Breastfeeding after returning to work

[Kathleen995]

Hi all

My son will be 8.5 months old when I return to work. He was EBF for the first sis months and for the last couple of weeks has been combi fed in preparation for me going back to work.

if I wanted to breastfeed for longer, how does this work when I return to the office? I don’t particularly want to pump while at work, but would this even be a necessity by the time he’s 8.5/9 months old, combi fed and obviously on solids?

Would love to hear from others who have done this to see what might be possible!

My son is now 13 months, went back to work at 9 months!
I pumped a little bit at work for my own comfort but my supply quickly regulated and I no longer need to pump.
you will both adjust accordingly, I currently feed how ever the day takes us! Some days the breast feeding is minimal some days more! Try not to over think it!

By that age I was down to a couple feeds anyway. By 11 months one feed just before bed. I think as long as you do it daily your supply will adjust.

I breastfed my kids until they were 2.5 years old and returned to near full
time work when they were around a year. Definitely possible to breastfed a work! I didn’t really pump unless away overnight. Supply regulated quickly and they and I were fine.

Once they’re over a year old, they can have a cup of regular milk (mine never had bottles, they refused!) but between 8.5 months and a year you would want them to still have breast milk (or formula) perhaps alongside their morning and afternoon snack, so you might find pumping is good to support that, or you can build a stash (which again didn’t work for me as my milk didn’t store well)

My kids took to solids very differently and they definitely can impact things - youngest didn’t eat much at all until she was well over a year and was much more reliant on milk until then. My youngest loved food and was very into it from the start!

If you drop feeds gradually, you won't feel uncomfortable while at work and can feed morning, when you get home and bed time/night. You only need to pump if you want your baby to have breastmilk at nursery in the day - and your company should provide you somewhere private to pump. You also need a breastfeeding specific risk assessment. I was still combination feeding when I went back to work and there are some specific hazards (radiation I think was the main one...).

I used to feed the baby on wake up, immediately before nursery drop off, in the car at pick up time and then sometimes in the night when I first went back. My baby really got in to solids so that dropped quite quickly and for the final month we only fed at breakfast time.

I went back to work 3 days a week when my oldest was 5 months. I pumped for a couple of months before that to build up plenty of stock and gave her childminder bags of frozen milk.

I was out of the house for 10 hours a day on working days and only pumped once during that time. The first few days it was a bit uncomfortable, but things soon settled down. The remaining 4 days a week I fed her whenever she wanted. Once she was 12 months old I stopped pumping altogether and she drank cows milk when I wasn’t there. I was uncomfortable for a day or two but again things quickly settled down.

I found it amazingly reassuring how my milk supply adjusted and was able to cope with several feeds a day on non-working days or only two or three on working days.

I went back around the same age with both of mine. I’d swap the feeds that will be when you’re at work for bottles and keep the others as breast although it shouldn’t affect your supply of you swap any night feeds for bottles at this age