Maintaining supply on just 2 feeds per day- Is it ALWAYS possible?

[happydaze77]

Has anyone had problems maintaining their supply once they drop down to two feeds a day?
I return to work next month (my daughter will be 11 months old) and hope to continue breastfeeding her beyond a year. She's always fed 'little and often'; even now she has at least 4, usually 5, feeds per day, so I'm worried that my supply might be affected if I drop any more feeds.
I may be able to express at work, but will only have about ten minutes to do this per day. I have a freezer stash for her missed daytime feeds although I am not too bothered if she has formula or ordinary cows milk while I am at work. I will only be working 3 days per week, and these days aren't consecutive, and I plan to feed her as normal on my days off.
TIA

I did 2 feeds a day from 6 months ish - 8 1/2 months, have dropped to 1 as am stopping now (she had formula for the other feeds) and had no problems at that level - my boobs just adjusted to producing what was needed.

Have you had a full day away before? Can you give it a trial run? She probably feeds 4-5 times a day because she can. I just had two full workdays away from ebf DD (10mo) and I was worried about her needing boob and my breasts becoming uncomfortable. But it was fine! Long feed in the morning as usual then again as soon as I got home. I don't think you'll need to express to maintain supply. Is she eating solids well?

Thanks for responding - both stories are reassuring, thank you.

rattlemehearties You're probably right that she feed a lot because she can. Part of me wants to cut down the feeds so that there's no big changes for her when I go back to work, but the other part of me says just give her plenty of breastfeeds while I still can.
Solids are going well and she's happy with water from a sippy cup so hopefully it's all work out.

I went back to work 3 weeks shy of a year. When I went back, DD had cow's milk at the childminder, I figured it was fine as she was so near 1 and when she saw me she had BM. On my days off with her, she sometimes had 4-5 feeds a day and on working days she just has one in the morning and one before bed.

DD is 22 months in a few days and we have been following the same pattern and it's fine. Your supply should adjust too.