on demand breast feeding _ returning to work

[FredFlintstonesSister]

I have been bf on demand for 9 months now and I suppose I hadn't really thought about what happens next. DD has always been a bottle refuser and has only recently begun to drink water (messily) from a sippy cup. I go back to work at the end of Feb when DD will be 1 year old and I think I had some vague notion of having her drink cow's milk while at the childminder's. I wouldn't be able to gradually introduce this because I go back the day after her first birthday! I still want to be able to breastfeed first thing and in the evening and also on my days off but I don't want to express particularly and definitely not at work! Is there a solution? I am upset enough about having to return to work at all and now I feel I might need to wean her totally to go back! Help!

I went back to work pt when DS was 11 months old. He was used to being bf on demand.

I did nothing to really prepare him, apart from offering a sippy cup of water, and it was absolutely fine. He had morning and evening feed from me and didn't have any milk during the day while he was at the childminder. He carried on with morning/evening until about 18m, then morning only until 2yrs when I gently encouraged him to stop as I was pg (I know some women feed all through pg but it was just too uncomfortable!)

At 1 they don't actually need any milk feeds in the day. They can of course have some but the majority of calories will be from food

At 1 year I bf just morning and night also.

Start now giving water with every meal and offering throughout the day also, so they get used to drinking it.

There isn't a magic change that happens in a child's digestion at 00:01am on their 1st birthday. If you don't want to express or use formula then start to gradually introduce cows milk (or perhaps goat's milk which is a bit easier to digest) 2 or 3 weeks before you go back to work. DD will get enough calories to get through the day from the solids she has with the cm, and will catch up on milk intake morning and evening happily enough.

Don't worry too much - it always takes a little while to settle into a new situation but after a few weeks it will all be working smoothly.

I was stressed about this too. I went back to work when ds was around 12 months and was feeding morning night and nap times. He dropped the nap time feeds no problem though he might still have these if I'm at home. I'm still feeding morning and night now three months later. Never had to express or anything and didn't have problems with leaking at work. He's not really into cows milk but try to make sure he eats yoghurt and cheese etc.

Anyway to sum it all up you might be surprised at how well it can work out all on it's own!

Will she really not need milk during the day? At the moment "on demand" means about 6 times between waking and bed and several times through the night!

You might find that "on demand" changes quite drastically by Feb though - I really wouldn't worry. We were in a similar situation and I never expressed at work - just fed as normal on my two days off, and weekends, and he either had a bit of formula in a bottle or a bit of cow's milk in a sippy cup when I wasn't there. Try not to worry about it and just play it by ear (I know that's easy for me to say!)

She won't as wot be able to have ' on demand ' in the day. So you will probably did she feeds longer in am and pm in comparison

Not sure about nights. I fed on demand during the day but didn't feed at night after 12 weeks.

I went back full time when EBF DS was 8 months. He refused a bottle and just had water in a sippy cup all day, then bf morning, evening and all night. Now at 10 months it's still working fine.

I think 2 bf morning and night will be fine by age 1 as long as she is eating her solid meals ok. Maybe gradually reduce the number of feeds you offer in the day over the next couple of months so it isn't such a drastic change but no need to give up bf when you go back unless you want to. You'll probably find she has no interest in drinking milk from a cup until you're not around but soon gets the hang of it when it's the only option (was my experience anyway).

Went back to work full time when DC1 was 9mo and DC2 was 6/7mo. Neither took a bottle. Both were breastfed on demand when at home. Both had water (and DC2 would have a tiny bit of expressed milk but DC1 wouldn't touch that either). Both made it through fine and I breastfed DC1 for another 9mo or so. I'm still feeding DC2 at 21mo.

So don't panic!

DS fed about that much during the day when I went back to work at 9 months. I did express for a few months, but only enough for one small feed a day and he stopped being interested in that after a while & just drank water or cows milk. He just waited until I got home & had a massive snuggly feedathon - actually quite nice to have that long cuddly time when you get home.