going back to work. What to do about feeding?

[Lilia]

Hi!

I'm going back to work in a month. My dd is totally breast fed and last week I introduced her to solids. Now she has 2 meals a day. The problem is that she won't take bottles at all and too young for a cup (I tried). Do you think it's ok if she has solids at the mid-morning feed (without milk)and then when I'm back from work she has her milk?

I think that would probably be fine especially if in her solids you try to include some milk. If you did something with muesli/cereal for example.
How old is she - if she is only 4 mo.... than she is on the young side for what I suggested, if she is over 6 months I suspect you can get away with it. Also she might take to a bottle when you are not around for the whole day... who will look after her ?

I went back to work when my DS was 20 weeks (although only 3 1/2 hours to start with)and he was also totally breastfed and would not take bottle and could not take cup. He was fine without anything although I always provided a couple of ounces of expressed milk (for my peace of mind!)which he never wanted. He just fed from me as soon as I picked him up. Once he started solids at 5 1/2 months he was not that worried about feeding from me as soon as he saw me. When I went back to 7 hours a day (3 days a week)at 7 months, I made sure that he had plenty of 'milky' products in his food as suggested and sent a 3 ounce bottle of formula and a cup of water. He refused the bottle for 2 weeks and then all of a sudden he started to drink from it. Now at 10ms and still breastfed he drinks the milk at nursery only some days - gets by on his solids and water. Seems happy on this!

So depending on your dd age, you could try expressing at least enough for one feed and top up with formula for the others and see if she will take it from the carer. It seems as if the baby's milk needs change by the week as they grow and soon you might find that she is happy having minimal milk at nursery and getting what she needs from you before and after.

Hi, when I went back to work after having Emma (now 8 and quite simply magnificent of figure and physique!) she bottle fed for the first three days then went on strike. For 10 days she refused anything during the day and stoked up as soon as I came home in the evening at 6.00! It was a little worrying at first but she thrived anyway and after 10 days decided enough was enough so then rejected the breast and insisted on a bottle! The message is - persevere and don't feel guilty - children will always get the nourishment they need.

Thank you for your reply. My dd is 4 months old. Lets hope that she will be ok.:-)))))

You must have just gone back to work. I hope that things are going well for you. You do not say if you are working full-time. My son was 4 mths old when I went back full-time and had to have bottles in the daytime - some frozen expressed milk and some formula. I breastfed him every morning, as soon as I got home, and in the middle of the night, till 8 mths. I used to express milk at lunchtime in top secret conditions. After 8 mths I breastfed just morning and bedtime until over a year. It worked very well for us and helped me to adjust to leaving him. Good luck!