When did your ebf baby depend less on you

[basilflower]

My 8.5 month baby is ebf. He seems to need to feed every couple of hours, day and night, if not more frequently. He's eating some solids (blw so slower progress) and does have sips of water from his sippy cup at mealtimes.

I'm worried about returning to work (not for a couple of months yet) and how he will cope, he's very dependent on breastfeeding not only for milk but for comfort (and to send him to sleep but that's a whole other thread!)

I'd quite like to go for a swim or something, just for a couple of hours, and know that he will be ok with dh. He currently refuses expressed milk from a bottle or sippy cup.

At what age did your ebf dc start to depend on you less and you felt able to leave them for a few hours or so? Thanks!

My dd1 was a super clingy bf baby and didn't start to depend on me less until I stopped feeding her at 27 months.
She's really confident and not clingy now at almost 4 but I don't think I can do it for that long again with dd2 who is 6 months.
At the moment my plan is to go with it until she's 1 and then night wean her which will hopefully mean she'll sleep better and I'll be able to go out for a few hours.

Did you go back to work with your dc1 or were you with them all the time? I'm wondering if ds will be upset to start with when I go back to work, but then make up for it on the nights and days I am home...

My 7 month old is suddenly going longer between feeds. Literally over the last fortnight - from 2 hr to 4 or so.
I am lucky as she will take expressed milk, so was a bit freer than you op.
But it's very useful not to need to express or purchase ready - made formula for little things like popping to the shops!

So hopefully it will suddenly "click" like with me soon.

Go for a swim, if he gets hungry your dh can give him a yogurt or a banana. I started leaving mine for a few hours once he was being weaned, he hated expressed milk and only took a little water from a sippy cup. When he got to 10 months I happily left him from 9-4 with dh or a friend (didn't do it often though) he's now 13 months and not clingy at all :)

Thanks everyone, it's useful to hear other's experiences.

Hopefully only going back part time, and not until he's 1, so no need to build up stock of bm as he should be drinking other milk by then, and can top up on bm when I'm home. Hoping it'll all be ok by then!

By 1 he'll be fine! 8 months is a tough time anyway because his separation anxiety will be kicking in. I left my boob loving DD to go to work when she was just over 9 months. I'd left her for a few hours here and there before. She now drinks maybe one carton of formula when I'm away plus water and decent solids, then empties my boobs when I get back. She seems to go to sleep ok - I feed her to sleep when I'm home but even that's a battle, she hates sleeping!

Ultimately, it will be fine. Even if he doesn't drink more than a few sips, remember they can (in theory) go 12 hours overnight without food or drink.

I went back to work p/t at 5.5 months. Mine fed frequently and refused bottles, so I was really worried, but she ended up just not taking milk at all when I was gone (for 5/6 hours) and making up for it when I got home. Her dad or grandma got her to sleep fine in pram or by rocking her, although with me she'd only feed to sleep.

She's now 13 months and will still feed really frequently if I'm around but isn't bothered if I'm not!

I returned to work when DS was 10 months so in preparation for it I started cutting back on the BF's and making his meal times more regimented when he was 9 months old.

By the time I went back to work he was on three breast feeds a day on my days off and two breast feeds a day when I was at work. I do shifts so anytime I'm not at home for his bedtime he had a bottle of Aptamil until he hit 12 months and was then switched to cow's milk.

On the days that I'm at work he drinks water from a beaker throughout the day.

He's now 13 months and this set up worked pretty well from as soon as I returned to work.

My DS was perfectly happy with formula in a cup at 8 months when I went back to work. Was totally fine with DH during the day - first two days were a screamathon but that was about it. He intensified bf when he was ill between 10 and 13 months and I was so fed up of bf. I actually wanted to stop at 6 months but didn't manage. He increased clingyness and bf again at 12-13 months and fed several times an hour after I came home from work. I had enough so stopped bf and night weaned at 14 months cold turkey - went away for a few days and he was totally fine after that, much less clingy, are better and has a major turnaround with sleeping and naps.

While I was still bf he was absolutely fine without bf during the day.