How many of you breastfeed while working part-time?

[digitalgirl]

DS is 8 months. I've just started freelancing again - and will be working irregular days (2-3 a week) for the next couple of months.

I was wondering how many of you successfully breastfed your babies throughout the day when at home and then didn't express while at work? I don't want to express as I will only be away to attend meetings and be on location for shoots, neither situation will be convenient for me to express. I had planned on completely dropping the daytime feeds and replacing with one bottle of formula, then continue with his breakfast and bedtime breastfeeds. BUT, if it would be possible to do erratic daytime feeds without suffering from blocked ducts etc I might like to continue the daytime feed(s) for a few more months.

I breastfeed and work full time!!

Went back at 9mths, expressed sporadically for about a month but wasn't getting the time at work, so gave it up - all fine.

DD now 17mths, I feed very erratically - always 2 feeds a day plus 1 over night, sometimes 3-4 feeds a day at holidays weekends, sometimes only 1 if I am out or whatever.

You can do it!

I used to do that, when my DD was around that age I would give her a bottle of formula for nursery, and then breastfeed on the days I was with her. It was never a problem.

me. I went back to work when ds2 was 10 months old. I started on 2 days a week, going up to 3 days when he was a year. I continued to bf him. I didn't really need to express during the day, but was pretty engorged by the end of the day. Now I am fine though. Now I bf morning and evening(and during the night as necessary)when I am at work, and throughout the day as well when I am at home. My supply has reduced though, so he does need bottles during the day too (which get fewer after a few days at home).

Did this from 11 months with no problems (in fact at that stage ds drank no milk during day when I was away). Had engorgement on the first 2 days at work, after that was fine. Do you feed at night at all? that seems to help keep up supply tho I am not recommending it if you aren't! I think your body will probably adapt to the erratics - definitely worth a try. He may well eat more solids too.

I did. Went back to work 2/3 days from when DD was 9 months. Fed her till about 18 mnths. When at home (which, including weekends, was the majority of the week) I'd feed her normally, I think that was morning, 2 in day and one at night at 9 mnths but can't quite remember the details, it was certainly at least some in the day. The idea was that she was going to have formula on the days I was working in the day but she never took to it and I never took to expressing so she just had water and food (she was very keen on solids from the start so that was OK) and I made sure she had cheese/yoghurt if possible.

I never had any problems at all with my supply on the days I was at home and never any problems with blocked ducts etc on the other days. It worked very well for us but partly because DD was so happy with her solids.

dd was 8 months when i returned to work 3 days. it was fine. i would be ok all day then stand up at the end of the day and think about going home to dd and my boobs would practically explode. it was nice to feed her after work. good luck

me - from 5mo with DS1 (which was very hard going), and from 10mo with ds2 and DD, far more easily as they were on breakfast and evening feeds (lots in the evening, greedy babies) continued for another 6 or 7 months in each case.

With DD I went back to work when she was 9 months, expressed during day until she was 11 months then fed 3x/day on days off and 2x/day when at work until stopped feeding her at 15months.

With DS I went back when he was 9 months, on days off he is still having 4 feeds, when I am at work I sometimes express once but often don't get time and it seems to be OK (he is now 11 mo).

HTH

bf and worked fulltime. DD1 also was feeding nearly exclusively till at least 13 months old due to severe allergies and refusal to wean on solids. that was a heckova lot of expressing.

I BF and worked fulltime, not exclusively though. Ds had formula at nursery from 8 months and was BF at home morning and night.

I knew I'd have to do odd freelance work from about 6 months so made sure dd was good with solids and BF at night, morn and a midday break and soon as finished. I reckon you can do it without formula if you plan well, your days are short and they're good with solids. I did have DD on site with me-was weekend work so dp and dgps could help out.

And I didn't need to express and dump either, my supply just adapted - no breast pads either after first week.

i did it with dd from when she was 8 months til she was almost 11 months.

i worked a half day 5 days a week and just fed her before i left ad as soon as i came back.

she was fine and for one week when she was 10 months i did a week of full days to cover for someone and it worked out ok

I worked 4 days a week from 11 mo and have continued to bf(my DS is 23 months). I never really had any problems, used to get quite full boobs at the start but it settled down very quickly.

DS would have as many feeds as he wanted during the day before I started back at work (he never took very well to solids but was making up for it on bf!), but had before and after nursery (and through the night) when he started there.

I never had any luck with expressing, so don't know if I could have started back much earlier as he wasn't established on solids at all.

It was only mumsnet that helped me realise it was possible to go back to work and carry on bf, I had been stressing about how to wean him off the breast (he wasn't a fan of bottles/cups etc to say the least...) before I discovered some of the threads on here.

Its a lovely way of reconnecting with your baby after being at work.

Tomorrow I'm working from home, I doubt DS will take a bottle while I'm around anyway. It's very encouraging to hear lots of you have on/off days without suffering too much.

I didn't leak today either, had rock hard boobs, but no leakage after my first 12 hour daytime break. So perhaps I'll give it a go for a couple of weeks.

foxy wow, that IS a lot of expressing. Much respect to you, I've always found expressing depressing - I think perhaps because I had to express so much in the first two weeks of DS's life.

Me.

Although actually I'm full-time but some of you might think teacher's hours are part-time

I expressed to 6 mths, and didn't bother after that and never had any problems with leaking etc.

I also bf every holiday exclusively, occasionally I felt my supply was a bit low and so drank some fennel tea etc. but usually after a couple of days we were fine.

I work mon tues thurs fri.

yes it was a drudgery. another reason why i am putting off expressing for dd2 as long as possible. she has so far only had it on tap.

Another one here! Ds2 is now 14 months and I went back 6 weeks ago, four days a week. We are still feeding overnight and I reckon that's what's keeping up my supply. I do first thing in the morning, bedtime and night-time on the days I work; and then as and when through the day when I don't (fri-sun). I was expressing each breast at least once a day at work for the first three weeks but he wasn't drinking it from bottle or cup so it seemed pointless and I gave it up. We're doing fine so far

I did this both times with the dds. Went back to work 3 days and carried on bf. It was fine. I only expressed a bit, just enough for one little drink from a cup just for the first few weeks. They soon adjusted, on work days, to having a morning feed and then one as soon as I got home from work, and then 2-3 more feeds in the evening. On non work days they would bf on demand. As they got older, we got down to 1-2 feeds a day. Carried on bf until dd1 was 2, and dd2 was 3y6m.