breastfeeding and school run

[fernie3]

My fourth child is due in August. My first two were bottle fed and my third mixed fed. This time after good experience last time I would love to just breastfeed with no formula top ups.
My oldest daughter is in school now and I walk her to school and back, I am out of the house and walking from 8:20-9:20 ish and again from 2:20 - 3:20 ish. When I was feeding my daughter she would feed for AGES (about an hour alot of times) and she would (and still does) scream at the top of her lungs if made to wait even for a minute or two!.

How do you deal with the school runs in the day - what if they are in the middle of eating when you have to go? or what if they want feeding when you are in the middle of walking to the school??

I know my daughter would calm down a little in the sling which was fine to the nursery which is only 5 mins away but I dont think I could manage the sling plus a 17 month old in pushchair plus a 3 year old who needs to be handheld and then a post school grumpy 5 year old lol.

does anyone have any experience of this? how do you cope?. The only suggestion I had from another mum I know was to give her a bottle before leaving but I really wanted to avoid doing this because my supply was very low after only 8 weeks of mixed feeding last time and so I want to avoid topping up with formula if possible

dd2 is exc bf and i do the school run, similar timings to you, although i don't have toddlers in tow which makes life easier

i try and feed her before we leave, waking her if necessary

i have fed her in the carpark/playground when needed, when the weather is bad i've been let into the staff room. perhaps if the baby isn't hungry before you leave you could leave early enough to feed him/her when you get to school? difficult with toddlers i agree but perhaps one of the other mums could help out?

sometimes we just have to put up with a bit of wailing but i have to say i was dreading it and it hasn't turned out to be as difficult as i thought it might

with any luck you'll get one of those babies who falls asleep the very second it's on the move in a sling/pram

good luck with it, and congratulations on your pregnancy

I had dd4 in october 08 and had never managed to bf the other 3 so had the same concerns as you!

I was lucky in that dd4 would drain a boob in around 10-15 minutes but i adjusted my routine to get up a half hour earlier and feed her before the others got up, she would then go into the pram in her babygro with a coat over the top and get bathed and dressed when we got back from school.

Don't want your post to go unanswered. One solution is to practice feeding your baby in the sling. I managed to do this with DS1 (didn't have school run to do admittedly) and it made things easier because I'd carry him in the sling when I went for a walk and if he started grumbling I could latch him on and carry on walking. Nobody could tell I was feeding him! It does take some practice though. If you have baby in the pushchair you may just find that the movement when you have to do the school run settles him/her. I know lots of mums who manage to BF and do school run, the baby slots in to the routine and gets used to it. Just make sure to feed baby when you wake up then you can feed again when you get back from the school run.

Hope someone with more knowledge on the subject of BF mixed with school runs will be along soon! Congratulations BTW!

When you have 4 everything runs like a military opperation so I don't think you will find it a problem when you get into it, I feed DS3 on the go in the morning, whilst making breakfast and getting the others ready! He is the usually quite content by the time I am out, DS1 is a bit older so takes himself off to school and I do the primary school run with DD and DS2 holding my hands and DS3 in a sling. Like 4andnotout, DS4 is rarely "dressed", just in his babygrow with an all in one suit over the top. Hope all goes well

oops I see 2 others answered in the time it took me to type my post! Good advice from tigerfeet and 4andnotout

In a similar position here with 2 in infants and a 10 week old.

I get up a bit earlier ( was a lot earlier to start with but gradually everyone gets quicker) to get myself and the baby dressed and make sure he has a good feed before we go. Then feed him when we get back.

At first he was generally crying by the time we were half way home but no he lasts long enough to have a short nap in buggie / when we get home.

In the afternoon I started off feeding him at 2 (regardless of when he'd last fed) so I had about 45 mins to feed and change before we had to leave again. Hectic but more manageable than I had expected .

Hi Fernie
I am on the same boat but with my 3rd DC (now 6.5 m and still bf). I have a 4 yr old and 2 yr old and the school run is a faff no matter how you feed, BUT BF CAN BE DONE.

If I am honest, I just have to unplug him when we need to leave the house and race back home to feed him. I stick Cbeebies on for DD (2 yrs) and giver her a snack so that once we are back from dropping DS1 from school, I can focus on the feeding. I try and feed before I do the return and that almost always usually works so no hassle on that end of it.

I also got DH to help me get everyone ready before he left for work (breakfast, clothes on etc). It does mean everyone getting up a bit earlier but it makes a difference.

The first 8 weeks were hard but by 12 weeks the feeds became more spread out and now (nearly 30 weeks on) DS2 bf as fast as he takes an expressed feed from a bottle.

Good luck!

A dummy

DS2's routine took a couple of weeks but eventually changed so that he didnt need feeding till we had got back home from dropping off ds1.