What shall I do? Feeding a 9 month old and return to work - help please

[moomaa]

I am going back to work for 6 weeks at the start of April working 3 or 4 days a week and will be out of the house from about 8 - 6. DD will be 9 months when I go back. I'm not sure what to do about the breast feeding. I was sure I would have given up by now, but I haven't.

I currently feed 4 times a day, morning, mid morning, mid afternoon and bedtime. I sometimes feed inbetween to settle her and there is the occassional night feed.

I don't want to give her a bottle and I don't want to express at work. I don't want leaky, painful boobs at work. In theory I don't have strong feelings about stopping or carrying on. In practice I find it very hard to refuse her. What shall I do? Keen to hear all options.

Okay, it looks like you've asked the impossible - but I'll tell you my experience.

I went back to work at 6 months for 3 days a week and worked up to full time by 12 months. Ooh and I should say I'm really rubbish about routine which sounds like it might be important to you.

When I was doing 3 days a week I expressed at work, and I quite liked it as a link to DD even though I wasn't there (and I'm not an enthusiastic breastfeeder). I'd also built up a freezer store from the early months when I milked like anything. So SAHD had enough EBM to feed DD through the day.

And over the coming months it kind of worked itself out, I was there less, I expressed less but DD mainly relied on before and after work feeds (my commute is timy) and odd bottles of formula. And at a year I was full time, DD went on to cows milk, we stopped night feeds (they are the bitch if you are working) - there was never any pain or leaking. I believe from the literature that once you are an established breastfeeder changes are easier to deal with but I also may have been very lucky.

I went back f/t when dd was 8 months. She was fine on water or juice in the day. Fed her morning and night and frely at w/ends. We managed like that for 30 months.

I went back to work 3 days a week when DS was 7.5 months and fed before and after work and expressed twice a day til he was 9 months. I was struggling to get much expressing so decided to switch him to water during the day at 9 months and he then fed am, pm and usually 1-2 times in the night. He was fine without milk in the days when I wasn't there and I just fed him whenever on the days I was with him. My boobs coped fine with not feeding during the day and feeding more when I was with him - no pain no leaking. He is nearly 13 months and I am still feeding......
good luck

I went back to work two whole and a half day when ds was 10 months. I bfed around my working hours for another month which really helped him settle in I think.

ds's face when he fed after my first full day was a picture Christmas and his birthday rolled into one! But I never got engorged nor leaked.

feefifo, thanks. I can't face expressing at work, I'd rather give bf up as I work in a male dominated environment and whilst they would provide me a room, storage facilities etc if I ask I can't face all the comments I know there will be. I don't mind her having formula instead of EBM, I haven't got a freezer store and can't make one now as my boobs will go into overdrive just before I'm due back at work! I have started being tougher at night over the last couple of weeks and that's been quite successful. Yes I guess routine is important to me in that I like to know what's what in advance Did you express once a day at work?

moondog, that sounds hopeful, did you cut down before you went back f/t?

I went back when dd was 6mo, bf on demand (a lot in other words ! She was also fine on water through the day and just fed normally outside my working hours. I didn't get really sore boobs either, they got used to it v quickly.

sazlocks & madmouse, sounds hopeful too then, maybe the epressing slowed things down, I think I should probably switch to 3 feeds in the day now then.

My sisters got me a spa day for my 30th and I haven't taken it yet as I haven't wanted to leave DD, perhaps I should take it soon as a trial

Heehee madmouse I bet I'll be happy to feed her when I get home from work

I went back very full time when ds2 was 10 months. I cut down to 2 feeds a day beforehand, and discovered he needed 4 meals a day if he only had two milk feeds (he'd long stopped night feeds and was extremely rude about the idea of milk from a cup or bottle). Never expressed (I am hopeless at expressing) and no leaking - you just stop making milk at times when you don't usually feed.
He is 21 months now and still has a morning and after-bath feed, then has supper later as well as 3 meals a day. Don't know where he puts it he is is very dinky.

No moooma, I never really thoguht about it.Just knew my body would adjust to demand.

I've just gone back to work FT - DS2 is 8 months old. I do shiftwork so just bf whenever i am at home and DS2 has juice/water and EBM whenever I'm at work. I try and express at least once when I'm at work but DS2 will be having some formula as well as I dont always manage to express very much. When I am at home, I just bf as much as possible to make up for the time I am away.

Madmouse - my DS2 squeals with joy when he sees me after work and then literally makes a dive for my breasts . He then gives a big sigh of relief and then gets stuck in. By the time I get home my breasts are usually very full so it's a bit of a relief to me as well!