Night shifts and breastfeeding

[SunnyLuny]

I’m returning to work next week (I’m a student midwife). My baby will be 6 months almost 7 months old. She still breastfeeds a lot, especially over the night (around 5 times in the night) and has CMPA so cannot have formula. I was wondering if it’s reasonable for me to request no night shifts until she’s a little older whilst I try wean her off the night feeds? I don’t have the same employee rights since I’m just a student, I’m not employed by the trust. Has anyone else had experience with this? I don’t mind doing nights again eventually, but I would like at least a few weeks to try get her used to no night feeds.

I can't answer the night shift question but could you get an amino acid formula prescribed to cover your shifts? My daughter has multiple food allergies including CMP and she had alfamino on prescription. I ebf until 10 months but she was on formula until 2 and on night feeds until 18-20 months as she was very slow to wean. Alfamino and neocate are probably the best options for sensitive babies. My daughter has a coconut allergy so she only had alfamino as an option as all the other formulas have coconut oil in.
She had it on prescription from 8 months and he had it in food to save me expressing for food she would refuse to eat. I had to stop breastfeeding cold turkey at 10 months due to my own health issues.

No harm in asking!

When I was a Student Midwife we didn't have to do nightshifts at all (unless we wanted to). You shouldn't be counted as part of the staffing numbers, so they aren't relying on you for cover, so absolutely say you don't want any night shifts at the moment.

I'm a Midwife, as a registered midwife we don't have to do nights with a breastfed under 1yr old. Might be just my trust though. Definitely ask.
Milk is still a massive part of their nutrition at this age

Pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics but I wouldn’t be surprised if what you got offered instead is time and a private space to pump milk and a secure fridge to store it in, so it might be worth thinking about whether that would work for you and your baby. There’s no harm in asking though.

I would ask - my cmpa baby point blank refused bottles of anything (including expressed bm) and was very small. Remember too that you can request time for pumping which should be covered by NHS policy.