Milk feeds at nursery for ebf 10mo

[Bridget4]

My 10mo is starting nursery and I'm not sure what to do about milk feeds during the day. At the moment he has breast feeds
first thing
around 10ish after morning nap
around 2.30ish after lunchtime nap
bedtime
once overnight or occasionally more.
So, there will be 2 feed times during the day when I'm not there. I was thinking he could be offered formula in a sippy cup but the nursery seem to assume we will use bottles. He had bottles when younger because of difficulties establishing bf but I think he is quite old for us to be reintroducing a bottle when he hasn't had one for months. Any views? I also wonder if formula might make his constipation worse as he has been prone to constipation since starting solids at 6 months but I'm not willing to express as I did a lot of pumping when he was younger and don't want to do that again. If he won't take milk at nursery and say he only has feeds at wake-up and bedtime is that enough milk as long as he is eating plenty of solid food? Any advice welcome.

At this age he doesn't need any milk and will be perfectly fine on solids and water. However, if the child will take formula then even better! I introduced a bottle in nursery at 10m and then they switched to a sippy cup around 13m. If you would rather they used a sippy cup from the get go then they should, you are paying them to do what you want after all.

Thanks Nona.

I gave my son a sippy cup and three cartons of formula to nursery. He only ever drank a bit of one and caught up with feeds when I got home/through the night.
He went to nursery at 9 months and was sometimes feeding about 8 times in 24hours at that time so I was quite panicked but it really wasn’t a big deal. He just had big meals and snacks to get him though and then when he was about 11/12 months I just stopped bothering to send the formula and they gave him a cup of milk with his dinner.

Also it only took about a week for my supply to regulate and I was working 12 hour shifts so off some days where he fed as normal. We kept going until 17 m

Thanks Jent. Did you find he fed more at night after starting nursery to compensate?

I reintroduced bottles for the same reason at a similar age. DS still has a bottle for his milk now at 20mo. He drinks water from a range of different sippy cups. No negative impacts that I have seen. Dentist happy with his teeth.

I was in a similar situation but dc1 wouldn't touch formula at all (cup or bottle). He had to drop those feeds in nursery days but kept them on home days. He didn't seem to notice to be honest but he loved his food and nursery food was generous portions which helped. Nursery offered him an extra yoghurt mid morning for a couple of days as a transition just in case. He was the same age too-10 months old. Good luck.
P.s. His other feeds stayed the same too.

Mine refused the expressed milk I diligently pumped in any form of bottle or sippy cup - looking back I have no idea why we didn’t try formula! He reverse cycled and took most of his milk at night for the three months until he went on to cows milk, which he was very happy to drink from a 360 cup, the exhaustion on top of fill time work wasn’t fun.

Possibly, he was always a frequent feeder but we coslept so I just let him help himself . I can report that as of 17 months he finally slept through and 20 months he falls asleep himself. Try not to stress about the milk situ, he will take what he needs at nursery. Oh and remember to take a spare top on your first day back just in case! Good luck

Appreciate you saying you don’t want to express (and I get it - I exclusively expressed for my 2nd youngest from 6 months - 14 months and it nearly ended me emotionally and physically)
I just wanted to ask if you’ve tried the Hakka cup (not sure it’s spelt right) I discovered this around the 12 month mark and it was a god send. Basically you squeeze all the air out and attach it to the other boob while you’re breastfeeding and it just fills up - I was in awe! My friend told me about it and I could have killed her for not telling me sooner!!! I walked around with one hanging off each boob for about 20 minutes and they were both full.
Wish you all the best x

Thanks everyone. Really helpful to hear other people's experiences.

Goose - yes I've tried the haakaa and also wish I'd discovered it sooner! I think my DS is too wriggly and grabby during feeds to use it now though and it never really worked for me as a stand alone pump. Was great for the early days of feeding though. Thanks again.

Firstly, try not to worry as it will work out.
Secondly, I wouldn't complicate life by nothing with bottles. I would use a sippy cup for drinks at nursery . He can have formula( or expressed ) milk in it if you wish or just stick to water and have milk from you morning and night. He will be having meals and snacks and won't miss out on nutrition.