Do your breasts know which day it is?

[hideandsqueak]

Going back to work in January but only 2 days a week. DS will be 15 months but feeds about 6 times a day. I have read on here that they can just bf morning and night whilst you are gone those 2 days but if DS is feeding all day the other 5 days will my supply go haywire? I know this must be a common occurrence but everyone I know stopped breastfeeding months ago! I still get engorged if he doesn't feed for some reason but I never imagined id be having to hand express in the toilets at work at this age!

When I went back with 13 month old DS I kept feeding on demand on my days off, but found that during the first few weeks he actually wanted to feed a bit more, either for comfort I supply, but then naturally cut down quite a lot during the day (not such a bad thing).

If you're really set on feeding during the day then you could probably push it more than I did, but I found it was actually a lot easier at that age after I went back to work and he fell into a pattern of wanting a morning feed, night feed and only feeding during the day if he was sick/tired/grumpy (night feeding stayed pretty continual until I finally broke and did the Jay Gordon gentle night weaning! ) It also helps with the carer, as there's a bit more of a rhythm for them to follow.

One thing that I wasn't prepared for it that I was quite engorged on and off for the first 2 weeks, so it's worth dressing accordingly (unlike me and my embarrassingly tight shirt on day 3!).

15mo ds, grazes on my days off but will happily go without on nursery/work days. I pump once a day for comfort and find if I don't by 1pm I'm getting itchy and sore and I get as much now as when I started back 6 months ago.
For us bf has been the easiest part of going back to work and a lovely way to reconnect when I pick him up.

I really am hoping I can avoid pumping at work! But then I guess I'd rather that than actually leaking..

It's worth trying without the pump, especially with an older baby! If it isn't working after a couple of weeks of 2 days of not pumping you should still be easily able to boost supply (If it wasn't clear from my message, I went back when mine was 13 months and am still feeding now 6 months later, so he'd already cut down a fair bit on volume I think)

Thanks! That is really helpful now I see what you mean. I wouldn't mind him cutting down to just morning and bedtime... If we are out all day and busy he happily goes without.

For comfort, if you need to you can hand express and dump the milk.

I think your work is required to provide you somewhere better than the loos to express - I think the idea is a private space with a chair and a powerpoint. Worth checking out, anyway.