returning to work when baby is 10 months.....

[whimsicalquark]

I will be returning to work in sept and my dd will have just turned 10 months old. Im getting worried about what will happen in regards to breast feeding. at the moment feeds are as follows

bf after waking for the day- approx 6am
breakfast
bf before mid morning nap approx 9am
lunch
bf before midafternoon nap approx 2pm
tea
bf before bed approx 6.30
then at various times during night, usually 10pm, 1am, 4am though sometimes every 1-2 hours

firstly is this enough breastfeeding ? I dont feed to a schedule , I do try and offer more during the day but dd refuses. if she ever does seem like wants more feeds I always give them

when I return to work how many feeds is she likely to need ? I havent considered this before as I didnt expect to be still successfully feeding at this age (6 months was my goal and in the early days I didnt think i would get to that) and I also thought id be taking the full years maternity leave (but we cant afford it)

will I need to express at work ? will she need formula during day if I cant manage to express (i havent expressed since she was a few weeks old so not sure how much im able to get)

I will only be able to feed the first bf of the day and the bf before bed, im going back part time 3 days a week

sorry for long rambling post !

You may well want/need to express at work, even if just for your comfort rather than to provide the milk for her - at least to start with. You may find your supply adjusts quite quickly though.

She may feed a lot more at night to catch up.

In the daytime - lots of options. You could give her formula plus food and water, you could give just food and water, or if she is still feeding a lot outside work time, a small amount of fullfat cows milk plus food and water.

Cows milk is not suitable as a main drink before 12 m, but if she is still breastfeeding 6 times a day and having a small drink of cows milk, I wouldn't consider it a main drink. (You could easily be giving a BF or FF baby 6oz of cows milk a day in custard/porridge/cereal etc)

Is lovely to keep feeding when you go back to work, they are so pleased to see you and have a big feed when you get home

DS is ten months now and has been going to nursery for the last two months or so. He has a big feed with me in the morning (6/7am-ish), two bottles of formula during the day (though usually only takes 2-3oz max) plus a little bit of food and lots of water, then big feeds with me at 4/5pm and 7/8pm and 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 feeds overnight.

I express once a day but generally just chuck it away as I find storing it at work and transporting it home a bit coimplicated and DS will take formula. I was really worried before he started nursery, but he adapted straight away.

On the days he's at home with me I still feed him before his naps at around 9am and 12noon (because, bad habit or not, I just love curling up with him and watching his sleepy face as he feeds)

Hope that helps.

i went back to work when ds was 10 mths.

We did the following:

BF on waking at 6am
BF at 8am just before drop off at nursery (just 10 mins)
Expressed milk (about 4-6 oz) during the day at nursery
BF on pick up at about 6pm
BF at bedtime about 7.30pm

After a month or so, i found it harder and harder to express any quantity of milk during the day and so I sent my DS to nursery with cow's milk. He was absolutely fine with it, but also had water during the day.

His other feeds dropped a bit too and went to one morning and one evening feed.

When i'm at home all day, i still give him a feed at nap time.

good luck! i worried myself silly about it, but DS was totally fine and adapted really easily.