If food is just for fun, what happens when you go back to work?

[PickledLily]

DH said the other day that DD should be eating 3 meals by now ie start shovelling spoonfuls into her. Shes 8mo. I gave him a look (he weaned his kids on purees) and he's not dared mention it since, but it got me thinking...
What do I do if DD is still dependent on BF when I return to work? She is a spoon and bottle refuser and isn't really interested in food yet. Do I need to get her used to formula out of a cup? Work a couple of months away yet, so hoping it won't be an issue...

So she'll be 10 months then? Will you be going back full time?

Don't worry! With all of mine they had appropriate finger food put in front of them from about 6 months and also bowls of thickish readybrek etc with a spoon to feed themselves when a little older (although lots of fingers with that as well!) They had these type of meals with us at breakfast, lunch and dinner and also a rice cake or similar at snack times. This was all done alongside BF when ever requested. I found they all just got there in the end and when I went back to work they just got used to having BF in the morning, when I got home if needed and evening / night time.

I would just keep offering a good range of different finger type foods with lots of variety and repeated offerings of the same thing even if refused first time.

She is only little still and children at this age take what they need. They are amazingly adaptable!

We offered cows milk in an open topped cup at meal times from 12 months and they accepted that no problem. None of them were bottle or spoon fed.

Weaning can be such an emotive issue but the best plan is to stay calm and relaxed.

I'll tell you next week We do combination finger food and purees but ds has decided to refuse the spoon this week. The childminder is going to have fun!

She'll be 11mo and i'll be part time, but long days. I know everything changes very quickly, but at the time it seems like it will be forever.

Let us know how you get on EnglishGirl!

I went back when mine were 10 months and they ate enough solids and drank water while I was at work, milk was offered but generally refused and I fed them in the morning, when I picked them up and before bed and a night feed. On the days I didn't work I fed them more in the day although some people prefer to swap some or all feeds for formula each day.

My best advice would be to speak to a BFC on one of the helplines. She can advise you on the options when you return to work, how to keep Lo healthy and you of course. The last thing you want is to go back to work only to develop mastitis.

Mine started nursery while EBF a few weeks ago and he's only just started solids in earnest since the weekend so not getting any real substance into him yet. We're BLW mainly by choice, but it also turns out he's an out-and-out mush-and-spoon refuser. Nursery are unfazed. They're giving him finger foods and EBM in a sippy cup (bottle-refuser too ).

Yeah both of mine were bottle refusers and dd was a spoon refuser and everything seemed to go ok.

If you don't fancy expressing or formula you could always offer full fat cows milk for some feeds while you are away, but like a say its probably best talking through your options with a BFC and coming up with a plan

Ok, thanks everyone! DD seemed a little more interested in food yesterday, so maybe it is just a matter of time.