Your experiences on visiting baby at lunch time please

[lovepigeon]

I'm going back to work in a few weeks and will have a childminder coming to my house to look after the baby (DD will be 9 months when I go back). I work a 5 minute walk so could pop home for my lunch break to feed DD - she is still EBF so this means I could avoid having to express. However I'm worried this might mean she then has to be left twice by mummy which would be more upsetting for her.

Anyone else who has gone to see their baby in their lunch break? is it good or bad for the baby?

I used to go and feed mine once a day at the on-site nursery at work, and it was fine, but they started young - both at 4 months - so really they were just happy to be fed, and by the time they were 9 / 10 months, they were very used to me popping in and leaving again. You may find it's harder if you start when she is that bit older and has that much more awareness of you coming and going; also at 9 months, getting a lunchtime feed isn't going to be as crucial for her as it was for my EBF tinies. But you could try it both ways and see which works best for everyone?

You could try it for a week and see if your DD gets used to the routine, but if it's obviously unsettling her or even if it upsets you going back to work you may have to express.

From my own experience with slightly older DS going back to see how he was doing just started the whole upset again and we both felt worse.

Hope it works out for the best.

Sorry to be difficult (and I may have misunderstood your post) but if a childminder is coming to your house to care for your child then they are actually a nanny and the tax position is different as they are your employee. I thought it was worth mentioning before the arrangement actually starts. There are various people on the nannies, childminders etc thread who will be able to tell you more about this.

Hi thanks for all the responses, I think I will try a few times to see how it goes but think system you are probably right regarding her age and fact she is not used to me coming and going.
She is a childminder not a nanny but it is termed as a "home carer" or something when she goes to people's homes - she could not find work near where she lives and there are no childminders near where I live so that is why we have this arrangement.
Will let you know how it goes.

I started working when mine was 7 months, and saw her for one feed a day the first few months (midmorning-ish), then switched to two a day so I didn't have to express anymore! after a couple months. We had no problems with the extra "hi mum, by mum" thing, but like others had said, she'd started before separation anxity hit so viewed her Childminder as another important person in her life.

I'd start as you mean to go on, actually, and only drop the lunch feed if she seems upset by it and like she's not settling.

I am classed as a Home Childcarer by Ofsted. It is just another name for a nanny and you are NOT a childminder. You may well be on the childminder register as well, but if you are working in the child's house you are definitely a nanny and as such needs to be employed not self employed.