EBF baby return to work

[GreyLemur]

My 8 month old is ebf, won't take a bottle but will have some expressed milk out of a straw cup. He still bf every 2 hours for both milk and comfort. Not swallowing much when offering solids yet.

I return to work in 4 months and my mum will have him 1 day, nursery 2 days. I only leave him for 4 hours max at the moment with my mum and never in the evening as he will only be bf to sleep.

DH and my mum are saying I need to start building up leaving him for longer as going cold turkey in April won't work. Looking for experiences of others who left ebf baby at 12 months to return to work?

@winnerwinnertofudinnerYeah bf is going really well but I will only be able to pump enough for a feed if he has a good night of sleeping (2 wake ups rather than 6...). My supply seems to be just exactly the right amount now! If you're in the same boat hope my thread has helped you too with some of the lovely advice I've had!

@fashionqueen0123Thanks, I was actually thinking of going to the breastfeeding support group at my local family hub on Tuesday. I just hesitated as when I've been before in the early days it's only been all new mums trying to establish breastfeeding.

It’s really hard to express on top of regular feeding, don’t worry about that . Milk is their main source of nutrition until 12 months so it’s ok to feed as normal and then add in solids- which don’t usually have massive quantities of nutrition in at this age :) April is so far away for a baby. By that time she’ll be eating more and should be happy to have water or (cows milk from a cup if she’s a year) when you’re not there.

Do go along :) I have mums of all age babies coming to mine. It’s also good for those mums to see mums like you who are smashing it!

It has! Its so nerve-wracking the idea of leaving her for a whole day at nursery or with my mum, but like people have pointed out, sooo much changes in 4 months. And millions of mums and babies before us have figured it out, so I'm sure we'll be fine when it comes to it. Good luck!

@winnerwinnertofudinnerYou too!
That's why I posted on mumsnet, I was sure there would be mums who had figured it out 😊 and now I can erase this particular worry (just a million other worries being a FTM to address now haha)

Remember as well when you go back to work, that first day or so you may be able to pump/might need to - for your own comfort! And it will be easier as you won’t be feeding him every couple of hours

One of mine was EBF and didn’t take a bottle and wasn’t old enough for any solids when I returned to work, everything was OK. Baby ended up reverse cycling (feeding all night while with me) and mostly not feeding in the day when I was working. I pumped and saved up a freezer stash and managed to BF until 16 months despite going back to work at 6 weeks, I know its still not an ideal length of time and would ideally feed for longer, and there were occasions where nobody was happy but but got through it as needs must and everybody was OK. Take heart!

I was in your shoes at this point.

Ignore it.

It’s a topic for four weeks before you go back. Mark it in the diary if necessary, Thats the point to start thinking about it. No sooner.

Before then is a waste of time and effort. Most learn to eat solids by 11 months. Most are drinking more from sources that aren’t you. Most have grown, and thus feed less regularly.

They’ll probably teeth at least twice inbetween so any efforts you make to build a habit will be totally undone and a waste of effort.

I can only speak from my experience with my son, but 8 months to 12 months is ages in terms of development. I can well imagine an 8 month old who is eating some solids alongside milk, becoming a 12 month old who is having drinks of milk alongside their solids which are their main nutrition. See how things are about 10.5 months.

I returned to work at 12 months with my EBF first who refused a bottle. She went to nursery 4 days a week so huge change. We used a sippy cup, with water, at meal times from 7 months or so, then she had oat milk (dairy allergy) in a sippy cup once a day at nursery. She carried on feeding until 2.5 years old.

At 12 months they can be getting all the need from food during the hours you’re apart. Such a big change between 8-12 months in terms of
eating, movement etc. Some babies (not mine) even naturally wean at that age!

DS I went back even earlier - 10months - but he was with DH for the last 2 months and I worked from home a lot so fed him when I needed to. Again an EBF child and bottle refuser who fed until past age 2.

I also never pumped for a stash or for when we were apart. Lots of hassle that it isbt worth imo as you can reconnect by feeding in the evening.

You don't need to pump the whole days worth that morning, milk can be frozen then defrosted as needed.

You can start to bulk up a stash on the odd nights he does sleep well, then once you're back at work you only need to pump the feeds he would have had while you're away. Your employer is obliged to provide a private space and storage facility to nursing mothers, so during the work day you can pump roughly the same amount as baby will have drunk that day, then take it home to freeze. As long as you have a day or two's worth of milk in the freezer before you go back, you then replace what's been used with what you have pumped that day.

Exactly this