Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

How to prepare ebf DS for childcare

23 replies

Jellybabie3 · 30/06/2018 22:09

So i have a while, 3 months in fact. DS is almost 9months old and ebf. He feeds on demand so usually every hours ish but more often if tired or the mood suits him. He wakes 2x a night on average for feeds.

He hasnt used a bottle since he was 4 weeks old (we had formula top ups due to weight loss) and at Christmas when we tried (for an attempt for me to relax) he point blank refused.

Any tips how I can prepare him for childcare? Is there still time for him to tail off feeds. He eats 3 meals a day but only maybe a handful or 2 goes in. We are really struggling to get him to drink water too (weve tried 6 cups i think)

I really dont want to go down the expressing route as it brings back painful feelings - is there any chance he wont need formula at 1 year old?

Thanks

OP posts:
StruggsToFunc · 01/07/2018 08:21

I think you might be pleasantly surprised at the difference three months makes - between 9 and 12 months DD really clicked with solids and started having much more at mealtimes. If you want to start dropping daytime feeds then you could target one at a time, using distraction strategies.

At 1 year he can go straight on to full-fat cows’ milk.

Remember too that nursery nurses are magical creatures who can get babies to take bottles / cups / eat cabbage / nap even if they’ve never done these things at home!

thereareflowersinmygarden · 01/07/2018 13:02

How often does he feed?

Do you want to continue breastfeeding when he goes to Nursery?

NerrSnerr · 01/07/2018 13:05

Both my breastfed children started nursery at 12 Months. They both happily drank cows milk from a beaker at nursery and breastfed at home. I was really worried with my eldest and expressed milk etc but she wasn't interested. They both fed to sleep as well but napped at nursery with no trouble. If

WeaselsRising · 01/07/2018 13:14

Similar experience to NerrSnerr. DD started nursery at just under 11 months. I expressed in the beginning but she wasn't taking it so there didn't seem much point.

I would BF her when we arrived at nursery and again as soon as we got home in the evening, but during the day she drank water from a sippy cup and was quite happy eating real food at nursery during the day.

She didn't actually drink milk at all until we moved in with my DM when she was 2 and a half. (enough said about that).

She is now a bouncy 11 year old, so it obviously didn't do her any harm.

Original poster
Jellybabie3 · 01/07/2018 15:40

Ah OK hopefully I will have the same then. Maybe he will naturally tail off. I will keep trying the sippy cup but not worry about the bottles. Be great if I can avoid that Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
Jellybabie3 · 01/07/2018 15:42

@thereareflowersinmygarden I would guess somewhere around 6-8 in 24 hours. But as I say sometimes more. I am happy to continue bf but I would rather avoid expressing

OP posts:
BendingSpoons · 01/07/2018 15:48

I wouldn't worry at this point. He will probably be eating more and using a cup for water. I returned to work when DD was 8.5 months. She was a bottle refuser but decent eater. I breastfeed her before and after work (and in the night until 11 months). In the day she had food and small sips of water from a doidy or open cup.

Thissameearth · 03/07/2018 08:41

I’m in same situation - around 5 milk feeds per day, eats 3 meals blw with varying degrees of actual consumption, never taken expressed milk more than twice and never seemed satisfied with it so never stuck to it as hassle for me to pump it anyway, for them then to be so meh about it! I’ll likely express at first and give in sippy cup (even if on bottles meant to stop by year ish anyway for teeth and for speech development I think?) then likely move at some point to cows milk for day time and stick to breastfeeding AM and PM and on non working days and see how that goes and alter as necessary. I’m (trying to!) refuse to worry about it at moment, as others have said a) nurseries work wonders and b) there will be a big change in them by time you go back. it’s hard to imagine the situation in 3 months now as it’s a massive proportion of their life and at a time of rapid development. I know loads of people who have managed it with bf and all been somehow fine. Fingers crossed!

QueenAravisOfArchenland · 04/07/2018 13:20

Honestly at 12m he will be absolutely fine. He might quite likely continue to feed frequently when you are there but just not drink milk during the day at childcare - many EBF babies do this. He can also just have cows milk, and yes I'd not bother with bottles now and keep doing cups. At 12m he can easily go all day on water and food.

Mindchilder · 05/07/2018 20:08

At 12 months he'll just have a beaker of cow's milk at morning and afternoon snack times.

I'd just make sure he can go to sleep without being breastfed!

Original poster
Jellybabie3 · 06/07/2018 22:26

Thanks all. I literally will do nothing other than try and get him used to a beaker then. Brilliant Smile He hasnt drank anything other than from the breast yet but will keep offering it.

