working and nursing?

[edamommy]

Okay, this is a totally random question(s). We're CONSIDERING having another child. The issue at hand is working. I WANT to be able to go back to work after the baby. Maybe after 6 months. I DO NOT want to formula feed (ever) or even bottle feed. Do I have options? ideas?

[Lucky Charm]

Oops. I was going to post until i re-read your post about no bottles.

Good luck.

[alegna]

Without formula should be do-able. Without bottles will be harder. My first question would be whether you need/want to work full time, or just a few hours? But, if you wait until 6 months you could theoretically use sippy cups instead of bottles....

-Angela

[Quagmire]

My DD absolutely hated bottles. We used straw sippy cups from 5 months.

Sippy cups are another option. Just make sure you find a very low flow kind, especially if you have slow letdown. Straws work better when the baby can already sit up.

Part time versus full time makes a big difference too. Depending on how long you'll be away from the babe or how frequently you can get to him/her to nurse, no bottles may be doable. It gets harder to nurse and leave when they are older though - they are more aware of your comings and goings, as you already know

[psyche]

As for no bottles - My son never took them well so we switched over to soft-spout Avent sippy cups when he was maybe five months old. I wasn't working, but we were separated for about four hours twice a week when I was in class.

[lacysmommy]

My DD hated bottles at first so she just reverse cycled and nursed all night and not at all during the day. However most kids aren't content to not eat all day long, so you may have to have someone bring your child to you at work to nurse or use a sippy cup (Avent makes a soft spout for 3 months and older) while you're gone.

My DD is 19 months and never had formula, I started work at 6 months. I have given her cow milk since I got pregnant though

[Kewpie]

I went back to work when DD was 5 months old, she refused all bottles. I took my lunch hour to come home and nurse her. It's totally doable. We started her on water via a cup or sippy to tide her over, she was so so on syringe feeding. Thankfully her caretaker was my mom who was able to provide lots of distraction until I came home. I continued to come home over my lunch hour until DD was 17 months old.

[kate~mom]

its do-able if any one of the following are possible:

a baby who likes a sippy cup

getting the baby to you at work to nurse

getting you to baby during work hours to nurse

working part time - this will help particularly if you wait until the baby is older to go back to work