Advice on returning to work please?!

[Mampig]

Hello everyone! I'm ebf 14 wo ds and am returning to work at Christmas time :((. I work ft. I know the sensible thing to do would be to start dropping feeds- but I just don't want to!!! I'd rather he was ebf for as long as possible! So really I'd like to know that I'm not mad or cruel doing this?? He will prob be fed formula in my absence which I know he will take- I don't express very well at all! Should I start dropping feeds or will it be ok just to ebf as long as poss?? Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated!!

It's absolutely fine to ebf as long as possible - and it sounds like that's what you want to do anyway!

The worst that will happen is that you get engorged when you go back to work and will need to express for your own comfort during the day. You can do this by hand, or take a breast pump along and you might find that you can express OK after all! Either way, your supply will soon adjust.

Good luck, I've been there too and I know how hard it is to contemplate going back to work But if it's any consolation, maintaining BF - even if not EBF - can be a huge comfort to both of you.

Thanks 4 replying! Nice to know someone understands!! Happy to continue ebf for as long as i can!!

I know completely how you feel. My DD is 6mo, but is still completely reliant on BF since she's hardly eating solids. I'm going back in a month but I'm not dropping any feeds yet because I want her to have BF for as long as possible. To me it sounds mad to start dropping feeds 1-2 months in advance. Like theboobmeister says, the worst is that I'll have to pump and dump at work.

Hi,

Not sure if this is helpful, but I went back to work and expressed just before DS was 6mo. I found expressing hard work before I went back, but once I was doing it at the same times every day my body got used to it and it got much easier.

So you might get on ok expressing for some/all of the feeds if you want to try and are doing it for comfort anyway? I got a good electric pump to use.

I was able to cut down from two to one expressing session a day after a few months and none at all by about 10 months old. (I still had to some weeks but only because I work shifts and sometimes miss bedtime!)

Good luck anyway :)