[NYMOM07]

ok, my son will be 13 months when I go back to work in sept. as a teacher and my husband will be watching him.. this means that he will be missing his 8 am, 10am, 2pm, feedings during the day, which are wake up feedings and then before he naps- he usually will not want to breastfeed during the day unless he is tired and wants to sleep .<br><br>
do i just keep bfing him like normal until the day I go back to work- or do I slowly try to cut out meals for the 2 weeks that my Dh will be home before I go to work (becuase I can not cut meals by myself, I have tried it doesnt work) ?<br>
My son doesnt seem to want to bf to go to sleep if I am not around which is a bit reassuring, it seems like he only associates that with sleep if I am there...<br>
I still want to night feed for a little while , but then I have to cut that out too for the most part or I will never get any sleep (he still wakes up constantly and has to nurse to go back to sleep)<br><br>
the day is my biggest concern, then the night possibly a few months later. How would you do this?<br><br>
p.s. I can not pump, i get clogged ducks and crazy engorgement, it is a nightmare.<br><br>
thanks!

 

[readytobedone]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>jsirris</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/11822661"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">ok, my son will be 13 months when I go back to work in sept. as a teacher and my husband will be watching him.. this means that he will be missing his 8 am, 10am, 2pm, feedings during the day, which are wake up feedings and then before he naps- he usually will not want to breastfeed during the day unless he is tired and wants to sleep .<br><br>
do i just keep bfing him like normal until the day I go back to work- or do I slowly try to cut out meals for the 2 weeks that my Dh will be home before I go to work (becuase I can not cut meals by myself, I have tried it doesnt work) ?<br>
My son doesnt seem to want to bf to go to sleep if I am not around which is a bit reassuring, it seems like he only associates that with sleep if I am there...<br>
I still want to night feed for a little while , but then I have to cut that out too for the most part or I will never get any sleep (he still wakes up constantly and has to nurse to go back to sleep)<br><br>
the day is my biggest concern, then the night possibly a few months later. How would you do this?<br><br>
p.s. I can not pump, i get clogged ducks and crazy engorgement, it is a nightmare.<br><br>
thanks!</div>
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i would just continue to feed as normal for now. when it's time to go back to work, wear nursing pads in case you leak and be prepared to need to hand express in a bathroom if you get really engorged. maybe leave DS some cow's milk or something to tide him over while you're gone.<br><br>
your breasts will adjust quickly. and honestly, if you're only feeding 3 times during the period you'll be away, and if he's 13 months old by then, you may not even leak or anything. i stopped pumping at 12.5 months and have been away from DD as much as 8-9 hours and don't get uncomfortably engorged. it's totally fine <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up">

 

[clutterbug]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>readytobedone</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/11823021"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">i would just continue to feed as normal for now. when it's time to go back to work, wear nursing pads in case you leak and be prepared to need to hand express in a bathroom if you get really engorged. maybe leave DS some cow's milk or something to tide him over while you're gone.<br><br>
your breasts will adjust quickly. and honestly, if you're only feeding 3 times during the period you'll be away, and if he's 13 months old by then, you may not even leak or anything. i stopped pumping at 12.5 months and have been away from DD as much as 8-9 hours and don't get uncomfortably engorged. it's totally fine <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up"></div>
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<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/yeahthat.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="yeah that">:<br><br>
I went back at 12 months and this is pretty much what I did to the letter. We did fine. One thing I did do, though, was start working half days and work up to full days over a 2-3 week period, just to avoid any boob issues. Depending on your supply, you could try to mimic that by maybe skipping the 10 am nursing (is that the wake-up one? I am jealous! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> that's probably one you don't want to skip, then). But I don't think it's really necessary. I did have to do a bit of expressing in the bathroom the first couple of days, just for my own comfort.

 

[staceychev]

Same as previous posters, here. Lu is an early July baby, so she was almost 14 months when I went back. She tolerates cows' milk well, so I sent some in sippy cups for her, but generally, the transition was harder for me than for her. I wore nursing pads and hand expressed in the ladies room sink for about a week, then I was fine. We're still nursing at 3, and the same sort of protocol--if I'm around, she gets mommy milk; if I'm not, she doesn't (and adjusts pretty easily).

 

[Koloe]

I would just keep nursing as normal and be prepared to pump or hand express some milk as needed at work until your breast adjust to the change. Most likely he will want to nurse more when you are with him to make up for the time you are away. He may also change his schedule to get a nursing session in before you leave for work.

 

[jennifer413]

I don't know, I'd try to eliminate one of the 3 before you go back to work, while you still have the option to nurse for <b>your</b> comfort. When my DD was 13 months-ish, I worked down from 3 pumpings to not pumping at all during the day over a period of 4 weeks. It seems like going cold turkey without the option to pump or go home early to nurse would be extremely uncomfortable.<br><br>
Could you try to skip the 10am? Make sure the 8am one is a quality nursing? Or try 9 instead of 8 and 10? I'm sure you son will adjust to your new schedule how ever you end up working it.

 

[NYMOM07]

I am glad that your feedback it mostly concern from my comfort and not for my son! because I was mostly worried about him handling the change- I can deal with the engorgement and stuff, as long as he is ok emotionally from the change, but it seems like at this age he can be easily distracted and happy to play rather than needing to nurse like when he was younger.<br><br>
thanks ladies!