Will I still be able to BF 4 days per week when I return to work?

[picc]

Apologies in advance for hugely long post!

DS is nearly 6 months and I return to work in September.
By then, he'll be 7 months old, and I'll have been (slowly!) introducing solids for about a month (or that's the plan.....)

He currently feeds (ish) 8am/11am/2pm/5pm/8pm
(I say 'ish' cos he's demand fed)
Also feeds 2 or 3 times in the night, one of which is usually a bottle feed.

In September, he'll go to nursery Monday to Wednesday from 7.30 til 6.30.
So I guess I'll feed him when he wakes up and before he goes to bed on those days, plus any night feeds.

I'd REALLY like to carry on feeding him during the day on the other days (Thursday to Sunday). But will my milk start to decrease without feeding him on the other days?

I'm not going to be able to express very often when working. I'm a teacher, so no time or privacy (I know they probably SHOULD provide somewhere for me... but they won't). Also, I have severe carpal tunnel syndrome (awaiting operation) so can't use my pump any more.

Having said that, I guess I'm going to get incredibly uncomfortable if I don't express or feed for 12 hours..... so I guess I'll have to find a way to do it once during the day (maybe in the loo with manual pump and sod the wrists?) and once after lessons finish at 3pm?.

Sorry. Long and confusing post, but any help/tips/experience much appreciated as I'd really like to keep the BF going for at least another 6 months.

Thanks!

Hi
I'm also a teacher. I went back when dd was 8mo and was also worried, she is now 21 months and I haven't dried up yet.

You could hand express if you get uncomfortable. The only time I felt I needed to was when I had to stay for parents eve. I found a big cupboard.

I used to feed when she got back from nursery, was a nice 'reconnection'. Now we do wake up and bed time feeds. Have finally night weaned. Although fed last night because she is ill and so will probably have broken nights all summer but never mind..

I found getting her to drink milk at nursery was the biggest challenge. But she never took to the bottle so probably won't be an issue for you.

HTH

Oh thanks! That's just what I needed to hear. Was really worrying.

Yup, was looking forward to the evening feed when I pick him up

Will search out a cupboard then!...

Glad it worked out so well for you, and hope your summer nights aren't too unsettled

You are right, your employers should provide a place for you to express and somewhere to store your milk.

Aren't you in the union? Make a fuss if they're being a PITA about this, you and (your baby) have rights and they have responsibilities to you as an employee.

Those responsibilities are not being met if you are expressing in the bogs (vile, sorry) and damaging your health in the process.

Get a decent electric pump, talk to your line manager about what you will need when you come back (as though you expect to get it) and if they are being difficult, then get the union involved.

How do you know they won't? Have you even asked? You can't be the first woman who has needed this. When I came back to work after DD there was a really nice set up that had been done at the insistence of another mother.

Don't have any further advice about the day feeds but just wanted to say I had cut ds down to morning and bedtime feeds by the time he started nursery aged one and we kept that going for another 8 months and only stopped bc I fell preg with dd and my nips hurt too much! Good luck

Don't have any further advice about the day feeds but just wanted to say I had cut ds down to morning and bedtime feeds by the time he started nursery aged one and we kept that going for another 8 months and only stopped bc I fell preg with dd and my nips hurt too much! Good luck

thanks Anybody

Skidoodle... yep i know you're right and would generally be the first to fight for my rights...

But it's practicalities as much as anything.
Firstly, i have a very full timetable, so i don't actually have any TIME to do it (between 8 and 3). (we do obviously have lunch breaks, but they're only 50 minutes, and that's usually cut down to much less after detentions, meetings etc)
But also, there just isn't any space. not even enough room for teachers to have workspace for planning/marking etc. Often, we have to just work in the back of classrooms.

But... you're right, I don't know yet that they won't give me anywhere, so I could just ask! I'm just reluctant to kick up too much fuss as i haven't been there long. Lame, i know.

Guess it's a 'play it by ear' thing. But more than anything, I wanted to know that my milk wouldn't just disappear completely on those other days.

thanks for the speedy replies...

I bf DD morning and night, and then at weekends or days off she'll bf during the day as well. It seems to work for us, although she was a bit older than your DD when we started.