Back to work in 4 weeks and still no plan re breastfeeding!

[michelle33]

I go back to work on the 8th of Feb and I still don't have a plan regarding how I am going to get milk into him when I'm not there. He will be 10 mths on the 25th Jan.I will be working 3 days a week for 5 weeks and will then go to 4 days. I will be working shifts so for 2 days I'll be leaving the house at 6:30 and return at 4 and for the other 2 I'll be dropping him at his childminders at 12 and I won't be home then until 10 and he'll be in bed then.  He will be going to his childminders for 4 hours a day, my DS also works shifts so will be working opposite to me.
He still feeds at least 3 times overnight but I'm planning to cut them out next week, my DS is going to do pu/pd. I know he doesn't need those feeds they are just habit now I think. In the morning he won't feed a great deal because he has fed so much overnight. He will then have a feed about 3:00 for about 4 minutes and generally snacks on the boob throughout the day, having 1 or 2 minutes here and there. At bedtime he will feed for about 4 min. He has 3 meals a day, he doesn't have much for breakfast only about half a weetabix and for lunch and tea about 3/4 tablespoons of meat/fish/veg and a small yogurt. He will not have formula to drink but I do mix it in his weetabix. I havn't expressed in ages so I have no idea if I will be able to get much off, I've never been able to pump much off. He will have sips of water from his cup, he will not have a bottle. I put some formula in his cup today and he looked at me as if I had gone mad and spat it out.
I also constantly worry about his weight (I've posted about this before) at 38 weeks he was 17.7 lbs.
So has anyone any ideas? I can't believe that I have left it until now to sort some kind of plan but I have been so worried about returning to work that even thinking about it makes me cry. I have been in touch with my manager and told him that I will need to express at work .
I have started to drink raspberry leaf tea (how much should I be drinking for it to work?) and taking fenugreek.
I plan to bf him still when I am able to but I'm just worried about his morning feed and bedtime feed when I am not there. I was planning to feed him when I collect him at 4 but am worried he won't eat his tea then.
How much milk should he be having at 10 months? And should I be giving him snacks now during the day and cut out the bm.
Also what are other peoples experiences of returning to work? I am soooooo dreading it. We have such a close bond and I'm worried that he will miss me and not understand what on earth is going on. He has been going to his childminders for a couple of hours a week to get him used to it and seems to be doing fine.
Sorry to ramble on and any advice or thoughts would really be appreciated. Thankyou in advance

[shivi]

-89+the*hi there....

I have done it twice, both earlier than you...at 4.5 and 7.5 mths and still going strong at 12 mths and no end in sight.

I presume you are feeding on demand now, with him snacking on and off....
At this stage a b-fed baby NEEDS 3-4 feeds a day so 7,11,3,7 but of course many are getting much more for comfort, due to habit or the fact that they take in minimal solids.....

you need a plan to suit you and baby.....and droppimg those night feeds will mean he'll start to take a proper morning feed.

I sometimes have to be in work for 7.30 so leave the house 6.45 and on those days I do a DF in the am of sorts...it means Emma waking earlier than usual as she is fully awake by the end of it but also means no need to pump.

this was my "plan" at 10 mths (don't have time/place to pump and work 8-3, with a one hour commute each way so away 7-4)

bf 6.45
brekkie 8am
lunch 11.30 am around 200g/7oz of defrosted meat, veg and paata/rice
nap 12-2
snack 2pm - yoghurt and fruit
bf 4pm
tea 5-5.30pm
bf 7pm
DF 11pm

we have changed things slightly on and off the past two months, dropped the df and intro'd another nat yoghurt and fruit puree around 10am and moved to lunch to 12-ish.....

also today for the first time, Emma was not interested in a welcome home mummy feed.....Oscar dropped this even earlier but my heart is breaking today, as its her bday tomorrow....I know she would be interested if I was to take her to her room in the dark but she's not in need of the calories and is having her favourite soup for tea in a bit.....
she feeds more when sick, has recently had a never ending cold (still lingering and with conjunctivitis now) and at the cough stage we were up to 4-5 feeds again over the xmas hols....

good luck with everything....
didn't know rasp leaf tea was for bfeeding.
I took fenugreek as a prophylactic when I had Emma and then going back to work but it made my overactive letdown worse and gave me probs with oversuply which was not nice when I was away in work without facilities to pump at all....have had many blocked ducts during this feeding relationship.
I work five days, same times more or less every day so you may find your routine has to adapt.
Will he take a bottle?

