Night feeds/sleep/return to work

[Shabzxx]

Night feeds/lack of sleep/return to work

So I am still feeding my LO to sleep at night, now 10 months and waking up several times at night so I do want to stop feeding to sleep but still want to keep some night feeds particularly when LO starts nursery (might help slightly with all those bugs?) as she now rarely feeds during the day.

Has anyone had this dilemma and if so how did you go about it? I really need the sleep sorting before I go back to work! I'll be part time but work quite far away. I have considered expressing so baby has a bottle at nursery but worried it will alter my milk supply and not sure when would be the best time to do it

Its not a great time to stop night feeds, baby is a little young in prime teething time and they often ‘reverse cycle’ and need to feed more at night when they’re away from you in the day. Unless you want to stop BF altogether I wouldn’t drop night feeds. Do you cosleep? That can help!

Yes we cosleep. Thanks for your advice x

I’m in the same boat and currently exhausted - just gone back to work and breastfeeding 12mo at night. I’m not really sure what the solution is, but she has caught a lot of bugs and BFing is very helpful when they won’t eat solid food so it might be worth waiting if you can. With my first I managed to drop the bedtime feed by switching it for a cup of warm cow’s milk at 12 months and then gradually started offering that in the night instead of feeding him. That did start the natural end of breastfeeding though because he stopped waking up after that (I don’t think the cow’s milk was worth it for him!), so if you try that approach you might need to prepare for it to be the end of feeding. Good luck!

I was in the exact same position when returning to work just over a year ago. My son was 12 months and I thought he'd be sleeping through at that point but he wasn't and I was still feeding twice a night and settling at other points. I have a 65 mile commute and was worried about the drive and functioning at work. But I just had to suck it up in usual mum style. My son never took a bottle but I had to pump at work because on the days I was with him all day I would feed him to sleep at nap times. After a few months I managed to phase out the pumping as he went to one nap.

Sorry there's no advice here apart from it's tough but it will get easier. I fed him until 20 months and he just naturally night weaned and stopped waking around 16 months.

I went back to work when my first two were 12m old, we continued to breastfeed and bedshare for another 2 years after I went back. Breastfeeding was a lifesaver to be honest, it got them through all the nursery bugs, it was a way for us to reconnect after being separated all day, it was a way to get them (and myself) back to sleep within 2 minutes if they woke at night.
be prepared for some reverse-cycling when you go back first while your little one adjusts to their new normal/ this took weeks for me, I was so tired, bedsharing saved me. Make sure you rest up on your non-working days don’t put yourself under pressure to do other stuff until you’ve settled into your groove.
i initially pumped at work for my comfort and to prevent mastitis for the first few months, even though my boys weren’t interested in ebm.
good luck with back to work it’s a stressful time x

llli.org/breastfeeding-info/working-and-breastfeeding/

Thank you all, yes I do think continuing to BF will have benefits I am just struggling with the frequent night wakings and how that will be at work. Thank you all for your advice and sharing your experience!x

I think it's a bad time to stop night feeds. Baby is going to go through a massive transition starting nursery and having that consistency at night will really help. You don't need to express unless you need to for comfort, mine went to nursery at 11 months and she had a bit of cows milk there during the day but otherwise waited to BF at home. Mine is now 16 months and has been surprisingly well this winter, I do think BF has helped her immunity. I think you need to adjust your expectations a bit "I really need the sleep sorting before I go back to work! " - just being honest, their sleep will probably get worse because they will miss you and want to see you at night. Also naps will probably be crap at nursery initially! it's hard but you'll probably get more sleep continuing to BF and cosleep then if you stop BF / try and make her sleep alone.

You can breastfeed and sleep train.

Sleep training is safe and effective and won't traumatise your child no matter what the crunchies say the evidence is clear, you don't have to do it but it will improve your and their sleep.

Getting better sleep is so important for everyone.

I went back at 5 months, and baby is now 11 months. We cosleep, I feed, Dh settles on the yoga ball if feeding didn't work. We do more or less depending who has important meetings, a day off, or a work from home day, and we take turns to lie in at the weekend. I have sympathetic colleagues and drink a lot of coffee

Just to clarify I'll be going back to work when baby is 12 months so I do have some time to try and reduce the night feeds before going back to work but I am keen for LO to still have some breast milk. Thank you all for your advice and sharing your experiences x

I wouldn't worry about it. Chances are the baby will learn to sleep in the next few months anyway. 6 months is a short time in the grand scheme of both baby's life and your career. It will take you a few weeks to get back up to speed anyway, so then it's only another 5 months of coffee-driven performance to get through! I'm finding work on broken sleep a million times easier than work pregnant, and everyone who said I'd get more efficient was right. Obviously this advise doesn't apply if you're a brain surgeon ;)

Mine is 1 and a half ISH, I went back to work when they were 11 months. Still sleeps terribly, me and DH are both up for ages every night with him. He usually has two night feeds (still breastfeeding) and multiple other wakes with DH too. We are both ill with exhaustion I won't lie. But no alternative really.