Back to work 3 days p.wk - how much ebm will I need?

[scarlotti]

Apologies if this has been done to death before..

Going back to work 3 days a week in about a fortnight. DS will be 6 months. He has breakfast and tea and will have lunch by then too.
Currently our day goes:
3am feed, 5am feed, 7am v small feed if woke at 5.
8:30ish small bit of porridge
10:30 feeds well
2 ish feeds well
4 ish feed
5ish tea - still on veg at the mo but moving towards protein etc.
6:30 feed and bed.
10:30 dream feed formula - normally takes between 4 and 6oz.

As the other feeds all day are bf, I have no idea how much to send to the CM. I have a freezer drawer with a fair bit in, and also then have 4 days at home to express more.

Will he feed ok from me on the days I'm off if he's ebm at the CM? Am not sure at what point the bf lessen in the day as the solids increase.
I will be able to still do the night feeds and also the 7am and 6:30pm feeds every day.

Any help/advice gratefully received, sorry for long post!

It's hard to work out how much he will need as there are so many variables but would your CMer mind if you gave her several fozen portions to keep in her freezer so that she will always have a steady supply?

Quite difficult to work out but if starting lunch will probably drop the 2 ish feed after a while and feed about 3.
Your probably looking at similar amounts to what you give at 10.30pm but make sure when expressing you freeze it in different quantities so you can make up for his needs. It can defrost quite quickly run under luke warm water.

Thebreastmilksonme - am not sure, her DD has a DS the same age but he's bottle fed. Am sure she's happy to have bottles sent in every day.

I was thinking I could defrost into smaller bottles to send there and she could keep them in the fridge. I thought (and feel free to correct anyone!) that it was treated like normal cows milk and so if it was defrosted and then kept in the fridge, it would be ok for a day or two?

I went back to work at around 6 months with DS1 and he never wanted milk when he was away from me. He just topped himself up before and after work.

llareggub - were you working full days? Was he on solids too?

Yes you are right scarlotti, it will be fine in the fridge

I was working 2 full days at the time, and yes, he was on solids. I did leave EBM but he usually refused the bottles. I'd come home and feed him immediately!

My other DS is the same but he is 11 months now. He won't take a bottle or a cup of milk when he is away from me, but obviously older than yours so not relevant.

I found with both of them that they'd take advantage of feeds on demand when I was around but they'd not be bothered on days that I wasn't.

I don't get engorged now when I'm away at work for the day so never bother expressing at work.

llareggub - that's interesting to know. I wonder if ds might do the same, would be more than happy to feed on demand when at home to allow him to catch up. I co-sleep anyway so that would still allow me to save my sanity!
Did your ds drink anything whilst away from you? Did he drink from a sippy cup?

TheBreastmilksOnMe - thanks for confirming. Think I'll try and send him with say 3x 5oz bottles defrosted and then she can just use as much or as little as needed. Hopefully then we'll fall into a pattern I can predict.

Not planning to express at work, will just use the other 4 days I'm home to keep up the stock!

Yes, he drinks from a sippy cup and has done from around 5 months or so. We co-sleep too and he doesn't sleep through and has a feed at midnight.

Thanks so much for posting, you've taken a weight off now. Was worried I'd have to think about switching to formula in the day and don't want to. My days are tues, wed and fri so plenty of time in between for him to catch up if needed

Best of luck at work, it'll be fine!