returning to work & reducing breastfeeding

[Yorkie]

Hi all,

I'm returning to work full time in 6 weeks and need to start weaning my 7 month old off b/f and onto formula for her day milk. I'd like to carry on morning and evening feeds. I'm a bit confused about which feed to start with and when, is it better to do lunch first or morning? I don't want to muck up my supply. Am also finding it a bit emotional, have absolutely loved breastfeeding. How have other people found the transisition?

Also, do you think continuing the evening feed will prolong night waking? Feeding her now as have had three hideous nights of trying not to feed at this wake-up call so if I'm about to change how she's fed in the day am wondering if should bite bullet and tackle this at same time. Or is that just asking for trouble...

Thanks.

[Fuschia]

I think it's normal to mourn the intimacy and dependency of the early baby days.

With son no 1, he was reluctant to take a bottle at all, and got by on water and solids at the minders, made up for it by lots of night feeding. The twins did take bottles, I had to express at work as I got very engorged (point to note!) and they had milk from me at dawn, the moment I got in and then at night.

I'd prob not change more than you need to. I think you can drop feeds in whatever order suits you, after 7m your supply is pretty robust.

[linzkg]

My son is almost 9 months and I'm still breastfeeding but obviously with the introduction of solids the breast feeding has naturally slowed.

Morning feeds are the best and one of the important ones - your milk supply "replenishes" through the night so a morning feed is definitely one to keep if you can - also from a personal and emotional side as there's nothing better then waking and snuggling with your bub before the day starts in my opinion.

Will you be expressing at work at all?

I'm lucky to still be at home so I offer him breast at 11ish and then he has a nap, I'll offer him breast at about 4ish, dinner at 5pm - so if you were expressing he could be given a bottle of expressed milk?

We've got our son on a bottle of formula for the night feed and the change in his sleeping habits have been amazing - when I was breast feeding before putting him to bed he'd wake through the night looking for food - over night he slept from 7pm to 6am! but every baby is different ..

I didn't want to stress about formula v breast milk after 6 months so I don't bother to express and he gets formula if I'm out or away and my body seems to just fall in line.

I have found that my breasts have "adapted" quite well and my milk supply comes and goes with the amount of me feeding (I don't know if I'm just lucky though) so hopefully you won't be too badly affected and actually you'll find it a smooth transition - leave it to human nature I say!

[trinity]

I went back to work full at 8 months also and found the transition fairly straightforward.

I didn't change my feedding pattern at all. Fed her in morning before work, expressed at lunchtime for the first month but eventually dropped that slowly, fed her as soon as I got home at 7pm and continued to feed through the night. As we were co-sleeping this wasn't a problem.

When I dropped the expressing I just gave formula instead. I didn't bother with getting her to take a bottle. Instead she would just drink from a beaker.

At 7/8 months your milk is well established and it shouldn't be a problem not feeding during the day. Also I would feed her over weekends, holidays etc and the supply was always fine. In fact once my 6 month contract finished and I was at home full time again I was able to feed her entirely myself once more.

[The Nappy Lady]

Hi Yorkie,

With my 1st I went back to work when she was 9 months old and she was with a childminder from 8am to 5.30pm. She would never take a bottle, nor formula milk, so in the end she just had a breast feed in the morning, then as soon as I picked her up, and at bedtime. At 12 months her Dad started putting her to bed so she dropped the bedtime feed, but we carried on doing a morning feed until she was about 16 months old when it fizzled out naturally (DD2 very different, but that's another story).

During the day she had water from a beaker, and solids and it seemed to suit her fine....I did worry at first but she was clearly thriving so eventually I relaxed.

I didn't have to express at work thankfully, though I was a bit lopsided by the end of the day!! I do think it would be worth having expressing gear with you for the first week or two just in case things get desperate. I was amazed by how quickly my body adjusted, and actually at weekends she would breast feed much more and it didn't seem to cause any problems. The human body is just soooooo clever.

Hope it all goes well for you. It is a really hard and emotional time (I remember sitting in the car outside my childminders, clutching the steering wheel and sobbing on the first day back to work), so don't worry about the way you are feeling it is all totally normal. I think the thought of going back to work and leaving them is worse than the reality though. There are good things about it once you are there, like feeling so efficient, and having a lunch break where you get to relax and read a book, or go shopping etc.

Big hugs, Molly

x

[Yorkie]

Thanks everyone, interesting to hear how the body regulates itself and I hadn't even thought about continuing at weekends, that sounds like a good plan. I'm lucky in that she takes a bottle and cup already but it's reassuring to hear that they do cope with just water. I was wondering about engorgement, good tip re taking the pump with me just in case. I wasn't planning on regularly expressing but always best to be prepared eh.

Molly, your posts are always so wise. Whilst I don't really want to go back, I always knew I'd have to (senior breadwinner, partner doing childcare - that's a whole different post...) and I have to say the thought of actually being able to read the paper on the day of publication is something I'm really looking forward to. Ooh and drinking a hot cup of coffee slowly, with both hands.