bf and returning to work?

[colostrum]

have suddenly had job offer to start back to work on 9th march, 2 long days per week. Am bf-ing my 6.5 month old dd who won't take a bottle currently. Want to continue bf-ing. have no milk stores frozen. Should i (once i can get her to take the bottle!) give childminder formula to give to her, but continue to bf myself? - i guess i'd have to pump at work to keep supplies up. or attempt to get some stores of milk up to give childminder EBM - is that realistic? or put the pumped milk at work in work fridge (!), take it home in cool-box, then freeze it and use it to give to childminder for the next day i am at work - but that sounds like a real faff ! oh god, rambling now ... any advice appreciated !!!

so you still have a month, and breathe

start practising with alternative feeding vessels. dd is old enough for a cup!

in terms of expressing I would say express to freeze on the days you are at home, and express for comfort/to keep up supply when you are at work, dump it if taking it home is too much faff.

Although i never did express at work. I work 2.5 days a week and ds bfed when with me, sipped water from a cup when with cm, but he was 10months and well established on solids.

ok, i've taken a deep breath now !! didn't realise how panicked i feel by the whole problem til i started typing like a mad woman !!!

thanks madmouse; so do you really think i should bypass the bottle and go straight to cup? she takes tiny tiny sips / dribbles of water from cup currently.

she is young enough for a bottle and old enough for a cup. I think it is a matter of what works. Nathan used to dial 999 and social services if a bottle came anywhere near his face

Definitely go straight to cup- DD could drink reliably from Tommy Tippee cup by 7mo- and it avoids hassle of ditching bottles later. If you start just letting her play with water in it for now will probably be fine in a month.

Formula or ebm depends how important it is to you really. DD had dairy allergy so we had no choice. Recommend hiring a double pump if you go for ebm. I expressed at night after she was in bed and had a freezer stash built up. Could never get on with expressing at work and never actually leaked either (but she was 9mo) had no supply probs feeding her on days off.

I would go for the cup too. No point learning a skill that you have to try to unlearn again in a few months.

Definitely try to go for ebm if you can. Get into a routine now. Express every morning after your baby has fed to get a supply in the freezer, then you'll feel a bit more relaxed. You'll have to express at work otherwise you're at risk of getting blocked ducts and mastitis. You have the right to go and express if anyone kicks up a fuss! Put it in a sterilised container and into a cool bag or a fridge if you have one (not the office one or people might put it in their tea!!). It will be fine until you get home, then you can freeze it.

If baby doesn't take a cup from you, don't worry, it's not you she will take it from when you're at work. Try going out and asking Dad or Gran to try.

Even if that doesn't work, baby will work around you being at work and will just feed loads at night instead of during the day. Not the most ideal solution but better than starvation!!

By about 9 mths they're quite capable of going all day without a feed. Feed first thing in the morning, then when you pick her up, then she'll porbably need a night feed or dream feed too.

I expressed at work and put it in the work fridge - just put it in a lunch bag, and no one will know there is milk in there, and it's honestly no faff. You get a nice sitting down break to express, then plonk in fridge, then take home in cool bag (I used the one I took my lunch to work in).

If you will always be in the office, don't worry about a freezer stash - all you need is two days milk in advance, and everything will roll over from there (the two days is for the day when you don't screw the lid on properly etc)

i returned to work 3 long days a week when ds2 was 7 months. i only had a few feeds worth saved before i returned as i found expressing very hard - a bit easier when i was not bf as well during the day at work.

i expressed once a day as it was all i had time for. i bf morning and on return form work and then at bedtime (even if only hour later) and once or twice overnight usually.

i stored in fridge at work and then took home in cool bag. you can leave breast milk at room temp for about 6 hours i think, and i expressed at 1ish so in theory could have just put in bag. then no need to freeze, i just took it in cool bag round to the childminders when i picked up ds and she stored it for the next day. i froze the friday's milk for monday.

look on kellymom for the rules on storing milk in fridge/freezer, depending on which days you work you may be able to leave in fridge.

i would certainly recommend bypassing the bottle stage, i also used the tommee tippee cup and he was fine. really your baby doesn't need lots of milk in the day if she eats cheese/yoghurt. i gave childminder some ready made formula as a back up and was relaxed about her using it and i think he had a tiny bit it a couple of times from what i can remember.

i was so anxious about it all, but actually it was so easy! i i was the first person i had even heard of in real life to bf on return to work but i was surprised at how straightforward it was. and really, really lovely to be able to bf as soon as i saw him after work.

good luck

thanks everyone for some brilliant and reassuring advice !