4 month old still only going 2ish hrs - worried about return to work

[gluttom]

Dd is 18 weeks and ebf. I plan to ebf until 6 mths and do baby led weaning. She still asks for feeding around every 2.5hrs in the day and 3/4 hours at night. I return to work when she is 9mths and I know that is a long time off but I can't see how she will transition to all this bf to 3-4 bottles of formula a day - I can't really bf as I will be working 12pm until 9pm
So DH will put to bed. I am probably worrying way too early but time is going so fast.

by 9 months, she'll be totally different - believe me!

Do you plan to completely wean from bfeeding, or just replace a feed with a bottle, but keep feeding around work hours? If the former, then I can't offer advice at all, but if the latter, I can say that we found it fairly straightforward, if a little disorientating for a few weeks.

I went back (5 days, 9-3) when DS was 7 months old. I kept on with all the other feeds, but he got a bottle mid-morning from the CM. Either expressed breast milk, or formula, depending on how much I'd managed to express the previous day. I won't be bothering with expressing for DC2, she can just have the formula once a day! We also did BLW, and the CM was happy to support that - she asked that we provide food for DS until he turned 1, and was happy to let him eat finger foods, when the other children she minded were having their lunch. He always had some cheese and a pot of yoghurt or fromage frais (which CM spoon fed him, which I was happy for her to do), to keep his calcium intake high during the day.

DS did ramp up his night feed demands, but not by much (I say this as he was always a poor sleeper, who would happily feed every hour or so during the night, so nothing would really feel like an increase!!), and I made sure he got a feed before work in the morning, and as soon as I picked him up in the evening.

He is still feeding once a day at 2.4 btw, so it is possible to keep bfing when you return to work, without it being a massive time commitment!

Good luck :)

I went back at 4 months and she fed 2 hourly. I often wasn't home for bed, but she DH just learnt to put her down. Although she never fed to sleep anyway. I'd just feed her when I got in or before her bath. By 7 months she had 1 bottle of 3oz and I was happy to feed whenever during night and early morning. At 10 months I gave up expressing and she did without in the day.

Honestly though, their feeding habbits can change loads in just one month, let alone 5 months.

Solids will change the frequency of feeds, she'll be using a sippy cup (hopefully) etc - big changes! Plus your hours mean you can still feed in themorning and when you get home (DS used to have a 10pm feed until about 15 months).

When I started BLW at 5 1/2 months, my DS was BFing on average every 1 1/2 hours. He is now 9 months and only wants 4 a day - first thing, after each of 2 naps and bedtime. He is quite happy going without any of the first 3 if I'm not around, although my boobs do get a bit hard and sore after a missed feed. You will be fine, I was stressing about it as well at your stage but it's amazing how they switch over in their own time. Good luck :)

Curious as to how those of you that didn't feed to sleep did it though. (Current worry here with the thought of going back to work). How did you change from the early days of feeding to sleep to not needing to feed for a nap/ at night etc?

Really dont worry. My DD is a very very frequent feeder. I'm sure it was like every 2 hours. By 9 mo she was having no milk during the day when I work. Nursery offers 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. That works out to be food every 2-3 hours anyway! Some babies are just grazers.

As for the sleep question. It just happens when she gets older. But DH has always been involved in putting her to sleep so she's used to being cuddled to sleep. Maybe that's something to start trying? Does you LO sometimes wake up an hour after a feed at night? That can be a time to try rocking?

And btw DD actually now prefers being cuddled/rocked to sleep. She usually wakes 10min after being fed to sleep now through the night and needed rocking back to a deep sleep. And she also bites if I try to shove a boob if she isn't hungry. I wish she can always be fed to sleep

I fed my DS to sleep until he stopped falling asleep on his own eventually. Now he pushes me away once he has had enough milk, sucks his thumb and moans a bit until he drifts off. If that doesn't work I stroke his head and sing a song. If that doesn't work I hold him and rock him. He still feeds at bedtime but not before naps. I'm sure your nursery will have their own (much better) methods of getting babies to sleep as well.

I know how you feel as that was me 3 months ago. My DD is now 7 months old and having 3 meals a day. She only has 4 breastfeeds a day now. I am also going back to work when she is 9 months, by which time I hope to have dropped the lunchtime feed and she will just have water then.

I know what it is like in your position, but things do change dramatically in a short time. It is hard to see it from where you are though.

I fed DS to sleep but his nanny and DH didn't need to. DS was fine - he didn't expect boob from them so was happy with other means!

With baby led breastfeeding and weaning they can still be v keen on breastmilk by 9 months. My DS started nursery at 9 months at a stage when he still relied quite heavily on breastmilk: he refused to take formula and wasn't very keen on anything from a cup or a bottle either. He really struggled to get to sleep without breastmilk. In the end he ramped up his food intake in the day and took a small amount of expressed milk from a bottle (which I did not want to do as I didn't really have time in the day to express, but nursery had struggled so much with him they refused to have him unless I left expressed milk). He then fed a lot with me at night, which was pretty tiring on top of a day job. All babies and mums are different but if it is possible for you to go back to work a bit later (closer to 1 year) then I think that is really worth considering. That's what I am doing with number 2 (currently two months old) as I just found the whole thing so stressful last time. If you do need to go back to work then maybe consider being a bit less baby led and a bit more scheduled about feeding from 6 months onwards, so they are more prepared for what will hit them in the big wide world - otherwise it could be a lot of change at once for both of you.