BLW/Breastfeeding and returning to work

[Launderette]

Hi,
Has anyone BLW?ned their baby for a few months and then given up due to returning to work and needing their baby to be on more solid food in the day?
I have a 9 ½ month old girl who has been bf from birth and BLW?ned since 6 months old. She still nurses around 6 times a day.
I am returning to work in July, 4 days a week and she will attend nursery. It has been on my mind as to how I will keep up with the demand of expressing enough milk for her to have at nursery. I think it?s going to be quite stressful, I don?t like expressing at work and I think I?ll feel under a lot of pressure to have enough for her each day. Ideally id like to bf her in the mornings and evenings only and for her to be on solids in the daytime.
She enjoys her food a lot but isn?t eating enough to be able to drop any feeds. She doesn?t mind me helping her at times and will drop a feed in the day if she has eaten some solids. With this in mind how should I proceed with weaning and getting more food inside her?
Hope this makes sense!
Thank you in advance.

I bf to 15 months, BLW'd etc. and went back to work full time when DD was 14 weeks, so it can be done. (Away for 12 hours a day.)

Around 9 months I no longer needed to express at work or in the night to provide milk for the next day. DD would just bf as usual when I was with her, evenings, holidays and weekends, and then during the daytime she had a drink of normal cows milk or water with her food. There is quite a big change in habits between 6 months and 9 months so you should be fine.

Thanks for your message. I should have mentioned that she has an allergy to cows milk though. She has soya milk in her food so would it be acceptable to send in soya milk for her to have in the day? Is it nutritional enough because she'll only be bf morning and evening?

I don't know the answer to that one, sorry.

I do know that "reverse cycling" can still happen so your daughter may get all her milk nutrition requirements from your breast milk, and just feed more than usual during the night.

don't know if this helps either but I've heard of lots of babies who just hold out for bf milk until they're back with their mummies. My DS is 10 so a bit younger than yours will be when you go back to work. He is bf and BLW and he now goes hours during the day without bf milk, and that's when I'm around and it's on tap. Also, in the past week or so his appetite has shot up for solids, so you may find that your DD will just eat more when she's at nursery if she's hungry, and just wait for her milk when you get home. Or feed all night to make up for it ;-)

Hi launderette, my ds is just 10 mths and I'm returning to work part time in a week! He is also allergic to cows milk.

I've done a few keeping in touch days and will tell u what works for us in terms of food when I'm at work. I don't really want to xpress at work but I worry ds isn't getting enough from the oat milk so I do it! On the days I'm not at work I just bf as normal.

6.30 am - breastfeed
7.30 - porridge with 3 oz expressed breastmilk
10.30 - snack, eg toast with vitalite and jam and a few sips of water
11.30- 4oz ish ebm in a cup ( he doesn't drink it all so my mum mixes the leftover with porridge and feeds him it!)
1pm- lunch (mashed food, fruit, finger food etc)
3pm - 3oz ebm in porridge again!!!
4pm - I return and offer feed, he has a few sucks!
7pm - bf and through the night....

I'm sure I could use more oat milk and less ebm but I worry about calories and nutrition! Oh and he does eat lots of porridge but won't reliably take a cup or bottle so it's the only way I can get the milk into him!