Starting nursery and feeds

[kitkatsky]

Hi everyone,

I appreciate this is likely an "all babies are different" kind of post but just wondered if people could advise what happened with their breast fed baby when they started nursery. DD will be 1 when she starts- is currently 6 months and eating 1 meal per day though I expect her to be on 3 meals by the time she starts. I'm wondering how much milk she'll take in the day by that point so that I can start to pump the excess for a freezer stash? My first was FF and started nursery at 10 weeks old (😫) and I want to keep breastfeeding this one as long as possible really, but just wondered what is realistic?

To be honest, I probably wouldn't bother pumping and storing it. Seems like such hard work! You can easily keep breast feeding, and she will just drink cow's milk at nursery. My 1 year old fed first thing and bedtime, and overnight so wouldn't have needed extra during the day, I went back to work when she was 11 months and she was fine without BM.

Totally agree with PP. you can feed on waking, on pickup and before bed if you want to continue.

At 12 months Cow's milk is absolutely fine whilst they're at nursery

DD started nursery at 13 months and we fed before and after. I've never been able to pump so it was the only option. It worked well for us. She fed more in the day when we were at home.

Both my children started in full time childcare from 8 months. Neither of them bothered with the milk I lovingly expressed every day

They just fed when they were with me.

DD was a bit younger than that and I just didn't do anything. Fed her in the morning and again as soon as home from picking her up (about 5pm, I was able to take work home as a teacher instead of being tied to an office, luckily) and she was fine. I did give nursery a tin of formula just in case but as she very rarely had it at home I don't think she was that bothered. She was ok with water and food by then although I did send some Ellla's pouches in for days where the main meal might have been a bit 'grown up' for her at 10 months.

@Pinkflipflop85

Both my children started in full time childcare from 8 months. Neither of them bothered with the milk I lovingly expressed every day

They just fed when they were with me.

Mine both started at 12 months and I expressed and were exactly the same. Didn't touch my expressed milk and just breastfed more when I picked them up.

Thanks so much everyone. I've always had to pump for top ups as she's been a 0.4 centile baby until recently but at her 6 month check health visitor said she's over the 2nd line now so it's fine to stop top ups and start a few solid meals and monitor but the pimping is a hard thing to break even tho it's horrible and hard too! 😳 It's good to hear I can stop soon and just enjoy the feeding though.

Another question... do your 1yos feed more at weekends because you're "there" ?

Yes she did still feed during the day when we were at home (I went back part time for a few months), my supply seemed to cope ok. I think I expressed the first few weeks she was at nursery just in case so you might want to send in anything you get out while you're transitioning (my nursery would have happily taken it and popped it in the fridge, I got the feeling it wasn't unusual) even if it's just to reassure yourself that she's got something there in case, nursery will soon tell you if she needs it or not.

My DD was fed to sleep and she even managed to nap there without it, they are miracles workers I swear! Still fed to sleep at home though 🙄

Yes. Weekends and school holidays (I'm a teacher) are like an all you can eat buffet 😂

Thanks so much to all of you. I feel like I can stop the pump without the fear it means the end now! I just want her to decide when she's done so I don't have to x

A lot can change between 6 and 12 months, they go from chucking food everywhere to eating 3 square meals a day, and the breastfeeding will change too. DD is 11 months old and a very enthusiastic eater. I usually breastfeed her about 3-4 times a day, sometimes they're short feeds and she can actually go most of the day without much milk if we're out and about and she's distracted. So I anticipate that when she starts nursery next month, she will probably just have a breastfeed morning and evening. She still has one night feed too which I have been hoping she'll just drop without me having to do anything, because when I'm half asleep it's easier just to feed her than playing hard ball!

If I were you I wouldn't put too much effort into building up a big freezer stash. It's handy to have some expressed milk but don't pressure yourself into making sure there's loads. She can always have cow's milk at nursery.

DC1 started nursery at 8 months and even though he was still quite little and having lots of breastfeeds on days with me, on nursery days he wasn't hugely interested in the bottles they offered, whether they were expressed milk or formula. He did have some obviously but not as much as I thought.

DS started nursary at 10 months and I would send in 8oz breast milk which he'd have before his nap, then feed before and after. Once he turned one, I swapped the expressed milk for cows but kept feeding when I was with him for another year without problems.

If you've been feeding for a year you are unlikely to lose you milk. I kept producing milk for over a year after I stopped feeding.

Yes to your follow up question of DD feeding more when I was there when she was that age.