Breastfeeding and going back to work?

[katiepotatie]

I will be going back to work 2 days a week in 8 weeks time, when my ds will be 11 mnths old.
He has been exclusively bf and I am wondering if at that point bf in the morning and bedtime only will be enough on those days? Or should I be trying to express milk and leave a cup?(not that he takes a cup at the moment, only small amounts of water)He has never taken to a bottle and I can't see the point of trying now.

I went back FT when DD was 9mths - I felt at that time she was too young for cows milk and tried to express but couldn't keep up, so in the end I BF her morning and (all!) night and she had a max of 2 formula bottles during the day. I felt sad about the formula but because she was happily munching through lots of solids by then I didn't feel too bad about her not being exclusively bf anymore iyswim.

In your case I would bf morning and night and just offer cows milk in a cup during the day. He would be fine with just water during the day if it came to it.

You might find the night feeds increase- I think they call it "reverse cycling" - it's a bit of a bugger but I felt happy that DD was still getting lots of bfs.

Incidentally we are still feeding at 2.2, so that break from constant bf didn't mean the end of it, as I was worried it would!

pS Good luck!

I also went back to work 2 days a week when my dd was 11 months old. She had always refused a bottle and was still having a few bf a day at that point. She also hasn't ever drunk much from a cup/sippy beaker so I was worried that she wouldn't get enough fluid in the day.

We did try introducing cows milk in a cup but she wasn't that keen. However, she did like having juice through a straw and that is her main drink on the days I work, and she can go 7-7 in the day without milk without any problem. If I'm home she might bf every 3 hours though, so I have been able to carry on bf and she just adapts to whether the opportunity is there or not.

I went back to work at 11 months, and was bfing morning, evening, 1-2 times a night and sometimes in the afternoon.

Nursery said they'd offer him milk in a bottle after his nap, and it could be cow, formula I provided, or EBM if it was in a bottle already with his name. I went with wee cartons of formula until 12mo when he had cow milk (and a couple times I forgot the formula!) - sometimes he drank, sometimes he just ate lots instead but liked water from a sippy cup like the others.

I didn't bf in the mornings once I started work, so only evenings/night, and a few times in the afternoon on my days off. Continued evening and night feeding until 13-14 months when he started having an evening bottle of cow milk.

Nursery peer pressure seems fantastic so far! I'd leave it to the nursery and he may well copy the others and/or bf loads morning and evening.

He will be with my mum on the days I work, along with his almost 3 year old sister. Is it ok to give cows milk before 12 months. DD didn't have it till she was over that and it was about 2 months before she happily drank cows milk. He is also still waking in the night at the moment for a huge breastfeed even though he is on 4 meals a day! I am worried that may increase when I go back too.

I just went back in Jan when DS was 12.5mo. I do three days a weeks, shiftwork.

DS is doing fine on breastfeeding when I am around, and just food/water when I am out. Still having night feeds here too and reluctant to try to night wean because of being out at work/ catching up.

Just am and pm is enough but DS still has about 3 feeds in day and 2 in night most days, he doesn't seem bothered TBH

I come home feeling a bit full and v keen to feed him and he's not fussed!

i went back to work when DS was 11 months for 4 days. Nursery wouldn't give cows' milk (fair enough) so he fed morning, evening & nighttime & had water at nursery for the first month.
Wouldn't bother expressing
Bear in mind if you work normal hours (9-5ish) he'll have 3 feeds a day, morning, when you pick him up and before bed.

I went back when my son was 8 months 3 days and I was feeding morning afternoon and eve. Also a feed in early hours of morning. I expressed initially the afternoon feed but over Christmas (when 10 mths) we had a go at weaning off the afternoon feed and replaced with a snack. He's managed fine. He eats 3 good meals a day now and still BF am, eve and often at 4/5am (next feed to be dropped I think!)

I've just started back at work and my ds is 9 months. He won't take a bottle and doesn't take much fluid from a beaker. He feeds morning, evening and has a dream feed but i leave at 7.30am and don't get home til 6. It seems a very long time to go without a drink easpecially as he's quite small and is also following baby led weaning so its hard to tell how much he has eaten. Any advice?

Mogway - that's pretty much a description of my daughter when I went back to work almost 5 months ago.

I was worried, but she was fine. I expressed milk at the beginning, in which she wasn't interested. She is offered water with every meal and started eating (actually eating not just playing) a lot straight away. Nursery is quite supportive with the BLW although they did a little bit of spoon feeding too, but only ever gave her toddler food, not purees.

I leave the house with her at 20 past 7 and we get home at 20 past 6 and she very quickly adjusted to only boob at night. (Not even mornings, too sleepy)

Don't worry, your son will find his own rhythm/what works for him. As long as plenty of fluids are offered with every meal he'll be fine.

I went back to work FT and managed to keep breastfeeding mornings and evenings only until DD was 21 months ans she finally decided to give up. Nursery managed to make her take formula from a bottle and she seemed to be fine with that.

Thanks for the replies, I'm feeling a bit better about going back now. I've been worried as I'm going back earlier than when I had my dd, she was 13.5 months, and was having a mix of cows milk and breast at that point.

I am going to have to leave in the morning at 715am, so may not even manage that feed

Just wanted to say what a fantastic thread - I am not going back til my bub is 12 months - but will have to go back to full time hours - so it is really heartening to hear that others manage to bf and work full time - pretty inspiring.

Those of you who've done it, did you do anything in advance to prepare your toddler for the change? My 14-month-old DS currently would BF all day if he could; as it is he feeds fairly frequently. Should I try to cut down on feeds now?