Return to work/ breastfeeding

[Janberryxx]

Hi, l'm returning to work in mid-November when my twins will be a week short of 11 months old. I 'll be doing two consecutive 8 hour days a week. My twins are breast fed and on 3 solid meals a day. I think I'd be at work over 2 breastfeeds a day. So my quandry is what to do about these feeds? Should I/ can I be bothered to express twice a day at work? Should I quickly drop feeds etc?
They both have quite bad eczema so maybe breastmilk helps or does it aggravate eczema by delivering any foods I eat that may trigger flare-ups?
The babies are due to have patch tests done to see if they have any food allergies / sensitivities.
Other things is I've never really got into the whole expressing/ freezing/bottle feeding thing and it fills me with dread. The babies never took to a bottle and tend to spill most of the water in their sippy cups so I can see them chucking my precious breastmilk about!
But also I don't want to have to bring the breastfeeding to a hurried end just cos I have to go back to work. Am getting really stressed about it all!

I went back to work when dts were 12mo months, 3 days ft rising to 5 after a couple of months. I just fed as normal when around them, didn't express, and they had cow's milk at nursery. Was lucky on 2 counts: I was a little uncomfortable not feeding but it passed really quickly, and they were happy to eat at nursery (they didn't eat much at home). I did have to bf on arrival at nursery though in the early days, they were too upset for the journey home.

Good luck!

Ps, dt1 has eczema, but it doesn't appear affected by dairy.

Thanks Mama, that seems really straightforward!I guess I can experiment with it before I start back at work to see if I get uncomfortable enough to need to express at work. Maybe it's a lot more simple than I've been imagining!

Hi - my DTs are 18 months. I haven't gone back to work but on days when we are out eg the weekend the boys have happily skipped their post-lunch pre-nap feed since around a year old. My guess is you will be fine. Congratulations on the job - good luck!

I can understand you getting stressed about it, but it will work itself out in the end. You will try different things until you find a system that works for you. I would be tempted to introduce the changes you want to try first a couple of weeks before you go to work. That way it will not be new for you or them. Experiment by switching one b'feed for a sippycup of formula and see if they drink it and if it affects their skin, for example. Or, if you would rather give the expressing a shot, get into the habit of expressing at the same time each day so that your body is used to it and you have a stash of milk built up in the freezer.
For what it is worth, I gave up breastfeeding in stages a couple of weeks before returning to work. I find the twins love formula in their sippy cups and only start throwing it around once they have drunk what they want. They don't have excema though, so I didn't have to consider that.
In my experience children can refuse food/ milk when they first enter childcare almost as a form of protest. It doesn't last long, but at least if you have tried new approaches to your milk feeds ahead of time you will know it is a response to the new situation, rather than a reaction to the way the milk is served, if you see what I mean!
Hope it goes well.