds like I'm starving him!!

Thanks everyone, v reassuring. Katiekate - a slight tangent- we're doing the 'offer a bottle (soon to be cup I think when I get round to buying one) everyday' but how are you doing it without wasting precious bm? I'm putting small amounts in, but even then it's depressing to tip it away after another failed session. And do you then just feed when the bottle fails? I just worry that he'll be so gutted when there really is no boob after bottle. Have tried bottle after boob, but he just thinks that's hilarious atm and uses it as a toy, at least he has a go when hungry...

Weeeellll.... I'm giving him formula in the bottle. Once he takes it I'll start expressing so that he's back on all breast milk but I couldn't face expressing every day to throw it away and probably end up with a massive over supply. Sorry if that doesn't help you but, for me personally, I decided that I could live with 7 months of exclusively breast! Good luck :)

To answer your other question (sorry, forgot!) - yes, I just feed him myself when it fails. I make up 210mls of formula in a bottle as that's supposedly what he should have at this age, he now takes about 100mls before he starts refusing and then I top him up. Last night he actually went to sleep quite happily after only 100mls and then woke up about 9ish so I topped him up myself then. It doesn't seem to stress him at all though. I don't (yet) worry about him being disappointed because for the time being I can feed him if he wants it and I'm hopelessly optimistic that by the time I go back he'll be fully satisfied with just a bottle. Hope that helps!

sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm in the same position and have a few questions myself.

My HV said I should start to drop daytime breastfeeds a month before I go back to work, to avoid getting engorged, but as DD is my last DC I feel like I'd like to keep on going as long as I can in the daytime as it's nice. How long before you'all started work did you cut out daytime feeds? If I went cold turkey, and expressed a bit at work, would that be OK?

How long have folk managed to keep up breastfeeding for when just doing 6pm-7am evening, night and morning feeds? And it is dim to consider daytime feeds at weekends? Or does your daytime milk just dry up?

p.s. Any leftover EBM from DDs experiments with a cup I give to DS (2) in his evening milk. I'm thinking that any immune benefits may as well be his rather than going down the sink.

I still feed DD at 14 months and I've done no expressing since December and she's had no daytime milk since February.

Most people go back to feeding during the day at weekends at first. I think at this stage engorgement should be fine so if you don't want to drop feeds before hand I would just go for and take a pump in case you need to relive yourself. You can always dump to save hassle and you only need to pump long enough to get comfortable.

Ah-ha pumpung to be comfortable, that makes a lot of sense! Don't think I could face dumping it - it's too precious. I got given a thermal nag to keep bottles warm in, might see if it works in reverse to bring the EBM home in - perhaps with one of those iceblocks you get for picnics?