BF baby won't take a bottle and I'm going back to work

[nomoreminibreaks]

I'm going back to work in 3 weeks' time and DS is still BF. I have tried to get him to have a bottle of formula but he's not interested at all. My mum also tried last weekend while she was babysitting and had no joy either.

I'm only going back 2 days a week and I guess soon I'll cut down to just morning and bedtime but it turns out I'm more attached to BFing than I thought. I just don't feel ready.

Has anyone else had experience of this?

How old is your DS. I went back to work when my DS was 9mo and still feeding quite a lot during the day (and night). He wouldn't take a bottle or cup and managed fine at nursery without milk all day.

Stolen from another MNers linky

Upshot, if he's 6 months (ideally 7) it will be fine.

How old?

You don't need ot use a bottle. Especially if just going back 2 days a week. It is perfectly ok to feed when you are around and not when you are at work, you don't need to think that you have to cut down to morning and night all the time.

So long as he is eating ok then he will be perfectly fine taking water/expressed milk/formula in a sippy cup during the day then feeding when you get home.

I went back to work when DD was 8 months old and wouldn't take a bottle

She dropped her 2 pm feed within a week - she had beakers of water and snacks instead

It's totally doable especially if it is only 2 days per week

Sorry - I'm an idiot forgetting how old he is. He'll be 11 months when he starts.

I had this exact problem... But I had to go to work. I breastfed in the morning and as soon as I picked him up at 5:30pm and again before bed but he had to go without during the day. Nursery offered him water and milk, which he refused for the first 3 days and then began to accept. He now loves 'milk in cup' as he calls it, but I still breast feed first thing in morning and at night. He was also 11 months at the time.

I felt guilty but I had now choice. Good luck.

:) 11 months, no problem. Seriously. You will be stressing about it but actually he is perfectly old enough to be happy without milk/much milk during the day without you and just feed when you are around. I'd forget the bottle and make sure he is offered drinks in a cup during the day.

DD had no milk in the day by 11 months

I have had a few KIT days and started back at work this week 3 days a week and she's just have yoghurts and food in the day when not there then catching up with me when I get home.

She's 8 months now and I love getting her back to the end of the day to feed

I know exactly how you feel! I didn't cut out the most of the day feeds and the night feeds till a couple of days before DD went to nursery at about the same age. I did the same with DS and he went to nursery much younger (8mo) and was a bottle and formula refuser. DS refused everything then bf like a fish when he got home. DD at least drank cows milk. I carried on bf during the days when I was off work which helped ease things for me at any rate! If you're worried about the milk intake specifically (and you prolly don't need to at 11mo) then you could always increase other dairy so get nursery to give yogurts/cheese instead of milk? Also, just a thought but how about switching straight to cows milk in a cup/tippee cup? (I know your LO is not strictly a year but have done this for both as they hated formula). Good luck with your return to work!