BLW and returning to work.

[beansprout]

I would like go down the BLW with ds2 (now 25wo) but will be returning to work when he is 10mo and am concerned that he will still be relying quite heavily on b/milk that I will not be around to give (3 days a week).

Part of me feels that I need to have him feeding quite well (as ds1 was) by this stage so milk is not such an issue and part of me knows that is counter to the BLW philosophy. I am finding expressing very difficult so am not sure that sending milk in is an option.

I'm basically a bit confused - can anyone help?!!

.

I started BLW with DD at 6 months and I kept telling myself "milk is the main food for the first year", to reassure myself that she wouldn't be eating all that much, necessarily. I am also breastfeeding. Well I'm sure all babies are different but my DD has embraced BLW with a lot of enthusiasm and she eats LOADS. So much so that I wouldn't worry about leaving her for a day if I had to (she is now 10 months old). I feel DH could simply give her a sandwich or two if she was hungry, and she would come to no harm if she missed a breastfeed or two. That said I would probably express some and leave it in the fridge. But like you I find expressing very difficult although I have managed to build up a small store in the freezer for emergencies.

It helps that she loves drinking water from a cup, so I know she is not relying on breastmilk for drinks.

Good luck and hopefully your DS will also turn out to be a big eater so that you can go back to work without worrying.

Firstly, expressing is a lot easier when you are doing it instead of feeds (ie when you are at work away from ds) rtaher than trying to squeeze sessions in between feeds so don't beat yourself up about it yet.

I had similar worries - I went back at 7m and no problem expressing but BLWd dd was reluctant to take a bottle and was eating very little.
I decided to roll with the nursery status quo and let them offer her puree as well as finger foods to decrease the chances of her actually going hungry, and we've subsequently carried this on at home too.

I know it's not pure BLW but I was happy that I had used BLW when introducing solids as an indicator of whether dd was ready to wean, and once we'd established that she was I was less concerned about how the food got in.

Now at 11m she is pretty handy with a spoon for mashed stuff as well as being a demon finger-foodie so I don't think it's done any harm at all .

Thanks for your replies, am feeling reassured. I need to remember that 4 months is a long time when it comes to babies and a lot can happen between now and then!

I took the BLW route with DS even though I returned to work when he was 6mo. It is perfectly possible to do BLW and mixed feeding. DS had to start taking bottles at 6mo, but by 8mo he had taken to solids so well that he barely drank any milk during the day and just relied on breastmilk morning and night. Now (he's 1) he drinks milk from a cup perfectly happy and eats like a pig (although doesn't like green food irritatingly!)