12 hours between milk feeds at 10 months

[HenriettaChicken]

Hope I'm posting in right group.

I'll be going back to work in mid-feb when DS is ten months. DH will be SAHP. I had been hoping by that point to bf DS at 6am, head to work and then bf at 6pm when I get home. Is this feasible?

DS is enjoying BLW and can take cup & bottle (he's currently 6.5 months) but is still on about 5-6 feeds a day.

If I'm dreaming I need to know so I can start building up my expressed stock now... It would be nigh on impossible to express at work in my 30 min lunch break!

What do you reckon?

As your post is more about the number of feeds, I'd post in the breast and bottle section or call one of the bfing helplines who will be able to tell you.

Thank you!

Have you got the numbers for the helplines henrietta?

No - I've never had problems with bf so it's never really been an issue!

I've been back at work about a month now and DS was 8 months when I went back, he is in nursey from about 8 to 530. He has never taken a bottle and refuses anything but water from a cup. I weaned with a mix of finger food and feeding (nothing puréed just roughly mashed) I was so worried about him being in nursery with no milk but he is fine and not desperate for milk when we get home either. I think your baby will be fine.

That's so good to know, Oinky. Thank you! How many feeds was he on before?

Oh - and what does he eat at nursery?

Can't do links at the moment but can recommend the National Breastfeeding Helpline. If you google it, the information should come straight up.

Brilliant. Thanks, Jilted.

I went back to work (3 days a week) with both of mine at a similar age (roughly 11 months).

One was in a routine and was only on morning and evening feeds at that stage so it wasn't an issue.

The other one was still bf-ing a lot and on demand. He was quite happy not having milk when I was at work but wanted feeding as soon as I came home and was still feeding during the night until he was just over two. I guess he just made up for the milk feeds when he was with me.

I think your baby will be fine. It's you that needs to consider that you will probably need to express at work to prevent wet patches! When I returned, my let down went haywire! Every time I thought of ds, I was soaking. I really had to make time, by explaining to my boss, to express. When I limited expressing (due to being too busy at work), I ended up off for a week with mastitis, which you really don't need!! So try, before u return, to get your boss to make extra time for you ( which u are entitled to) to express. It's a handy way of making sure you have a milk feed for the baby the next day. My milk froze badly (lipase I think), so the fresher milk was a godsend. I also managed to express loads at work, due to 'missing feeds', and could never have expressed as much in a normal feeding day. Have no fear that your baby will probably leap on you once you get home , and will totally survive, but u need to look after yourself when you go back to work.
Either that, or up the ante with solids, reduce bf gradually and you will both be fine. Personally I wanted to do as much bf as I could for as long as I could, so the latter wasn't an option for me . Good luck with it

Hello. I returned to work when my baby was 8months. She had always been a bottle refuser. She had been in 6/7/8 feeds a day at 7 months and my battle plan was to introduce bottle and cut out the ones in work time. By the time I strayed she would take 1 bottle a day and when I started she picked up the second and ate more food. I would breast feed her when I got home. Just after 9 months we have dropped the early evening feed and so morning and night. Now at 10 months she has 1 or 2 bottles with small volumes of formula and a few small volumes of cows milk with a morning and night breast feed. It works for us.

Sorry for types. Am feeding. That was meant to say started not strayed. And I pressed post before saying you can do it. Everyone said it and I found it to be true, babies are resilient and will survive. They find their way of working it out. If your baby us already ok on bottles then even better.
Good luck back at work.

Stupid phone! is on bottles rather than us on bottles. Grrr.

Thanks all - that's really encouraging. I didn't know that about time to express: I'm a teacher & my return to work meeting is next week so I'll have to mention it. It didn't even occur to me about leaky boobs. Very good point.

All the posts here are so positive: did anyone find it harder than they'd thought?

I think I have an over supply of milk so when I returned to work I had to hand express once during the day to prevent me getting uncomfortably engorged. I dont need to now though i think my supply has adjusted.
What I did was introduce milk in a cup about a month before I went back and reduced day time feeds gradually. I now bf first thing in the morning, bedtime feed and once during the day. So if I'm not at work I will feed him the day feed, and when I'm at work he sometimes takes a cup. Nursery tell me he eats plenty but drinks little or no milk with them. He drinks plenty of water though. He's 11 months and I returned to work 2 months ago.