Breastfeeding and baby led weaning airline crew returning to work - help!!

[neenewps]

I have to return to work before my DS is 12 months old. I am returning when he is 9 months which is in 2 months.

I am desperately trying to think how I am going to keep up breastfeeding while I am at work. As I am airline crew I can be away from home for up to 4 nights! My DS still wakes in the night and I normally give him a quick feed and he settles back off.

I can express while I am away to keep up supply but I think I have no option but to give him formula while I am away as I simply won't be able to express enough to keep him going, the days that I'm not here?

I'm wondering if anyone else has been through this? Also as he is EBF at the moment, is it best to give him milk in a cup rather than a bottle? I am just thinking of the fact that he will have his last feed from his Dad when I'm away and my DS really enjoys snuggling into my arms at this feed. Not sure it would be the same with a cup?

Have included the baby led weaning fact in the subject as felt this was important to note as he is still very much learning to self feed although does eat a fair amount for his age.

The thought of giving up feeding is making me very sad and I'm becoming increasingly stressed about going back to work.

I tried my DS on formula for the first time today with him taking it from a Dr Brown's bottle and he only took 2oz's and then demanded boob!

Can totally understand you getting stressed neenewps. As it is such an unusual dilemma I think you would probably be best talking to a trained BFC, have you got the numbers of the helplines? Is there a local LLL group or similar you could go to?

Will try to help you as best I can, but please remember I know virtually nothing .

Think the first issue you have is settling him to sleep at night. Could you try leaving DH to settle him at night and see how they get on? They need to find their own ways of doing this but there is some information on nightweaning here and some tips for Dads in here.

There is also some information on returning to work on Kellymom, including how much milk to give and feeding methods, which might help to answer your questions on cups.

Think that BLW is a bit of a red herring. He should be able to shovel enough in to keep him full, as long as the person looking after him is aware that he needs filling up during the day and offers lots of milk and food.

As for you not being able to pump enough to keep him going while you are away, would mixing the formula with ebm be an option?

If you are dropping feeds I think the current advice is to drop one feed a week, this is for your benefit so that you don't get mastitis. That's the last thing you want when your return to work and I speak from experience.

Really think though that you would benefit from talking through all the points you raise with a BFC.

Whatever you decide, good luck.

Have you told work you are breastfeeding? I think you need to inform them in writing. Just wondering if they would be flexible about your role whilst you continue to breastfeed.

How are you feeling now? Have you spoken to a BFC or thought anymore about what your options are?

I went back to work when DS was 11 months old (he's now 18 months old). He BFs after he wakes up and before he goes to sleep. This works really well for us, although as he will now take a reasonable amount of milk from a free-flow Tommee Tippee cup, I think he would be fine if I decided to drop these BFs.

So, your situation poses 2 challenges:

1. Maintaining your supply - I imagine that this will require you to express while you're away with work. I'm not sure how practical storage would be for you though, maybe you'd have to pump and dump?
2. Feeding your DC while you're away - I'd try to get them used to taking formula now and then, preferably from a cup to save a faff later. You could even get them used to it at night after they've had a BF to begin with. A cup of formula with a cuddle and a story still sounds lovely , they just need to get used to the idea.

And they (and you) would still get the benefits of BFing whenever you can.

Oh, I missed that your DS isn't night weaned yet. I think that you should consider this, as he might not find milk from a cup or bottle as comforting at night.

Hi

Sorry for the delay in replying. I don't get on to the computer much.

Thank you so much for the replies.

jiltedjohnsjulie I am going to a LLL meeting on Tuesday. Thank you for the suggestion. Not sure why I didn't think to make that my first port of call. I do need to try and sort out this night time waking. He has slept through 3 times so I know he is capable. I think it is now habitual. My DH is currently studying for a very important exam at the beginning of March so we had kind of agreed to wait till after then. However, I am concerned that we are cutting it fine for my DS to get used to such a big change in everything he knows. Recently I have been putting him down to sleep after his dream feed in his cot and then when he wakes co-sleeping with him in the nursery! Think I need to cut this out so that he gets used to waking up in his cot in the morning again.
He seems to be eating more solids recently which is good. Am hoping this slowly improves over the next 8 weeks, which I'm sure it will.
Hadn't thought to mix EBM with formula either. Thanks again for the suggestion. I think I should maybe start pumping now and freezing it. Will have to pump and dump when I'm back at work as there is no where to store milk.

LCY I have asked my work and apparently there is nothing I can do apart from take unpaid leave. Not really an option for me as I am going back to work after 9 months due to financial reasons, sadly.

Recursivemoon Thank you. Yes, really don't know whether to introduce bottle or cup. Think I need to talk this through with the BFC as I really want to continue BF when I am at home.

directgov website

It says :
Breastfeeding

You should let your employer know in writing if you are planning to breastfeed when you return to work. Ideally you should do this before you return so that your employer has time to plan.

Your employer must carry out a risk assessment to identify risks to you as a breastfeeding mother or to your baby. If there are risks they must do all that is reasonable to remove the risks or make alternative arrangements for you. Your employer must also provide suitable rest facilities.

Although there is no legal requirement, employers are encouraged to provide a private, healthy and safe environment for nursing mothers to express and store milk.

hth (although it probably doesn't help in your situation, sorry!)

Hi again neenewps . I just wanted to say that I understand how daunting it is thinking of all of the things that you have to do about your DC's eating and sleeping before they start going to childcare. Reading your posts has reminded me if how I felt at the time.

I also wanted to add that you will probably also be able to BF during the day when you're at home if you want to - I did this when I first went back to work, and my body coped fine. I wouldn't have realised that it was an option without MN though.

DS now only has wakeup and bedtime BFs at 18 months, and cow's milk from a cup during the day. He doesn't seem to think about BFing at all during the day, so thankfully no top pulling / yelling etc. Actually, if he wakes up later than usual, I don't always BF him, and instead DH offers him cow's milk. Again, my body seems to cope with this.

Ack, I also meant to mention sleeping, night feeds etc. We tackled a lot of the same issues that you have (BFing to sleep, waking in the night for milk, co-sleeping - which wasn't working for us, although I realise that it works for other people!) with the help of a fantastic sleep specialist. So it's definitely possible, and it wasn't awful, it just needed a clear plan and consistent application.