What options do I have when returning to work

[kbaby]

Im currently bf 13 week old dd. Im due to go back to work when she is 5 months. I dont know what to do. I work in a office and so dont really want to express while at work. I sort of have a hang up that everyone will know what im doing behind a closed door. My office is also full of young men/boys who will find this rather ammusing. I also know that ill be really busy at work(im a dept manager) and may feel guilty or not have the time to express ie daily meetings etc.

Am I able to give formula while at work and then bf when im home. Does this work or will I be engorged while at work. Also will this decrease the benefits of bf. I would still like to bf if I can. It may be that ill give expressing a go and if I find it to restricting then change to formula.
What have others done?

i'm going back two days a week next week and don't want to give up bf. I'm going to express at work for my mum to give dd the next day- she's 7mnths.so she'll only need one 'feed' at lunchtime.
You'll be ok to give formula when you're back at work and carry on bfing when you're at home.
You do need to start a routine say 4 weeks before you go back where you cut down down on the bfeeds over a few days so that you're only giving formula during work hours then your body will self regulate and not produce as much milk. I don't get as full as I used to when dd was younger because of this self regulation.
A friend of mine had 5mnth old when she went back and she only used to express twice during the day- why don't you give that a try- stuff what everyone else thinks

kbaby, I went back when dd was five months and thanks to lots of ideas and tips on here from various other mums have managed to express at work until dd was 1 and am still feeding her at night and in the morning (she's 13 months now).
With ds I did give formula during the day when I went back, and b/f at other times. This worked for me - you need to cut down the b/f during the day gradually over a couple of weeks before you return, to avoid engorgement.
Have you tried dd with a bottle yet? It would be a good idea, but don't lose heart if she won't take one from you after several goes. My dd had to go "cold turkey" in the end and coped better with a beaker and spout than with a bottle.
I would try expressing if you can - I do understand about the embarrassment factor as I had to ask our smirking facilities manager for a lock on my office door and he wouldn't give me one as it is on a fire exit route. So I had to put a yellow security cordon outside my door when I was expressing...nice. But I focussed on maintaining dd on EBM. Ds was very constipated on follow-on milk, dd isn't, because she has had EBM. And we have saved a lot of money - I reckon at least £20 a month - on not buying formula this time round.
Do a search on expressing and returning to work and you will find quite a few threads where we air all the issues!
Good luck.

After a thread on here in April / May 2003, I realised that you can bf morning and night and bottlefeed during the day. I couldn't manage the logistics of expressing, and it would have taken me too much time during the day.

I rturned to work when DS was 6.5mo - I'd been planning to stop bf at that age, but in the end carreid on 2 feeds a day till he was 10mo, when I decided I wanted to stop. He'd been on occasion taking EBM by bottle since 6 wks. The heartbreaking thing for me (won't necessarily be the same for you) was giving him his first bottle of formula at 6mo, and he drank it straight down. How dare he, and after I'd been making all that yummy breastmilk for him !

I found I had to give up bf during the day even when I wasn't working (well, occasional sneeky little bf when I fancied it), it took me 2 wks to cut out the daytime feeds, and I needed to take a spare top into work in case I leaked.

Lots of good threads here before.