Going back to work is ruining our BF'ing relationship - 1yo - WWYD?

[EvesJourney]

I have have a 1 year old, and I just returned to work.  While I was home, I exclusively breastfed.  Baby refused bottles.  She can drink out of a sippy cup, but I only gave her water.  At home, she would nurse at least twice, during what is now my work-day.  Now that she goes to daycare, I pump at work (once at lunch - getting about 4 ounces).  I send the milk and her sippy cup to daycare.  She drinks less than half of what she normally would when I was home.  Her caregiver has offered it both warm, and cold, and babe seems to prefer cold.  She is now waking at night (once or twice) to feed (making  up for missing Mommy and milk during the day).  On the weekends when I put her down for her nap (she used to nurse), she is "on" me, but hardly drinks anything.  I don't think I have a supply problem.  I am hesitant to introduce cow's milk, as she had digestive issues when I had dairy when she was young.  She is also dropping off on the growth chart for her weight, and a LC suggested trying dairy-free for a week or two to see if she puts on more weight (because maybe she has an intollerance), so we're dairy-free right now.  I also want to keep sending breast milk, so she gets all the benefits from that, instead of cow's milk.  Any suggestions for how to get babe to take more milk at daycare, and keep our nurse/nap routine at home?  Or, is it time to wean her during the day?  :( 

[SilverFish]

well, other than the weight issues, going back to work isn't "ruining" your bfing relationship, it's just changing. it is going to change as she gets older anyway, whether or not you return to work... 

in your shoes, i'd:

keep pumping and offering bm in a cup. have you tried anything but a standard sippy? my dd drinks more from a straw-lid cup, or from a regular small cup. have your daycare provider experiment with different types of cups and maybe "push" the drinking a bit more... offering very frequently. daycare can be very busy, so she might just be too distracted to drink much. 

look at the rest of her diet. is it high fat, high protein? we don't do meat or dairy, and emphasize a diet high in plant fats... avocado, coconut milk, tofu, olive oil, nut and seed butters, etc. without the breast milk, it's important to watch that she's not filling up on just carbs and low fat fruit and veggies.

find a plant milk that works for you. lots of people don't offer anything to drink but water and bm, but at that age, i still think that liquids are the easiest way for them to get their calories, so if the bm isn't working for whatever reason, then trying soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, hemp, oat or a mixture of any is a decent solution. my dd really likes soy milk and a mixture of soy and coconut milk. 

as for the days you are home, i would just keep doing what you're doing as long as you're happy with it. my dd is 18 months now and often doesn't bother to nurse much during the day, or "nurses" without actually taking much milk. nursing is as much about comfort as nutrition for an older baby who is eating well. just work on her solids and drinking from a cup and i'm sure everything will resolve. 

[foreverinbluejeans]

She is over 1 and can go 9 hours out of 24 without breastmilk. That's not weaning, it's called reverse cycle feeding.  You don't need to pump and leave milk during the day and she doesn't need cow's milk, just water. You can go light on solids when you are together to increase nursing and she is already nursing at night to make up for what she misses at night. She could have juice if you wanted to increase calories.