returning to work full time and bf

[feekerry]

My dd will be 10 months when I go back to work. Originally I was going back to the same job but was advised yesterday my role has been dispanded. I was successful in getting the replacement role but its full time and the office is 40 ish mins away. So realistically i'll be away from dd 5 days a week 8am till about 5.40pm ish. Initially I was going to meet her at nursery and feed at lunch but cant do that now as office is so far away. She doesn't take a bottle and is ebf and I want it to stay that way. Will she be okay with a cup of expressed milk in the day plus solids if she eats those okay? Haven't started yet but will blw at 6 months. I really want bf to be her main food. What am I going to do. Gutted. Stupid work.

10 months will be fine for no day feeds (that is doable from 6 months), just be aware of catch up feeds happening at night, but things should settle after a few weeks.

can to use holiday to stagger your return to full time?

at 10 months I had stopped expressing for DD.

I will get a phasing back period of a couple of weeks where I can start bit later and finish bit earlier so its a gradual return. Will start freezing some expressed milk to stock pile. Unfortunately they are pigs about holiday and it has to be done in blocks of weeks.

honestly it will be fine

nearly all of us overly panic about this and then look back feeling rather sheepish

10 months old, only 8 weeks until her first birthday. DS has been a bottle refuser but now he can drink out of cups he seems to take some milk that way as well. Remember even 2 weeks is a long time for babies so don't think about until a LOT closer to the time. Don't want to fretting at 7 months because she doesn't eat that much or drink water out of a cup yet.

It will work out - you'd be suprised how many babies take a bottle at nursery that they wouldn't from anyone else. But she would be fine with water in the day as long as you feed on demand when you are together.

Yes, will be fine. I went back at eight months and supplied expressed milk and a cup. When I told nursery that this was the plan they were a bit but they made it work.

The NHS round this way promote BLW, but I had heard at a talk that it doesn't build up as fast as other weaning (don't really know what to call that), so I did use some guidance and indicate to dd that I thought eating would be a great thing to get underway...

im in the same position. dd is 6 and half month and ebf. i go back in 8 weeks and really nervous. dd has always refused expressed milk in every form. we started weaning at 5 months because i thought if she had a head start i would be more relaxed at leaving knowing she was getting something during the day. i have ended up doing a mixture of blw and puree feeding. its going well but im still panicking about the day feeds. dd has always slept through and don't won't that to stop ( very selfish i know ).

I went back at 12 months - so a little older - but was amazed how fine it was. I BF around 6.30am before work and 6.30pm after work. In between, DS has water and very occasionally a few sips of cow's milk through a straw. He seems to be thriving.

thesurgeonmate DS started BLW at 7 months (we were travelling in August when he turned 6 months so we delayed weaning a bit) and OMG! I can't stop him! He was a bit for the first week but now he's so greedy and can't have enough of whatever I give him! I'm holding back a bit because I'm worried that he would have too much solids and not enough milk otherwise.
He's not sleeping any better though!! His plan seems to be: whatever he can shovel in his mouth during the day and mummy's milk throughout the night.

feekerry did you know that what your employer is doing is possibly illegal? You should not be penalised for going on maternity leave. Also did you know that you accrueannual leave while off on maternity leave? Get some employment advice if you can.

I worked full time 8-6 when DS was 9 months and he never ever took a bottle. He would use a cup for water but not expressed milk. Luckily he loved yoghurts so he had Greek yoghurt and water when everyone else had milk. And he ate his meals obviously. His nursery were hugely supportive.

The upside, he was absolutely fine. The downside, he breastfed about 8 times a night until he was 16 months old. Fine for him, destroying for me.

I went back to full time work in September 2009. DS was 9 months old. I had planned to move him on to follow on milk on my return to work. He refused to take a bottle before I went back but I thought he would take it while I was at work and he had no choice.
He continued to refuse the bottle, cups of formula and cow's milk until he was almost 3. He would drink cups of water and orange juice and eat solid food while I was at work. I expressed at work for the first few weeks and disposed of the milk. I breastfed DS when I returned home from work, even if it was late and he was asleep in bed.
So my original plan didn't work out because DS had a better idea! He is 3.9 now and doing great.
I stopped breastfeeding DS last month and he still cries about it now. :(

I went back to work when DS was 6 months.
He'd started purees and grudgingly accepted formula in a sippy cup. No way to get him to take a bottle.

He's not too keen on formula but would accept it if I wasn't there.

From 8/9 months he was on 3 solid meals a day plus formula in the afternoon, then BF at bedtime and 3 or 4 times a night.

Now he's 11.5months and is down to one BF in the evening and 1 or 2 very short BF in the night. His fave drink in the day is water but we still make him have a sippy cup of milk in the afternoon.

I know of other children who refused the bottle and ended up just having a lot of yoghurt and water!

As PP have said, babies change a lot in a very short time. I couldn't imagine how my hourly BF baby (aged 4 months!) would possibly be OK when I went back to work but it did work out fine.