Advice on transition to going back to work

[torie2507]

Hi, DS is 8.5 months.  I am due to go back to work in July when he will be just over 11 months old.  He is exclusively breastfed and always refused a bottle so hoping to now skip this fase and transition straight to him taking milk from a sippy cup.  However, he's not been a big fan of the sippy cup and its taken  a couple of months of me offering it to him and letting him play with the cup with some water in to him actually drinking the water.

When I return to work I would like to still BF first thing in the morning and last thing at night but for him to use the sippy cup during the day.  Can anyone offer any advice how to transition to this stage?  I'd like to start working towards it now so it doesn't come as too much of a change all at once for him.  At 11 / 12 months how many feeds do they normally have during the day?

Thanks in advance

[*Ali*]

At 11mo ideally they would be having at least 3 in 24hrs as milk is still their main source of nutrition but many people drop to 2 or even 1 after 12mo when solids can start to take over as the main source of nutrition. Check with your dr but I probably wouldn't worry for the sake of a month if you can only manage 2 feeds once you start back at work.

If you are feeding a couple of times a day then you probably don't need to worry about him taking milk during the day as your breast milk will provide what he needs. You may actually find that he doesn't start drinking anything else until after you are back at work and he figures out he needs to drink from the cup if he is thirsty while you aren't around. Even if he only drinks water for thirst and you offer calcium and fat in the form of full fat dairy like cheese and yogurt or milk on cereal that will be fine. That is what my sister did when she returned to work at 12mo with her DS.

You don't mention if he still has a NF or DF at all but if so then that counts as well of course.

If you want to start transitioning to a cup then you could try offering one at one of his feeds or with his solid food but 2 months is quite a long time at this age and his feeding habits will change a lot between now and then anyway.

[Layla]

I went back to work 3 weeks ago (dd was 11m3w) and mine never took a bottle either so I kept the morning and before bedtime feed and 3 days per week (days I work), I give her a feed as soon as I get home (which is around 3.30pm) as a snack and on days I am at home I give it to her a little earlier (right before her afternoon nap). I tried to replace the midday feed with a glass of milk but she didn't like that and she won't drink my milk from a cup either. I didn't really do anything leading up to the transition, she just kind of adjusted.

I agree that a lot will change between now and then, dd was on 4 milk feeds during the day and sometimes a night feed at your ds's age and I too was worried about her getting enough milk when I'd go back to work but she gets calcium through other foods (like cheese, milk with cereal at breakfast and yoghurt) so it all worked out well in the end

[zeri]

I went back when DS was 11 month and he never took a bottle either. I just started giving him milk or water in a sippy with meals, so he could get used to it, and when I went back I fed him only morning and night as you plan to do. It took a few days for the flow to adjust, and he weaned himself shortly thereafter (about 13 months.) He began to enthusiastically take a bottle as well, and then I couldn't get him OFF it at bedtime until he was almost 3! LO's are pretty adaptable, I am sure it will work out fine.

[torie2507]

Thanks for your replies.  I'll stop fretting and take it as it comes, sounds like it should be an easier transition then I thought.  Fingers crossed!