WWYD?

[MonaMental]

Hi, i have a nearly 10 month old DS who has been fully BF. He enjoys food and is eating 3 good meals a day as well as 4 breast feeds a day and one a night. I am returning to work in two weeks, I work on an ad hoc basis usually 1-3 shifts of not more than 5 hours per week, I will miss 1 feed during this time and i am not sure what to do. i am hoping that he will hold off on his feed and be pacified with food/snacks until i return rather than starting with formula at this late stage. He does take a bottle of expressed milk, but it is rare as I am unable to express very much at all and certainly not enough to be able to have enough for while I am at work.

Has anyone been in a similar position? If needed, would cows milk or formula be the best back up plan?

If he has a good appetite for solid food, he won't need to have milk when you are not there.

I would suggest playing it by ear and seeing what he wants. I don't think you need to plan anying in advance. If he needs a milk drink when you are not around, a supermarket or pharmacy is not far away for beakers and formula. (corner shop for cows' milk).

I went back to work full time when dd2 was 6 months and she absolutely refused a bottle at all so went from 8am-5pm every day without any milk. She was fine with food and a beaker of water, she just had more bf when I was at home.

At 10 months I would probably just try to keep him going with food and water til you get back, especially since your shifts are only 5 hours long. You would probably be fine with cows milk by now too if it's only a bit once in a while. It's not supposed to be a main drink, but it won't be his main drink will it? That would still be the bf you do when you are at home.

I have.
I had DTs feeding at 7am, 3pm and bedtime when I went back to work. I did the morning feed, did the 3pm feed as soon as i got home, and then bedtime. They adapted really well, and like your DS were eating well.

We used pre-made formula as the back up plan but never needed to use it. Dts were weaned by 1 yr though I would have liked to go on longer, especially bedtime feeds, I had to stop because of my arthritis meds.

Very best of luck

Sorry; they were 9 months.

Thank you!

It's good to see some positive experiences of this, I wasn't sure if I was being too optimistic about him going without while I was away.

Out of interest, is there any downside to introducing formula at this stage?

I think the returning to work worries are mixing with the missing a feed worry

I don't think there are any particular downsides to introducing formula now, I just don't think you'll find it necessary and it's more expensive than cows milk. I honestly think he'll be fine when you're at work.