still breast feeding -back to work-night shifts, expressing and stuff

[GEM33]

I am returning to work in a few months. I had a meeting with HR about it and was told I will be working shifts (including nights) and they will provide me with time and place to express milk. However, dd will be 12 months old by this time. WILL I actually need to express milk or will my body just cope with the constant changes and different times of demand*
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To date dd has been fed on demand and feeds every few hours through the day and every 2 hours through the night. (major sleep issues im just not ready to do sleep training yet but i KNOW i will have to before I go back to work.)

Ive looked up previous night shift discussions on here and it seems there is nothing legally stopping me from working them so Ill just have to lump it.

(is it just me or is this next part of my story a bit fu%!ing weird)**during the meeting they asked me to tell them the exact times I will need to express milk on my return to work?! I found this hilarious and when I said I couldnt tell them exact times, they asked me to ask the health visitor what time I should express!!!!!I also mentioned that I hadnt had to express before and they said I should start regularly expressing now so Im used to it when I get to work?? (w.t.f.). I was also advised to do controlled crying with my baby!!! (I have never met this person before).

What? Someone from work was advising you on controlled crying and expressing. That is weird.

How long are your shifts, and if you were to express at work, would someone need to cover you while you absent?

10 hour shifts. Um, not sure. basically, yes I think me not being available will be a major issue.
yes, that part of the conversation was very weird.

I'm going to gloss over the fact that a random stranger asked you to do CC because I would explode with rage and focus on the practical (albeit anecdotal)... I returned to work when DS was about 8 months old. I was doing regular daytime hours (around 8-9 hours away from DS) and found I needed to express once a day in order to feel comfortable. He's now 13 months old and I've managed to drop all daytime feeds (he has formula or solids during the day) so that I don't have to express at work.

Tbf, I do agree that you should have a go at expressing before you go back to work (though it's maybe not their place to suggest it!) It's a bit fiddlier than I expected! I also don't think it's particularly strange that they want to know when you'll be expressing (especially if, as the previous poster suggested, they may need you to cover) and I can't see that it would be too hard for you to tell them.