Worried about returning to work after maternity leave

[Edisnori]

I am going back to work after a year of mat leave. My DD will be 11 months. Right now she breastfeeds and doesn't seem to like formula from a bottle. Sometimes she'll drink about 30ml of it. I started weaning her at 6 months and she now eats breakfast lunch and dinner.
Here is her schedule:
7 am wake up and breastfeed
8am eat breakfast (e.g. fruit with some small pancakes and yoghurt)
10: 30 nap ( I usually breastfeed her to sleep) if weekend sometimes my partner rocks her to sleep. She won't let me rock her to sleep.
11:30 wake up and feed
12:30 lunch (e.g. boiled veg with a fishcake bite or half a chicken thigh)
2:30 nap (again I usually breastfeed her to sleep)
3:30 wake and breastfeed
5:30 dinner (similar to lunch, small portion of meat and some veg or fruit)
7:30/8 bedtime (I breastfeed her to sleep or my partner rocks her if she's nice and full

I am worried that she's still very reliant on breastmilk during the day and I am also worried that if I leave her for too long with someone else she can get into hysterics! My partner will do paternity leave for 5 months when I go back and she is usually great with him but recently she's been very clingy to me. The other day I tried to sleep in and after an hour and a half of being up and about with dad she started to cry out for mama. Any advice of returning to your job and how to make it a smoother transition?

Will she drink water from a cup instead of milk? If she's eating well I wouldn't be too concerned.

Will you be working out of the home? If so, she'll know that you're not there so she can't breastfeed.

@girlmom21 I haven't tried to replace milk with water. I am a teacher so will be working full time at school.

I'd recommend getting a Munchkin 360 cup. They've been great for both of mine as they don't spill

At 11 months she will be fine with not having milk in the day. She can control how much milk she takes when she feeds so can take all she needs in 2 feeds (morning and night)

She's also of the age where if mum isn't around, she won't ask for milk. She will be fine on food and water.

She will adjust and be fine, so will you.

This is almost my exact situation with my 10 month old. She’s so unadaptable that I’ve decided to not return to work until she’s over a year old despite that not being the best financially viable solution.
she loves other people but she won’t sleep anywhere but her cot at home and she won’t sleep without being BF to sleep. Even daddy can’t get her to sleep any other way, the car and the pushchair don’t work either. She barely drinks any water and she gets so constipated so I can’t not be around all day to give her milk because she’ll be so dehydrated.
when she’s 1 at least she won’t need milk in the day but the sleep situation really does concern me because it just doesn’t happen and she can keep herself awake for hours and hours despite being really tired.
I have no answers I just hope that she’ll learn to adapt without me there as an option. I work in a nursery so I know it happens all the time and they do find their routine away from home but I can definitely say it fills me with dread

If she's going to nursery you'll be amazed at what they can do.

It's like they are miracle nap workers or something. I think having the peers around them also drinking water / sleeping help them to do it too.

My DD refused the bottle too. By the time I went back I'd BF in the morning, she'd go to childcare and eat yogurt and drink water or juice there and then I'd BF in the evening.

She now takes a bottle fine and I've weaned off completely!

It’s this, but it’s almost a ‘no excuses’ kind of thing because we have so many children to take care of that for parents it’s what’s best for my child, at nursery it has to be what’s best for them all collectively so we end up having more success usually. It can be a peer thing that helps because the other children are doing the same thing also.

@Twizbe Thank you this is exactly what I needed to hear! Very reassuring!

@cloudychance I think out of sight out of mind -you're right. I think there might be hope for the bottle yet with my DD. Thank you! I feel so much better now I know other people have done it!

This was me 3 months ago; on my return to work my DD had taken a bottle less than 10 times in her life and was feeding from me between 3 meals. I was AMAZED at how adaptable she was, my family take care of her on my working days and have been great at settling DD with either expressed BM or FM when I've not caught up with pumping enough. 3 months after my return DD now naps much easier (pushchair etc) and only ever feeds to sleep at bedtime, even on my days off. I wish you a similar experience as I was so anxious and although not every day has been smooth and milk took a while to settle into a new routine, my family worked hard and we've all reaped the rewards of a happy baby :)

In a nutshell she’ll fall into nursery routine and do things for them she’ll not do for you. Nursery is great at establishing different routines

Absolutely usual to worry, but as others have said I'm sure she'll do just fine. My son wouldn't have taken a bottle at home, but happily drank expressed milk at nursery from the beginning, as well as feeds before and after. They really are miracle workers when it comes to that, naps etc.

I returned to work (4 compressed days essentially) at 7 months and my ebf baby has refused milk (expressed or formula) from any bottle/cup. She has solids and water at nursery and has always been excellent with solid food. She has milk on the walk home, and a fair amount overnight, and in the morning. On her 3 days at home she usually has milk before 2 or 3 daily naps (11 months but catnaps), maybe once or twice more here or there? She has not wavered from her weight percentile line at just about 50% since week 8 :)

At 11 months they’ll be fine with food and water in the day - breastfed morning/night. myself and several friends all done the same.

@Redsharks Such a great transition! Thanks for posting!

@Meeb Yes and I think it'll be even easier as she'll be with my partner whose taking paternity leave. She settles for naps with him much better than with me. I'm really just concerned with her going cold turkey from breastmilk during the day

@Hatscats Thank you ! When doing everything for the first time, these things seem so impossible and your baby always seems to adapt and then you wondered why you ever worried in the first place!

Op I had difficulty with dc1 taking to a bottle when breastfeeding. This sippy cup was the only one that worked (we tried alot). I highly recommend it.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PH5OPBS?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_JBRW54C1TZRK79CGZBH1

You can also switch the teets and bottles/handles around, so can increase to a bigger bottle if desired.

@Yesterdaywasntreal She actually can drink from a bottle or sippy cup like that but she doesn't like the taste of formula I think. But she will drink about 30ml sometimes but mostly refuses it.

Hi @Edisnori,
I went back to work full time when my DD was 11 months old. She never took to a bottle and we used a straw cup (tumtum cup) for water. I continued to BF morning and evening and she had little dairy top ups like yoghurt and cheese at nursery.

Be reassured that they find their own ways when at nursery, my daughter would BF to sleep till we weaned and still now has cuddles/rocking to sleep at 18mo and at nursery she lays on the mattress and they just say sleepy time and she falls asleep with a little back rub...DD will never do this with us at home 😆

I was in a very similar position! Returned to work in October when baby was 10 months....she fed to sleep, she fed multiple times during the day.

But we took it slow, built up the time she was there gradually, and she was fine! She slept for her childminder like a dream from day 1 and will also even settle for naps at home with DH and my mum if I'm not here.It really is an 'out of sight out of mind thing' when me and my boobs aren't around she just doesn't think about it.As soon as I return she is asking to feed, haha!

Hopefully your little one will adjust the same :) Good luck x

@Mummyof287 Yes I'm sure when I get home she will totter up to me holding her breastfeeding pillow!