breastfeeding returning to work help !!!

[going4potty]

Hi, i need some help. This is long sorry, Ds2 is 5 1/2 months and have just started solids, he is breast feeding usually at 7am, 11am, 2/ 3pm ,5/6pm, 10/11pm, 4/5am. i have struggled keeping my supply up especially now i have had a warning af. Tend to get a dip in supply mid cycle so (on advice) am taking calcium/ magnesium supplement to compensate. Also take fenugreek when i feel bub is feeding more. The major problem is returning to work early june and am hopeless at expressing and want to continue bfing. Will be working mon tues and fri and away from bub 8 til 5.30. I need some sort of plan that allows me to keep bfing while still getting some sleep and having time with 4yr old ds and dh. Help

Going4potty I bf all my children till at least 12 months and my period returned on the dot of 4 months even though I was still exclusively bf. I don't think it's an indicator of anything tbh and I am still bfing ds3 who is 2.4.
Firstly, why do you say you are hopeless at expressing? I found that I only really got decent amounts from the pump when I was away from the baby and I know I had a good supply, ds2 in particular was quite a chubby little guy when he was exclusively bf. When I was feeding him as usual I would get very little from the pump but the first time I left him for a few hours I got 10oz!
However, you don't have to express at work. Even if you don't your supply will adjust and you will still be able to feed babs all day when you are with him. I personally did express and used a double electric pump to save time. I pumped twice a day till he was a year old, then cut down to once a day and then to no pumping.

Hi ccm, im hopeless at expressing as i can never get anything even when bubs has missed a feed, max i get is four ounces. I just needed some help/ advice about which feeds i should drop/ replace with solids/ bottle etc without risking my supply too much.

Expressing gets better the more you do it and depends on the pump.

The are some good dual electric pumps - I have the ameda lactaline ( expensive - 80 pounds) but worked well.

If you want to exclusively breast feed then you probably need to pump at home as well as at work to produce enough milk because I think that umps are generally not as efficient as babies ( some people may disagree with this but on the whole I think t's true) I think most people get around 4-5oz even if they have not fed their babies so don't worry too much about your supply.

If you think doing all this at work is too much for you, you can either reverse cycle or substitute each feed indivually for a formula. Reverse cycling is when they have all their milk intake evening and night when you are home and have water in the day. If you drop feeds for formula, you may have a drop in supply and struggle to feed at all but it's very individual and i'm successfully doing it at 9 mths.

Kellymom website is very good on this.

Thanks amijee, ive had the same sort of ideas from non- cyber sources too. So i think i may bite the bullet and add a formula feed into his routine.

I've been back at work a couple of weeks could only get about 4 oz when expressing before, now get 4-7 oz at a time (express 3 times) and that seems enough for DS (6 months). He does feed at night though.

I decided to try expressing to start with, then if I didn't produce enough milk we could top up with formula. Havn't needed to yet. DS seems to be drinking less than when I'm round and is also happy to drink juice/water rather than milk.

Thanks guys for all your help. I am wondering if ive been wrong about my milk supply now, as he seems to be doing ok with very little solids at the mo. I am still doing a dream feed as he seems to feed well then gets through until 5-6 depending on wether he has been feeding ok in the day. I also wondered if i am doing too many milk feeds. He has solids twice a day which i give after bfing plus 3/4 other bfing sessions depending on how he feels, is this ok or should i be encouraging solids a bit more? Thanks

IMO you can't have too many milk feeds at this age. 5.5 months is a little on the early side for solids and milk should still be their main source of food up to 1 year.