Back to work and dropping breastfeeds: clueless.

[Phalarope]

DD is 10.5 months and will be 12 months when I go back to work. I am a bit muddled about reducing the number of breastfeeds she has. Can I just start to drop feeds at this point? Or do I need to replace them with formula?

She currently has about 5 feeds a day: roughly 5am (ugh), 7.30, 11, 3pm and 6.30.
She also wolfs down three huge meals and a couple of snacks. She never asks for a breastfeed (except at 5am), I always offer. She is mostly but not always interested.

It's the 11 and 3 feeds I would like to drop before I go back to work. Will she make up the calories with solids or do I need to offer formula instead? And if so - how long for? HVs are not massively helpful with breastfeeding advice past 6 months let alone a year and I'm a bit lost...

I wouldn't bother with giving formula at 12 months old. I would maybe offer a snack, or some cows milk at that age for the 11 and 3 "feeds".

Hi there
There's no need to replace the feeds with ff if she's happy. Especially if it sounds like she's happy with her food intake. If you intend to continue bf-ing her then do offer it to her when you are about but if both you and her aren't fussed then it's ok. Good luck! I fb my kids till they were 2 and 3 years. Returned to work at 6 months both times.

Great - thank you. I would rather not bother making up formula if I don't have to so will see how we get on wih more substantial snacks. I'm happy to keep breastfeeding outside work, at least for the moment, so good to know the two aren't incompatible.

good luck! :) oh and obviously, if she's thirsty, then she'll drink whatever she's drinking now, so cows milk, water... etc.

Yes, what everyone else said - there's nothing you really need to do to prepare or drop feeds at that age. You might find she'll drop one of the daytime feeds by herself before you go back, I know both of mine were only really having one feed between morning and coming-back-from-work time at 12 months. And she'll be fine with just water/cow's milk if she likes it/food! I did express in work for a bit after I went back both times but to be honest I could have got away without it.

I started by giving 2 ff for my ds when he started nursery but quickly dropped them as they were unnecessary. After 1 they can give cows milk for elevenses. Btw I continued to bf on demand on my days off and he just adjusted.

When I went back to work part-time at 9.5mths I fed my son at 6.30am and 7pm and he had formula for his mid-morning and mid-afternoon feeds (about 150-200ml each time). I still feed him as normal on my days off work - it doesn't seem to have affected my supply, as an aside.

He's now 12mths and isn't always that bothered about milk during the day - he'll generally still have a bit from the breast if I offer it, but isn't that interested in formula. Sometimes we offer cows milk instead. If I was going back to work now and had never given him formula, I definitely wouldn't bother - I'd just give him cows' milk.

Do you mind if I ask what you mean when you say your 10.5mth old only asking for a feed at 5am? My boy has never asked but will pretty much always take it when offered. Does your baby clearly indicate/sign that she wants milk?

Just that 5am is the only time she's (very) vocal about it, and will wrestle me for boob access if I try to resettle her any other way. During the day, she is fairly inscrutable (too busy playing) so I have always offered rather than feeding on demand.
Thank you for all the reassurance. I like that I can now have a strategy of 'not doing anything in particular'.