Partial Weaning before going back to work?

[oneplusone]

My DS is almost one and I will be going back to work in about 6 weeks. I still BF 4 times a day when he wakes up in the AM, when he wakes from both his naps, and before he goes to sleep. Approximately 6AM, 10AM, 2:30PM & 6PM. I'd like to keep BF in the AM and PM when I'm back to work meaning I'll need to wean the 2 day feeds. I've always had OAL and an oversupply of milk. Still at 1 year I have over supply of milk. I had problems with blocked ducts in the beginning months of BF and I'd like to avoid getting mastitis so I don't think cold turkey weaning is for us. It took me almost 8 months to wean the DF by moving it back 15' every few nights. So I'm thinking I should start now to wean his day feeds. Any suggestions about how to go about this? Should I try moving the 2 day feeds closer together, so he just has one BF around lunch time? Or should I move the feed after his 2nd nap closer to BT? He does drink out of sippy cup and he normally drinks water during the day with meals. If I start moving his feeds around should I give him cows milk? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks  

[Roseii]

Hi there, as you say gently weaning is your best option. I think I would opt for dropping one feed and doing a midday one (and keeping your morning and evening ones as close to their normal times as poss) If you're feeling engorged gently hand express off a bit of milk but not a lot as yoh don't want to encourage the supply (and the usual cabbage leaves in the bra!) As you've got 6 weeks I'd do that for a week or 2 then see if you can think about dropping the midday one. Good luck and congrats on a great job

[Khalam's Mama]

I recently went back to work at 12.5mo. I still do 3 feeds on rest days and 2 on work days. I found after 12mo my supply really settled so dropping it was easier than it had been. Just another option to consider.

[oneplusone]

Thanks Charlibob! do you think I should slowly move the feeds by 15-20' or just go straight to three a day? It seriously took me forever to wean the DF by 15'.

Khalam's mama - glad to hear about your experience. I'm hoping to do the same. How do you find the 3 feeds a day on the weekend? Does your body adjust faster? I'm just worried about leaking at work on monday if I do that. I still leak a lot of milk, I have really bad oversupply. Who knew having too much milk could be a problem? I think I leak more milk than some people make. It's definitely better but still way more than is normal. I think.

[Erin M]

How close are you to the 2-1?  If you're close to it, you can just feed when he wakes from that nap.  Or, you could feed when he wakes from the AM nap.  You don't *need* t offer cow's milk unless you want to (I did with my girls, James still has the wu and BT bf, but no cow's milk -- he eats yogurt and cheese and we still do the vitamin D drops so I'm reasonably sure he's good on fat, protein, calcium, etc).

[oneplusone]

Hi Erin,
we're not close to the 2:1 yet. He is still taking 2 good naps and goes down easily. BT is a bit later, but still early so I'm leaving him at 2 naps until he goes to daycare where he will be forced to one. I don't think weaning him will be much of a problem for him since he drinks water out of a sippy cup and eats solids well and gets vitamin D drops too. It's more of a problem for ME and my oversupply... It would be nice if he did just one nap and then the BF would fall naturally to that.

[Erin M]

Ok, that makes sense!  I'd just feed about halfway through his  second A time then.  Oversupply has been less of an issue with me once mine have hit a year(!) but you're wise to go slow.

[Khalam's Mama]

I never really leaked after a few months even though I got really engorged. I find I am full but not uncomfortable at work. I don't leak.

[oneplusone]

Thanks for the advice! Hopefully mine will slow down a bit too, but I do want to continue breastfeeding so I don't want it to slow down too much. He's really grumpy if it's not gushing into his mouth, but obviously that can't go on forever.