Planning ahead for going back to work, baby will be almost 6 months.

[jaggythistle]

Hi, I'm busy on the hunt for advice today.

It is over 3 months away, but I really want to plan ahead a bit to successfuly continue bfing my son when I go back to work.

I am hoping to start building a bit of a supply of ebm too.

I have not discussed it with my employer yet, so I am not sure if I will be able too express there. My H is going to be a SAHD so there is the possibility of seeing him and the boy for a feed instead.

The complication is me working early and back shifts, so sometimes I'll be out between 5.30am and 2.30pm and other weeks out between1.30pm and 10.30pm. I will be at home most weekends.

Am I daft to think this will work - will my son cope with the randomness?

I'd really like to continue feeding him up to a year, not sure after that.

Any advice on preparing for the transition and making it work once I'm back welcome. I am somewhat clueless on how much milk the 'average' nearly 6 month old will be needing.

thanks.

Your employers are obliged to find you somewhere clean and safe to bf - I used the first aid room which was great, but when off site used my car, changing rooms, and a shower room.

I think your shifts won't cause problems tbh - as long as your DS associates you with bf, and daddy with bottles it should work ok.

You'd probably want to be providing 3 feeds a shift - DS wanted 120mls per feed, and he was fed EBM on demand.

Don't stress too much about having a freezer stash. If you have 3 days or so in hand, thats plenty, and allows for you spilling your EBM/someone chucking it out of the canteen fridge/DS being extra hungry

Don't stress too much about it now. 3 mths is a long way off. As CMOTD has said, your employer should find you somewhere where you can express, and your supply then should be so well established that you could pump out a couple of bottles and leave them for the follow time you are at work (you can store EBM for 3 days in the fridge).

Once your LO is 7-8mths he'll probably happily eat solids and drink water with his dad, then catch up with you when he sees you. www.kellymom.com is great for expressing advice, but at this stage I would just to relax and enjoy your time with your baby. I was in the same boat 4 years ago and TBH, all the worries I had were irrelevant by the time I went back to work. (I continued to BF him for another 5.5mths until he weaned from the breast and onto cow's milk).