Emma won't....my fault really as I didn't push the issue early on....
I wil probably replace one of the snacks of yoghurt with cows milk in a sippy or thro a straw soon.....she already drinks water well from both (unlike my son who took FOREVER to learn to drink from anything other than breast or bottle, as he was sooo little when I went back he had two btls of EBM while I was away).

have to go reheat this soup

S x

[michelle33]

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me. Yes we have always sort of bf on demand really, I have tried the strict 3 hours but it never really worked for us. I wish he wasn't a snacker as I wonder how much milk he really is taking, and is it enough. He is a very happy baby and contented baby so I'm sure that I havn't been starving him although he doesn't eat as much as your lo does which also worries me. He won't take a bottle, same as you really, I left it to late and never pushed the issue so he was never interested.
I really hope that it just all falls into place, he adjusts easily so I'm hoping he'll be ok. Yesterday I decided that his dummy had to go and only on our second day I have just put him to bed and he has gone straight to sleep without it.
I think the early morning feed is a good idea and will probably do that, he might have a snuggle in bed with Daddy after and have another little sleep. How many oz of EBM do you think he'l need when I'm away?
I meant DH will be looking after him by the way, not DS as you have probably gathered, lol.
Thanks again
Michelle xx

[shivi]

I wouldn't worry about solids intake....solids till one, just for fun and all that...
 
Hope some on-demand feeders who went back to work can jump in here for you.

There is a link somewhere about the amounts of EBM to give in bottles...can't find it but for instance my sis with her 9mth old gives 3 8oz bottles of formula a day.
My son was a guzzler...would drink bottles of 8oz or more if I let him....his last DF (always had EBM in bottle till dropped at 10mths) was around 8-9 oz.....but I know bfed babes who never took more than 5-6 oz in a bottle....and bottle-fed babes too....

Would you think of trying to get more of a routine in place in the next month? Cutting the night feeds could definately see an increase in his interest in the day...and a sip/nip here and there could be changed dramatically by you only feeding in the dark in one specific place every time...like his bedroom. Emma would be a sipper/nipper if I fed her in normal daylight...she's too nosey!


Other than that...I have a friend who went back to work ft at 4 mths and daughter would not take a bottle of EBM and grandmad fed her EBM from a tiny spoon....but by 6 mths she was a proficient drinker from a straw cup....

no more ideas right now....have to SLEEEEP!

sorry for the "code" at the beginning of my first post...it was one of my sticky-fingered offspring writing you a msg!

S  x

[michelle33]

I did wonder about the "code" lol.
Yea I think I'm going to try and get him into more of a routine. Hopefully we can nip the night feeds in the bud. Am dreading it though as he won't go back to sleep without the boob, but my DH is really keen on doing pu/pd. He watched the BW on TV with me and thinks Tracey was a legend.
M x

[shivi]

best of luck

I am not around too much during the week but let me know how it goes and GREAT that your DH wants to do PU/PD.....consider yourself blessed LOL!

S x

[~Jen~]

Hi, I went back to work 3 months ago when DS was 7 months. I've continued BF during my return to work and SO glad I did. I think it made my transition easier b/c we still shared our special time in the morning and at night.  At 10mos, my DS takes 5-6oz of EBM for his day milk feeds.  We are still on 4 feeds a day - 7, 11, 3:45 and 7.  Hope this helps. Good luck with your return!

[Otownmama]

Agree with Shivi that getting a routine in place might help with this transition. I'm in a pretty similar position - going back to work March 15 and LO won't take a bottle. She'll be 11 mos and I am planning to wean her from her two daytime feeds over a few weeks in February-early March. My plan is to introduce formula in a sippy cup for her afternoon 'snack' and a few wks later do the same for her morning 'snack'. My concern is that she won't like the formula - she's a touchy and a bit resistant to new things. I'm trying to get her solids up a bit so that she'll not be missing out on too many calories if she doesn't take the formula well. It really is so hard!!