6 months old, returning to work - will switching to formula be easier?

[DoubleHelix79]

I have a six months old DD who is exclusively breastfed. She feeds well and overall I enjoy the experience. It's also quite convenient - I can just pop her on the boob anytime she's hungry.

However I will soon return to work 3 days a week and she'll go to a childminder. This will mean expressing during working hours, worrying about having enough stock etc. Facilities at work aren't great site, so finding a suitable space will be a challenge.

Breastfeeding also means I do all night feeds and makes it much harder to spend some time away from DD.

I'm contemplating either switching to formula or trying combination feeding (e.g. formula during the day, bf in the mornings, evenings and at night).

I'd really appreciate your advice on whether switching to formula/combination feeding would just add more faff or whether it could give me more flexibility and reduce the burden a bit.

Anyone?

Hi OP

I switched to ff after bf for 6 months and found it much easier. There was about a month during which I mix fed, and we started with 1 bottle of formula at the same time each day then built it up from there. It definitely gave me much more freedom, and tbh felt like a weight off. I had more energy and my body felt like my own again! Dd took to formula brilliantly and was much happier on it because it helped with her reflux. Re: childminder it was much easier to give them a tin of formula and let them get on with it too! Good luck whatever you decide.

If she will take a bottle of switch to combination feeding. That was my plan going back to work (but DD point blank refused formula or EBM!).

Thanks Apples, that's really helpful

No worries, I know it's a hard decision! If you've got any specific questions re: practicalities then feel free to pm

Thanks Rinceoir. She does take bottle (albeit quite unenthusiastically). Can I ask which feeds you replaced with formula? All daytime ones?

As well as any advice here you may like to try calling the National Breastfeeding Helpline or Leche league. I called the latter a few days ago and found the adviser helpful and knowledgeable. They get these sort of return to work issues a lot. My child had just started nursery at 9 months old. She has been mostly breastfed. I will continue to breastfeed her when she is with me and she has formula at nursery. The Leche league adviser thought this approach would work. I thought it may be confusing for her but it seems not.

I went back at 6 months. I was expressing anyway as my daughter never got the hang of breastfeeding, but we wanted a safety net as I have to travel and I wasn't sure I'd be able to express enough once I was at work, so we started mix feeding - literally mixing formula and bmi in each feed. We started just adding in a few mls of formula to each feed (using the ready mixed stuff) and gradually upped the percentage. After about three months I was ready to stop expressing as it was causing lots of back pain so we moved to 100% formula. I don't think she even noticed as the change was so gradual. I know other people have carried on breastfeeding outside of work if they don't want to express and used formula in between.

I returned to work when my BF son was 9 months old. I'm a nurse so worked three shifts a week and was out the house from 6.45am to 21.30pm.

On the days I worked I would BF in the morning and he'd have formula whilst at the childminders and formula when DH put him to bed.

On the days I didn't work I just breast fed DS as normal.

I expressed milk at work for comfort and would have to do so 3-4 times a day and then express when I got home too. However, as the weeks passed I was slowly able to reduce the frequency I needed to express until a few months later I hit a point where I could go 24 hours without needing to express. Milk supply does adapt to changes in requirements and eventually I could go 48 hours without either feeding or expressing if I had to work two days in a row.

Going back to work doesn't mean the end to breast feeding and I continued to BF my DS until he was 2.5 years old.

I fed am and pm and any night feeds and there was formula in the day. My supply seemed fine doing just 2 feeds a day but I know that the baby can prefer bottles or some people's supply dwindles with so few feeds. But it worked for us.

Thank you so much everyone. I think I'll try continuing with bf/expressing for a few weeks and see how it goes, but might start combination feeding if it becomes too onerous. Your answers have given me a lot of options to consider (and confidence that they can work). Might call LLL as well, good tip.

If you do decide to express I recommend a small cool bag. It's not only useful for the journey but zips away the milk and stops any colleagues accidentally putting it in their coffee...

Your workplace should provide you with somewhere to express and store the milk.

I just started back at work at 6 months full time and my DS is still EBF (7.5 months).
I feed before I leave, pump twice a day, once at 11 and once at 2:30 , and feed when I get home (and normally every 2 hours at night but he's never been a good sleeper).
I express in a little side room that just has a table and chair in (and loads of boxes) and keep my milk in the work fridge 😂

To be honest (and everyone is different) but I find sterilising everything such a ball ache, so the less I have to do the better .. we only sterilise the pump parts and 4 bottles.

Thanks euro and moody. I just startled the baby by chuckling while imagining someone enjoying a nice cuppa with added breastmilk!