Starting back to work and breastfeeding

[radnrach]

Hi everyone!

I have an 8 month old who eats 3 meals a day, but still breastfeeds a lot on demand. I'll be going back to work full time in September (when he's a year old), but will start going 1 day a week starting in June.

My question is: How do you stop on demand breastfeeding? I want to get it down to one morning feed and one evening feed by the time I start work, but how do you do this? What does the little guy drink instead? Juice? Water? Formula? I've been so focused on breastfeeding him for as long as possible, that I have no idea what to do next!

Your help is, as always, greatly appreciated :)

[sanity girl]

I'm in almost exactly the same situation and am having the same dilemma, so will look forward to seeing the responses. I'm also meant to be going away to the US for work for 4 days in September and have to decide do I take baby with me or do I leave him. It's so hard! Radnrach, does your baby take a bottle? Mine will have none of it and is strictly breast or finger food only - doesn't make things easy!

[Ruth_Baldock]

I went back to work when Cheeky S was 10 months old; he had two reliable breastfeeds a day from me at that point- upon waking, and bedtime. Anything else in the day was as and when he fancied; sometime's he'd want to nurse lots in the day, other times he was totally disinterested. I offered him water and very watered down juice to make sure he was hydrated, and he also had lots of Ella's Kitchen smoothie pouches too (still a big fan of these). It wasn't too much of a problem, I didn't cut down any feeds when he was with me, and he didn't seem too fussed about not having boob access when he wasn't with me, and my supply adjusted itself so that on my days off, I could still feed him if he wanted in the daytime.

He had water etc from a sippy cup (free flow ones that make a huge mess when Cheeky S decides to water the carpet with them) or a 'grown up' cup and straw (ikea plastic tumbler). Both messy but both very successful, never given him anything other than milk in a bottle,I'm quite stuck in my ways like that.

My MIL, who looks after him when I am at work, initially gave him 3 x 9oz bottles of forumla but he definitely didn't need it, and I have to admit, I got very angry and put the kibosh on that asap.

[Helen GV]

My litle girl, now 8 months, did take a bottle a couple of times but she doesn't seem to like formula and I am fairly lazy when it comes to expressing so when I am at work she makes do with finger food. I am only gone a few hours anyway so not too concerned, esp as I have more than one mummy friend with babies who either won't take a bottle or are too distracted/interested in everything else to nurse well during the day anyway.

In answer to your question I think you will find it happens naturally anyway as you start to offer more food, and offer it before instead of after bf. He still needs a lot of bm/formula now as he needs the calories, as I understand it anyway, but by one year old this will change.

(edited to say that I meant he will be getting the calories from a lot more sources including cows milk at one year old, didn't mean that he will need less calories...)

[anna_r]

My 8 month old baby doesn't take a bottle (of milk at least, fine with water grr) and I go to work three days a week. She is fine on food (+water) while I'm gone, started on rice mixed with formula, now has full range of purees and finger foods. I feed her before I leave, express once at work (to keep up supply, it ends up getting thrown away - kings won't take it as baby too old), then feed her when I get home, at bedtimea and once-twice at night. Then feed normally on demand (3 or 4 times a day) on days I don't work. I do find my supply fluctuates quite a lot, annoyingly it builds up thur-sun when I'm at home, then falls while I'm at work so it's low again during the days I'm at home! But she's doing absolutely fine - goes down for nap without a bottle, still very chunky, eating a good variety. Good luck x