Going back to work, want to carry on BF'ing - how does it work?

[HackerFucker22]

I am due back in just under 2 weeks. DD is 1 and still feeds on demand - not as much during the day anymore but lots at night.

I have started expressing even though she is a bottle refuser so I have a supply. Am going to start trying her with various different cups.

My main issue is with my supply. I am going to be out of the hosue for 8 hours a day, 3 days per week. Will my supply adjust? Will I need to pump at work? And what are the legalities of this? (currently our mainly open plan office is bursting at the seems and I can see me doing it in the loo which is a horrid thought)

DD is on the waiting list to be seen by allergy clinic for suspected CMPA, she currently doesn't have any dairy.

When will you be able to feed her? Age 1 year old so is she on 2-4 feeds a day? you could feed before you leave for work in the morning, when you come home, and before bed? No need to express at work I'd have thought. Really depends how often she is feeding and whether your breasts are expecting to feed many many times a day!

DS was 11 months and used to being bf on demand when I went back to work part time.

I would feed him first thing and then again at bedtime. During the day he had food and water (he wasn't bothered about cows milk at the time).

It was absolutely fine and he continued to bf until nearly 2yrs. I was a bit engorged the first week or so but it soon settled down.

It was a nice way to reconnect when I'd been at work all day.

He carried on feeding at night for a fair while, it was a bit knackering at the time but looking back was only about 3-4 months.

I started winding down from 11mo. Start by giving 3 meals and 2 snacks. Then one week on no BF in the morning, then another dropping feeds in the afternoon. By the time I got back to work, I was only doing one before work, bedtime, and over night.

I wasn't going to pump at work so I have to drop them slowly before I went back. But if you will be expressing, you can wait till go back and just pump twice at work?

I'm more worried about you then the baby.

I wind down pretty quickly after 12mo however. DD2 started sleeping through at 15mo. So I stopped offering the wake up feed, and a week later the bed time one too. She didn't miss it at all. I got blocked duct after dropping the bedtime one. It was only after a week of no feeds, and I thought she might help me move the milk out. Nope, she wouldn't even suckle when I offered. I ended up hand expressing over the bathroom sink.

I am keen to continue feeding, I really don't want to wean from BF'ing just yet.

Am hoping a morning and evening feed will suffice.

TX

You won't have problem with supplies. I fed DD1 till 18mo with full time work and no pumping. By a year, the supply is very stable. I just find both DDs were not that keen on feeding.

I went back to work when DS was 10 months and I was away from home for 15 hours, three days a week.

I would breast feed DS when I got up and take my pump into work where I would express a minimum of two times and then I would express again before I went to bed once I'd got home.

I had to do this for many weeks until eventually I was only pumping once at work and again at bedtime to then sometimes managing a whole day without pumping. It took a good while for my body and supply to readjust, but it did.

Within about 4 months, due to some shift patterns, I was able to be away from DS for about 48 hours and not have to express.

DS is 22 months now, breast feeds a lot on the days I'm at home but is also perfectly fine when I'm away from him.

There's no legal right to a place to pump but best practise is that employers provide a private place (not a toilet) and somewhere to store milk.

I was lucky that there was a store room I could sit in and a fridge down the corridor. .

My son was 10 months when I went back and I expressed until he was a year, then was able to just feed at pick up and at night. If I hadn't expressed I would have been pretty uncomfortable.

DS is 13 months. I have been back at work since he was 6 months. At first I expressed at work when I would have fed him, and brought it home for dh to use the following day (SAHP at the time). At about 10 months I stopped expressing at work. It is sometimes a bit uncomfy towards the end of the day. I am away from DS for 8.5h a day. But at the weekend he feeds loads, several times a day and during the night. It works perfectly. I get why you are worried because i was too but it really turned out to be a non issue. Get some good breast pads and you'll be fine!

Very easy, I went back at 9 months, four days (except wed), and on working days, bfed morning and evening, and on non working days bfed 4 times a day. My supply was absolutely fine... No engorgement or anything...