14 month old will be starting nursery while I’m still breastfeeding. Any experience?

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My daughter will be just over 14 months old when she starts nursery. She will be there for 8.30 -2.30pm. She’s never been without me. She is breastfed. Not very good with her food at the moment so I would still say she pretty much relies on my milk for now. I am trying to get her to eat more.

any positive stories from parents who have been in a similar situation?
I don’t plan to send any breast milk. Will she be ok without milk for those hours?

I will be working 18.5 hours a week so only plan to send her on the days I work which will be roughly 3-4 days a week with the aforementioned timings.

I could really use with some optimism as I am dreading it. I feel she is still small. My older kids went to nursery around 2.5 years of age so this is a new experience in itself.

It’s so good to hear all these stories. We will be going away on holiday for 3 weeks just before she starts nursery so I’m thinking to use that time to time the breastfeeds and space them out.

shes currently not a great eater because she had been unwell for so long. She has lost a lot of weight too. So my concern is that if she doesn’t eat while there and I’m not breastfeeding, will it make things worse…
but I’m so glad to hear the positive experiences.

me being with her for 4 weeks means that I will be able to attend and get her to settle before I start work

Mine started at 7 months, I breastfed both of them till they were about 2 years old - just outside of childminder times. Because they were there for full days at a younger age, they had bottles at the childminders - my youngest basically bottle refused until the day before starting there 😭 but as soon as he was there away from me he was fine with the bottle and also ate the other food really well. Being among others eating really really helps them learn to eat a lot more foods.

I would also say don’t string it out over 4 weeks going in to feed your baby - not sure if that’s what you were suggesting or not. Better to be consistent. She won’t be the youngest one there by any means, and she won’t be the only one not mobile yet. It’ll be totally fine! You can feed her when you pick her up after nursery, your body adjusts quickly.

Basically, nursery will hopefully be a really positive influence getting her to eat more. And if she is a bit reluctant occasionally, she’s only there for half a day - plenty of time to make up for it if she has a difficult day. Xxxxxx

Mine started variously between 10 and 14 months, always breastfed, all managed fine, even the one who really didn’t like food. And all continued to breastfeed morning and evening for a long time after starting. You will both be fine.

I went back part time at 5 mths (2 x12 hr shifts) and full time at 9 months ( 9 to 5), absolutely fine and continued breastfeeding until 3 yrs +, did spend a lot of time breastfeeding when I wasn't working, I wouldn't worry if I were you.

I went back part time at 11 months, whilst still breastfeeding (a lot). He was absolutely fine. Never took a bottle, we offered formula in a cup which he would have a few sips of here and there. I would feed right before I left, and as soon as I got home (and all night, which wasn’t brilliant). But he ate well. I did however get awful mastitis when I went back as my boobs didn’t adjust as well as DS, so watch out for that.

Yes my son was 11 months when I went back to work full time, exclusively breast feeding. Initially I was pumping every day and leaving the milk for him to have the next day, but he was a bottle refuser and not really interested. He was fine. When he was 12 months he was offered soya milk in a cup instead. He was absolutely fine and so was I, good luck!

Mine just caught up before and after nursery with her feeds, continued to gain weight as expected and is generally good with solid food too. She refused pumped and formula milk at nursery but did accept a lot of the solid food they offered her.

It'll be a period of adjustment for you both but ultimately things will work out fine, I'm sure!

OP, I don’t think you need to go to any extra effort to space breast feeding your baby while on holiday. Nursery will be a different ball game. Enjoy the holiday!

Oh! One tip we found because my children had only been breastfed they struggled with cups that had any kind of valve in it. There used to be tommy tippee cups with a lid and spout that could be snapped down into place and was valveless. Also a simple sports bottle works well and is easy to find if you’re out and about.

I'd be more worried about a 14 month old who doesn't eat and is still almost exclusively reliant on milk for nutrients. More needs done to address that.

I really wouldn't worry about the breastfeeds, she will just have milk, water and food while you're gone.
I wouldn't change your breastfeeding routine at home.

However I would make sure she has a non-boob comforter she can take with her. If she doesn't already have a comforter introduce one now, any soft toy or blanket will do, a muslin is ideal. Snuggle it between you and her during feeds, grab it whenever you cuddle her, sleep with it etc.

Also ensure she can sleep without being breastfed.

@bouncingblob My dd was the same. It’s a nightmare. My Health visitor retained an interest and dd was subject of a HV conference - problem solving apparently. Except they didn’t solve anything and neither could I. DDs mouth wax resolutely shut and I cried nearly every day with frustration. If you knew what to do, I’d love to have heard it! Going to nursery was the solution because I could not stand it any longer! It worked. Dd had extra helpings at Christmas dinner at 20 months. Took 3 months at nursery to get to that.

my son was a bottle refuser and I went back when he was 5 n a half months. I let my worry about his bottle refusing stress me out to the point where it spoiled some of my maternity leave while I panicked and bought loads of different bottles and cups. It was fine in the end. I used to send a full bottle of expressed milk every day with him and every day it would come back exactly the same level. I think he adjusted his routine a bit to be up in the night more. He’s 20 now and hates hearing about this. Still stubborn. Hope it all goes well and you enjoy.

Both of ours started at 11ish months and we did send in expressed milk but neither of them were remotely interested in drinking it. So I wouldn't worry that you're not. One was tricky to settle, the other one loved it there immediately. I think it's mainly personalities, but the one who settled easily had a much more efficient, less drawn out series of settling sessions.

I would get her practising with bottles now either expressed milk or formula so that nirsey can use this to comfort her

My DS was 13 months and I had the same problem. I initially planned to go to the nursery on my lunch hour to breastfeed but actually he was fine and just had water and lots of food. Nurseries feed them mad stuff like lamb tagline and swear blind they eat it all, meanwhile I’m at home trying to get them to eats jacket potato and they won’t 😂 but something about nursery gives them huge appetites.

@jimbort My dd never had a bottle. Missed that development stage completely. So just had a cup.

She will be fine going to nursery.

it used to be the norm to return to work much earlier as maternity leave was much shorter. I (like my mum friends who returned to work 30 plus years ago) would breastfeed early morning, and then after after work/ night time. My babies were never keen on bottle but would drink from a cup at an early age. And as others have said, by the time they’re one year or older, they can be amazingly adaptable at following nursery routines, enjoying sitting down for snack time or meals because that’s what the other children are doing.

Does your dd have some medical issue though? I’m just wondering as you mention she’s not crawling yet and also to be more reliant on milk and not eating very much at her age seems unusual. Has that been investigated? I think that’s a separate issue from nursery.

I would have to disagree with this - I wouldn't introduce bottles as a comforter, choose something else, ideally something teeth-safe. Bottles should be phased out by 12 months really.