Experiences with BF and returning to work

[GirlOutNumbered]

WIth DS1 I was lucky enough to be able to take a full year off work and so when I went back, he was just feeding in the morning and once at night.

DS2 I have to return about 6 months. This makes me a bit sad, but also I am worried about BF.

Please can you give me your experiences - I am wondering what to expect. I really don't want to move to formula as he has CMP allergy and would have to have nutramigen. Its foul.

I got a double pump (ameda lacteline), and expressed twice a day at work, and then fed as normal the rest of the time. It worked really well for us. I didn't use a fridge, just an insulated cool box and ice blocks.

I just spoke to work and informed them when discussing going back that I was still bfing and would need a private area to express in, they were great and sorted out a meeting room for me twice a day.

Do you have any specific questions?

Ooh please can I mark place as I am returning to work soon - I had thought I would have to switch to formula but interested to hear how people have managed without doing that.

I'm in similar position and am hoping by then he might be able to have morning and evening feed, then food and water in day. Am I being stupidly optimistic and naive?

That's what I am hoping alive, but with my first he wouldn't even take a bottle. I don't really know the best way to address this - should I start expressing and giving him a bottle? I really don't want to pump at work. I wondered if he was weaning well, if I could just feed day and night?? I can't remember how much ds1 fed at 6-7 months.

Don't want to be controversial but it will be much easier if you wean between 4 and 6 months.I fed dd in the workplace nursery at 0830 and again at 430pm. She had a bottleat 1230 but she was only 5 months when I went back.

I was thinking about early weaning to be honest. So that I know what's going on with ds2 before I go back to work. My mum started weaning me at four months and I can't see as its done me any harm!

I was planning on using a cup as I've decided in my utterly inexperienced head that it might be easier to get him to do that. As in someone feeds him from a cup, I'm not expecting him to hold it himself. He drank from one in hospital when only a few days old which is what put it in my head

From the front line... Went back to work full timewhen DS1 was 28 weeks old... He's now 34 weeks. He started on solids (because he was grabbing at food) at about 20/21 weeks. In the last few weeks before I was going back to work I went from daytime milk at 9, 11, 2, 5 to 11 and 2, and sometimes 5. I also expressed a little (15 portions perhaps?)and put some in the freezer. Baby is at home with Dad (who is on shared statutory parental leave). I'm out 8 - 5.30 ish usually. Baby has had something from a bottle most weeks of his life, we got off to a very iffy bfeeding start which included lots of formula in hospital and in the first 3 weeks of his life, and I expressed and bottle fed some times whilst dealing with various boob issues up til 12 wks or so. So basically he's been used to bottles.

In the very first few days, I would offer him a feed when I came home from work about 5.30, as he was still on and off having food in the evening. Since Christmas, my routine is: morning feed on waking, express from the other side during breakfast, go to work, express as soon as I get home, evening feed at 7, night time feeds as and when (that's a whole other story). So I express twice a day, which provides DS1 with two bottles a day, which he rarely finishes. Usually I get about 150 ml in the evening, more like 100 ml in the morning.

I was terrified about leaking at work, but I haven't (though I have spare top at work just in case). I could express at work, but I don't want to; I want to leave mum stuff behind and get through the day. Apart from the first couple of days, (I'd never left him more than 2 hrs in the daytime at that point) I've not felt I was going to burst, I took some milk bags with me thinking that if I did feel full, I could hand express, but I haven't apart from day 1.

I thought by now I'd be using up freezer supplies, but I've barely touched them. Aso, for those babies with dairy issues, so did my little one, but since 7 months he is fine (which is great, 5 months without milk or ice cream or milk chocolate or any of the random stuff with dairy in is quite enough!), but I had the same formula worries on going back to work.

Thanks Jen - another worry I have is that he will up his night feeds when I return to work.... Is that what you have experienced?

To be honest, the sleep thing has never been great, but I don't think going back to work made it any worse (2-3 feeds a night was quite typical, went up even more at Christmas when i was off work). Its amazing how little sleep you can survive on at work! But we've been doing a bit of sleep training (not quite cc, but more measured) in the past week, and our nights have got much better (one feed, 4/5 am). Baby tends to make more of me at weekends but I try not to feed more than twice during "working hours" as I don't want to over stimulate my supply.

One thing to watch is that I've had a couple of blocked ducts, although bizarrely both have been on non work days - when I'd been off for a couple of days (ie on a Sunday, and over Christmas). Never had that problem before, warm baths and dangle feeding have helped both times.