EBF on KIT days at work

[Funnylittleturkishdelight]

I want to use KIP days to ensure I can return to work after a year without too much trauma - there are a few important training days I'd like to attend but I'm intending to EBF until I wean- this is my first born and I have no idea how it's going to work and asking my mum who EBF with me and my siblings is no help as she can barely remember it now! Have no friends who EBF who I can ask either.

So, basically- can I expect my baby at 3 months to be feeding how frequently? Could I feed and express to get through a school day if I went home at lunch?? Would it be ridiculous to ask my employer if I can come in for a kit day but have baby brought in so I can feed every x number of hours?

Sorry if this is a stupid question- am going to ask about KIP days at next meeting and want to go in prepared!

My baby is 7 months and still breastfed, but has been eating solids for the last 4 weeks. I attended a KIT day recently and left him with two bottles of expressed milk - one of 8oz and the other of 4oz. He finished the last bottle about an hour before I returned home, I was gone from 8am until 6pm.

You should be fine, start expressing a couple of days in advance (breast milk can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days) and see how much you can produce.

Just realised your baby is 3 months so my post is probably not too helpful... If nothing else I hope this has given you a bump!

Thanks anyway pommes! It all helps!

I am leaving my ebf baby for a full KIT day in 2 weeks when she will be 16weeks. My mum will bring her to me for a breast feed at lunchtime, I plan to leave 3x4oz bottles and will probably have to sneak out f the teaching sessions to express once in the morning and in the afternoon

I planned to do the same. DS took a bottle at 6 weeks, but when we tried at 10 weeks wouldn't and never would again. I gave up as was too much hassle to sterilise, pump, then waste all that effort. I didn't want to give formula. You might have to pump several times to make up a bottle. I tended to get 2-4 oz a time which was quite good compared to some friends!

In the end I only used 1 day for meetings and took DS with me!
So my tip would be to keep offering bottles from early on (maybe 4 weeks) and do more frequently..... may still have refused though!

Hi Turkish you can freeze your milk bit by bit so you don't have too much pressure to massively pump in the run up to your kit days

The breastmilk bags are good for this. I got mine from Tesco..

Thanks everyone!

I really wish I could just have baby there to feed when need be- so much easier than all this bottle faff!

Hi funny, I'm doing exactly this in 4 wks when my LO will be 14 wks.

I know roughly what time she feeds in the day so if I come home at lunch and do a slightly shorter day, my mum will only have to give 1 bottle (or that's the plan!). I'm going in at 9.30ish, home for lunch and finishing around 4. Could you do something like that? I work 15 mins away which also helps.

I've been expressing a bit every couple of days and freezing.

Bit worried about leaving her tbh but if I can't leave with my mum for a few hrs I have no chance of going back to work!

GL :)

PS - you know you still get paid a full day even if you don't do exactly all the hours. With it being our 1st day I think that's reasonable.

I did 1/2 day KIT days as DS was EBF and a bottle refuser. Worked out well as my brain could only take a certain amount of info at a time!!

Thanks lois and bear- that's really useful info!

I will find out dates for meetings and I think if it turns out that day ends up being in the middle of a growth spurt or something and I can't go- well then I can't go. Half days/lunch time visits home are the way forward!

I did a little bit of work when DS was about 7mo. He didn't take very much EBM at all when I was away, just enough to quench his thirst, I think, and then just had big feeds in the afternoon/evening when I got back.

I did this - 1 KIT day a week from when DC1 was 3.5 mo. My MIL would come at 8.15 and I would be giving him a feed, regardless of when he last fed. I'd leave at 8.30. She would give him a bottle of ebm at 10, and I would express at work. I'd then come home for lunch (15 mins there and back, 30 min feed) and she'd give another bottle at 3/4 and I would express again. I'd try to be home by 6.

It was just about doable.... Pushing it a bit at the end of the day but ok (she did have spare milk if needed). Expressing the quantities required was challenging. I started expressing nightly about 4 weeks before and then would add the milk I expressed at work (that was a real faff). I invested in a double electric pump and even then could get no more than 2 or 3 oz a time, iirc.
Hth!

Helps loads angst and bartlet- thank you! I think it's good to know what to expect. I'm really hoping I can make EBF a success and I think managing expectation before baby arrives is an important part of that.

Any more stories/experiences welcome!