Back to work at 8.5 months - how to keep BF?

[harrietm87]

Baby is only 3 months and I'm going back in Jan so I have time!

After a tough start I'm now really enjoying bf and would like to keep it up until my baby is at least 1. However, I'm going back to work when he will be 8.5 months. I've tried expressing and haven't had much joy so far - baby still feeds v regularly and sleeps on me so don't get many opportunities to express when breasts are full.

Questions are:

• by that age would it be enough to feed him morning and evening or would he also need milk during the day?
• if yes, should I start pumping more often now to try to build up a freezer stash? I guess I could also try to pump at work but don't know how practical that would be
• if yes, when should I pump? In the middle of the night/after he feeds?

Thanks!

Hi Harriet,

I started back at work 2 days a week at 7 months. My son is now 8 months. The 2 days I'm at work he is with my husband. My DS refused bottles and I find it hard to express. So my DH gives him formula in a cup while I'm at work. He doesn't drink much formula (typically around 100-150 mL max). I've found no problems with just breastfeeding the 5 days I am home. At 8.5 months your baby would be already eating food.

As reassurance, the first day I left my DS with my DH we had not managed to get him to drink anything from a bottle (and that is still the case) but they muddled through and from day 2 it was not an issue at all. I have already done this with DS1 (from 7.5 months working 2 days a week then from 10 months working 5 days a week and at daycare) and he fed until he was 2.5 yo (when I was pregnant and he started complaining the milk tasted funny and stopped himself). SO I wouldn't worry that going back to work will ruin breastfeeding.

Similar to PP, started back at 8 months for 3 days. DD had a bottle of ebm for the first month or so, then a bottle of formula, now regular blue top. (I never managed to build up much of a freezer stash.) She eats well but the milk keeps her going if she's poorly/ teething/ off her food. Still breastfeeding at 1 y/o

Have you checked out Kellymom? They have a lot of info on expressing

Thanks for the replies! Yes, I've checked out the bf bible (aka kellymom), but was hoping for people's experiences on here too.

I should preface this by saying I had great advice and support for breastfeeding, and suspect I had oversupply issues, too, so I started from a very 'strong' position iykwim.

I've been successfully breastfeeding now for almost 18 months, after going back to work part-time at 6 months (DH then did shared parental leave for 6 months because I was the higher earner), ramping up to 4 days per week at 8 months old. There were definite issues with the bottle at first, but they did manage. I pumped 1-2 times per day at work (would've been very uncomfortable otherwise!) and nowadays usually pump just once, in the afternoon. We had some milk frozen when I went to work, but we hardly used it because I was pumping for the next day at work.

I still bf on average 4-5 times a day, mostly co-sleeping overnight (I think my sister called it reverse cycling). It's more when I'm at home or if there's illness, etc.