can a 9month old 'survive' for 8-10hours with no breastmilk in the day?

[misdee]

i am applying for some jobs, which will work around schools and kids and hopefully dh hours if he gets the ne he just had an interview for.

but dd4 is breastfed, and very attached to me. i have just tried her with a NUK bottle and she took it but it only had water in it.

i cant give her formula due to a cows milk allergy and ideally her specialist wants to avoid the allergy formula, as do i.

i am useless at expressing, though could possibly express enough for two small feeds over the week.

would dd4 be ok, on 3meals plus water for two days a week?

or am being cruel to think of it?

dc went down to 2-3 feeds per day between 9 and 12 months.

I don't know for sure but think that other babies have done this and been fine. What's she like at drinking water? I think that would be the only potential problem but no milk should be all right

She'd be fine. My dd was going 8 hours a day 5 days a week with no breastfeeed, EBM or formula from 8 months.

Good luck with the job interviews.

I would think it would depend on how she normally eats and how often you bf her.

Do remember, if you normally bf her during the day and will not be there when you work, you may well be able to express that feed instead, so leave it for her the day after.

SO, although you can't express much now, when you miss out a bf you might get that milk out in expressing instead. Not sure that makes sense?! If not, at 9 months I would think twice a week should be OK.

Try it - give it a go one day when you are at home and see how you get on. Try expressing a feed instead of bf her and see how much you get, and how she gets on without it.

Good luck!

My DD was 9 months when she started nursery 3 whole days a week. She wouldn't take EBM and I didn't want her to have formula. She just had food and water at nursery and BF at home.

(she is now 2.4, still BF and at nursery FT)

mine did. I expressed and he wouldn't touch it ! He drank water, and I fed him before I left him and when I picked him up and at bedtime, and more often on the days I was at home with him (I worked 3 days).

thanks.

am a bit more reassured now, was worried about it.

will work on spacing her feeds a bit, as she does tend to snack throughout the day.

Mine were both fine. DD at 10 months now has a feed at 6.30 am and is often not fussed until 6.30 pm. I offer when we get home at 4.30 but she is fine.

Before they went to nursery they both snacked a lot - they simply stopped doing this when i wasnt there. For a while on weekends etc they reverted to snacking then they just kind of fell into the nursery pattern. DD probably has 2 - 3 feeds a day now.

Should be fine. If a baby is eating 3 good meals a day they can be getting most of their nutrition from the food rather than breastmilk if you or they choose I'm sure.

I suppose it probably does make a difference what she's actually eating though. You'd need to be making an effort to give her a proper balanced diet with enough fat, calcium and iron (particularly). I would think 2 days a week would be fine but I'd also think about keeping her routine similar at home otherwise going to nursery and not having b/m might be stressful for her. But babies are much more resilient than mums in these situations I have found!

Both my DCs were down to two feeds (morning and night) by the time they were having 3 meals a day just because they both preferred the food. They eventually stopped wanting the milk completely

Have you asked the specialist for advice about this issue? I'm sure he'd help and probably know better than us

My son refused all offers of milk at nursery 2 days a week from 7 months. I worried at first but he just made up for it at night. PITA after a long day but reassuring too!
It'll work out fine, good luck with the interviews

Misdee, if we are out, ds will quite happily not have a feed all day. Tuesday he went from 9am to 6.30pm without one and he was fine.

I have a similar problem so all the responses have already been really helpful. Could I hijack this thread and ask for further advice/reassurance if anyone has any? In a few weeks' time I will need to be apart from my 8-month old for four days a week from 7:30 am-9 pm at night. This situation is going to go on for a good 3-4 months. She is BF and has been having solids for 2.5 months -- loves food and will eat anything. We've never been able to get her to take a bottle, EBM or formula, though she happily drinks water from a cup or bottle. From a nutritional point of view, will she be all right with a BF first thing in the morning, solids and water all day, and then a BF at 10 or 11 pm (dream feed)? She dropped her last feed a few weeks ago and just started sleeping through 7-7, but I wouldn't mind reinstating it (if anything bc I will miss her dreadfully!) And in terms of the bedtime routine, how should we 'replace' the bedtime BF if she won't drink milk any other way? Thanks in advance!

I was forced back to work when DS was 5 and half months. He was totally BF. He was fine on food and water at nursery. It was my poor swollen boobs that suffered!

I used to BF at 7am, then as soon as we got home at 5.30pm, then a dream feed around midnight.

teamtantrum - IMO she will be alright whatever you do. If you give her a good healthy diet of food she'll be fine. She'd be fine even if you stopped breastfeeding altogether. Look into what her nutritional needs are and try to satisfy them with solids rather than milk so that she is used to being satisfied by food before the change.

When a baby is on a proper solid diet (normally are at 8 months) additional breastfeeding (or formula) is really more of a choice than a necessity. It does depend whether the baby is nutritionally satisfied by a solid diet though.

I'd suggest giving her whatever drink she likes (formula, ebm, water) in a cup, if she'll have it that way because it'll be better for her teeth.

Thanks themoon66 and curiositykilled -- that's really helpful!

Teamtantrum, that is a bloody long day! Your DD will be fine, just make sure you look after yourself

can you get soy based formula where you live?

I went back to work full time when DS 8mo. He wasn't the biggest eater (BLW'ed from 6mo), but he soon started eating more at nursery. He wouldn't touch a bottle, he was offered both mummy milk and formula in cups and bottle and refused them all! He did drink (and still does!) council pop quite happily though. I fed him before taking him to nursery, then I fed him again in the parents room at nursery when I picked him up again. I can honestly say it didn't do him any harm. I can say he ate more at nursery than he did at home!

From 9 months old ds2 had 2 feeds at about 7 am and 9pm. Had food and the odd sip from a cup in between. Never accepted a bottle or any formula and at that age wouldn't have cow's milk from a cup either.
i went back to work when he was 10 months and then his am feed was 6ish and his pm feed any time from 9pm-3am.
He has just stopped bfing aged 2.3.