Back to work and bfeeding - i know its been done before but advice needed!

[Leogaela]

I thought I had it sussed out, but after visiting ds's nursery yesterday I've thought about it again and started to worry (or panic)!

I go back ot work 3 days in October when ds is 7 1/2 months. He is breastfed with a top up of formula in the evening. Not started solids yet.

I had been planning to breastfeed morning and evening and with one (or two if necessary) bottles during the day (I have been trying to cut out the evening bottle and introduce one during the day in preparation).

I am not keen at all on feeding him formula but have tried expressing (by hand and avent Isis) by hand it sprays out in all directions and I get most of it on my clothes, floor and everywhere and by pump it dribbles down under my breast and is really messy. I can't imagine doing this at work. I want to breastfeed as long as possible (maybe not until he is 4 years though )!

I have worked out that I will have to leave the house at 7am and won't be able to pick ds up until 6pm. That's a long day to be away from him.

Can anyone advise on either expressing, a different pump or what I can expect on the 3 working days if I don't express. Leaky, achey boobs (which i have never had)? even if I feed more on the other 4 days will my milk dry up? How much milk will he need during the day at 7 1/2 months?

This might help what worked for me .

Can't help with your expressing problems, sorry!

Gomez, thanks for that. How old is your DD and are you still bfeeding now?

Any advice from Gomez, Moondog or anyone else on what to do to prepare for this and going back to work? How many times a day were your babies taking solids by this time?

And does 2 feeds a day really contain enough calcium etc... for a baby?

Hi there. I'm going back to work in 4 weeks time. DS is nearly 6 mths old and is still entirely bf.

When ds turns 6 months (in 2 weeks time, I go back to work 2 weeks after that)I'm going to bf him in the morning. Then introduce one bottle midmorning. Then bf at lunchtime. Then another bottle (or a cup) in the afternoon. Then bf for the rest of the day/night.

I'll carry on like that for a week, then introduce another bottle feed at lunchtime. That way my boobs wont be like boulders when I go back to work hopefully as they'll get used to this.

My son is also on solids 3 times a day. He has breakfast, and lunch and tea/supper. It's just the puree's just now but he's loving them.

Horrible isn't it thinking that you have to go back to work and having to plan for all this. I wish I could just stay at home and bf him till he's 4 !

DD2 is coming up for 14 months and I have just stopped feeding her. She was still getting milk morning and night - and still does infact it is just milk from a cup rather than me!

I didn't really prepare too much TBH - the couple of weeks before I was due to go back I sort of introduced a routine of a morning, afternoon and night feed rather than 'demand' feeding and she was quite happy with that. Solids wise she would have been on three 'meals' a day - I went fairly quickly to that after weaning her. Breakfast Cereal/fruit, lunch vegtables/pasta/rice/whatever lunch and same again for tea. On nursery days she has a yoguhrt around 4.30ish so she isn't desperate for tea when I pick her up.

As she had breakfast made with milk and a least one yoghurt each day I felt she was okay for calcium plus she is a good eater. We still have the same routine now TBH - bigger portions and snacks mid-morning and afternoon. And lots of water to drink.

HTH

Sorry - meant to add that since it was only 3 days a week I felt we could get away with less milk on those day but she seemed quite happy with it on all days. There were a few occasions when I fed her mid-afternoon but not many.

Maybe worth saying as well that DD2 is big girl - born at 10lbs 10oz and has never made it onto the charts - she maintained and gained appropriately on this routine just the same.

Try not to worry too much - DS and you will adapt to what is required. I never really had the leaky boob thing either when I returned to work - a couple of weeks of feeling a bit full but no real issues.

Hi i went back to parttime work when dd was 3 mths. I know this was a little younger than your baby but basically i expressed everyevening after her bedtime feed. I had been doing this since she was 4 weeks old so built a stock in my freezer. If you exress like that every day, but only need it three days per week you should have enough.

I never expressed at work, but my days weren't as long as yours. I think you may find towards the end of your working day your boobs may start to feel very full, but i just used to squeeze a little into a tissue in the toilets just to relieve myself - i too didn't want to take my pump into work.

Buy the time she was 6mths i was fed up with expressing, and she was needing so much less milk that i gave her formula when i wasn't around. But she breastfed from me until she was two.

We had no routine, some days dd would feed twice (due to me being at work) others she'd feed all day. Generally it worked out fine, my milk didn't dry up at all. Even when she was two and i was trying to give up and so we'd go two or three days not feeding there'd still be milk there!!

By the time your ds is 7 1/2mths i think you'll be surprised by the significant drop in feeds, you won't need gallons of milk expressed.

But if you start storing in your freezer now you'll have plenty. Find a time of day which suits you and make that your routine to express - (if i was pushed for time i expressed from one boob whilst dd fed from the other).

YOU WILL BE FINE!!

Thanks for the reassurance. I'll take the advice to try to get ds into a routine rather than continue with his erratic feeding non-pattern (and comfort feeding ). We will start introducing solids very soon and try him on some juice.

He'll do 2 weeks introduction at the nursery before Igo back ot work so hopefully we can get everything sorted out then.

Its funny, I have found bfeeding a real struggle at times and fought with giving it up but now I am thinking how lonely I will feel when I am at work wihtout him and how much I am going to miss him and feeding him. The first few months are such a intense time with a baby.

When I WOH, I used to express twice a day - I had two hand pumps (pre-Avent Isis but same idea). I'd use one at work at lunchtime, but it was hit and miss as to how much I got - maybe only 4oz. I'd use the other one at home - when giving DS his first feed after picking him up, I'd express from the other side and always managed to get 8oz - I'm sure more if I needed it.

I'd also express at the weekends while feeding DS, and this milk would all be a bonus because he wasn't using any expressed milk.

As you have noticed, your milk comes out in all directions - perfect for hitting those milk-loving tastebuds in baby's cheeks. But when you use a pump, it is all collected as the funnel more than covers your whole areaola.

The best way, IMO, to get used to expressing is to start slowly and build up. You are only going to get a few drips at first, but as your technique improves, you can work your way up to a decent amount.

If you are only going to be working 3 days a week, you have the other 4 days plus evenings to produce.