introducing mixed feeding to 10 month old before going back to work

[KorbenDallas]

Hello! I'm going back to work in Jan and am planning on continuing to breastfeed in the morning and before bed (and night feeds, assuming they are still happening by then...). Baby will be nearly 1 by that point.

I have just in the last couple of days started to introduce bottles of formula to replace daytime feeds. However I'm concerned about how much to give her. I breast feed a when she wakes up for the day at about 7am, then the next milk feed is after lunch. Yesterday I prepared a 5oz bottle of formula but she only took 3-4oz. Then another bottle after tea, where she had about the same. Then breast feed before bed. However the past couple of nights she has been waking up 3-4 times and will only go back to sleep after being breast fed. So i am guessing she is not drinking enough in the day and is catching up at night.

Anyway what I am asking is has anyone gone through a similar experience at this age? Should i try to encourage her to take more formula in one sitting, or introduce more feeds throughout the day (mid-morning/mid-afternoon) even if she doesn't seem hungry?

For context, she has been sleeping pretty poorly for the last month or so, but the last couple of nights have been particularly bad. I had put it down to 8/9/10 month sleep regression/teething.

Can I ask what you’re working pattern will be?

I'm going back part-time. 3 full consecutive days a week.

If you’re only going back part time, you should be fine to feed on the days you’re with her and ff on the days you’re not. Your supply will be sobestablished, it really shouldn’t be a problem.

Don’t worry either about her only taking 3 or 4 ounces, that’s a really good feed for a bf baby. According to Kellymom she’ll only need roughly 19 floz of BM per day between 11 and 16 months

I went back at about the same age with both of mine and they had a BF on wake up, one on pick up and one before bedtimecsnd the odd one in the night. Both were bottle refusers but would have a cup of Cows milk if I wasn’t there. The. On the days I was home I bf as normal.

I appreciate though that woukdnt suit everyone. Perhaps if you call one of the Bfing Help,Ines a BFC can help you to come up with a plan?

Really though, don’t worry about the quantity of milk she’s drinking in the day, as long as she’s feeding from you at some points in the day and has a good diet, she’ll be fine

Did you know too that BF babies tend to take the same quantities no matter how many times you feed them? So if you feed her 6 times in the day or 3, she’s likely to have the same amount?

I went back to work when DS was 14 months 3 full days a week as well. He bf morning and night but refused milk at the Childminder's. He's now 22 months and we are still bf.
On the days I'm at work, he tends to eat a bit more food and drinks more water

At ten months mine were more interested in replacing breastmilk with food than with formula. They clearly preferred extra food over formula.

JiltedJohnsJulie That's useful to know, thank you! I think I'll just see how things go. It's been a few more days and we're going through the same amount of nappies so she must be getting enough!