He does self settle for naps. He does tend to feed to sleep at night but usually because hes already tired! And at the moment hes feeding every hour through the night thanks to this heat!! So ordinarily he is OK without bfeeding as an aid.

Thanks Smile

OP posts:
Seahawk80 · 07/07/2018 06:39

I could have written this at 9 months. DS is 12m now and I'm not worried at all about going back next week. He now feeds first thing and last thing and if I'm around a mid morning and afternoon feed. He's better with water now and eats much more. I've been getting DH to put him to bed with a bottle every other night and we've switched that to cows milk which he's fine with. I'm going to carry on with the first and last thing feeds and night wakes for a couple of months. I have to work late once a week and have got a hand pump in case I feel a bit uncomfortable after not feeding all day and not doing a bedtime feed. Good luck!

Original poster
Jellybabie3 · 07/07/2018 07:06

Brilliant thank you!

OP posts:
UnaOfStormhold · 07/07/2018 07:23

I agree he'll probably be fine and will adjust to what's available, and at a year he can start to have cow's milk. We found temperature made a big difference - DS liked his milk warm though they're all different! You may find that you need to express a little just for your own comfort as you may get uncomfortably full during the day - just take off the minimum for comfort and your supply will quickly settle down.

Starlight345 · 07/07/2018 07:29

As cm. the best thing to do is teach your dc how to get to sleep without been bf. it makes going to sleep away from home tougher

Childrenofthesun · 07/07/2018 07:36

IME the basic Tommee Tippee cups were the best for getting my EBF to drink milk out of. She went to nursery at 8 months, took just a few sips the first week but then one day drained the lot and never looked back. I still bf at home.

Original poster
Jellybabie3 · 07/07/2018 08:45

Thanks. When did you start giving DC cows milk in a cup? At 8 mths? Maybe its worth trying so long as its not his main intake right?

OP posts:
StruggsToFunc · 07/07/2018 11:12

The advice not to give cows’ milk as a drink before 12 months is because it’s filling but doesn’t have the nutrients that infants need, so they are less likely to get them elsewhere. If you really don’t want to express but want to introduce a beaker then you either need to use water or formula.

Original poster
Jellybabie3 · 07/07/2018 11:34

OK great. I will keep trying the water then. Thank you

OP posts:
EveMoneypenny · 07/07/2018 14:10

Have you tried some very dilute juice instead of plain water? I know it's not really recommended to give babies juice but my 8 month old DS drinks loads more of that than he will of water. I do about 1/4 apple juice, 3/4 water. I had to get DS to drink more fluids as he was very constipated for a while.

SparkleHorse82 · 08/07/2018 08:17

I'm in the same position but now at 11 months. She's now only feeding twice in the day outside morning and bedtime, so it's only two feeds to drop, but she won't take oat milk (CMPA) in a bottle or sippy cup so it's only going to be food and water at nursery I think. She will be fine, I expect, but I'm worried about me...

My supply isn't adjusting and i'm dealing with bad blocks and may now have mastitis. I've had to feed feed feed to deal with it and so my supply is up even more. I have four weeks, and like you I REALLY don't want to have to pump at lunchtime but now it's looking inevitable.

Really depressing! I don't want to have to go back anyway, and this is making things worse as we've just got into a really good four feed, two nap routine and things were relaxed and happy after a very difficult year for us both post partum (lots of medical issues)

123456kent · 09/07/2018 22:44

OP our babies are exactly the same age and I’m going back to work at the same time as you.
It’s a concern of mine too, so in preparation I’m trying slowly to get her into taking milk from a cup/bottle. I’d been trying to get her to take formula in a bottle since birth and I’ve now given up that ghost. She will take cold cows milk in a bottle though, fed by herself.
So our routine is now:
Breast feed 6-7am ish
Breakfast
Breast feed 10-11am ish
Lunch
Some cows milk in a bottle and a snack (she drinks herself and takes about 1-2oz)
Dinner
Breast feed to sleep
No overnight feeds
I know the advice is not to give them cows milk to drink but I’m hapoy with her taking such a small amount, it’s practice for when I do KIT days/want some freedom/she’s at nursery.
I hope that by one year she is either exclusively on the bottle/cup or we only breast feed for the first and last feed of the day

Oly5 · 09/07/2018 22:49

Have you tried formula in a sippy cup- perhaps with his evening meal? Just to get him used to the idea of a milk in a cup.
I have an 8mo who is breastfed and have just introduced this. Of your son likes the taste of formula he may drink more!
Nursery will ensure he doesn’t go thirsty and he’ll probably just feed from you morning and night, making do with meals and cups while he’s there. It does all just magically happen I promise

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread