How will baby cope all day with no milk?

[Cattia]

In a little under three weeks I am going back to work four full days a week. I will be leaving my almost 7 month old from 7.30-6pm on those days. She has been breastfed since birth and although she did used to take EMB in a bottle, she stopped at 4 months and has refused ever since. I have tried everything; about 6 different brands of bottle (including the madela specialsit breastfeeding ones), four different varieties of sippy cup, I've tried me giving her the bottle, my DH, my friend, my mum, I've tried breastmilk and formula, but nope. She might take a few sips of water from a sippy cup but as soon as it goes into her mouth she basically just spits it out. When she realises there is milk in there she gets really worked up and agitated. She eats three solid meals a day, so I know she won't starve, but I also know that all their key nutrition is meant to come from milk until age 1. We are looking at 4 days a week where she will get no milk for around a 12 hour stretch. I really am just worried about how this is going to affect her growth and development. I will ask the childminder to mix some milk in with her food but it isn't going to be nearly as much as she gets from the two or three feeds that she currently has each day

 

[shinona]

You might find that she starts to wake in the night or cluster feed in the evenings once you're home. I went back when my ds#1 was 8 months old and he rarely took much while I was away. It didn't seem to affect him adversely. He did get better at drinking formula when I wasn't there too.

 

[SarahBear]

I would pick a bottle type and stick it. The transition is likely to be tough, but she will adjust 12 hours is a super long time to be without milk. I'm guessing she'll eventually take milk from a bottle. She could also reverse cycle which would mean taking in the minimum amount during the day and making up for it in the evening and at night. My daughter did that, but she'd still take some milk during the day and I wasn't gone 12 hours. I wouldn't me concerned at this point. Just know it will be a rough transition for you and your little one and things SHOULD smooth out.

 

[Cangaroo]

I've just gone back to work, so my DD was a bit older than yours will be (10 months), and i had exactly the same worries. I work 3 long days per week.

DD was exclusively breastfed with no bottles at all until we introduced solids at 6m, and then still had all milk from me until we first tried her with milk from a cup to try to get her used to it at 8 months. She wouldn't take the cup at all. She got upset and just wanted me when she got hungry, even when I wasn't there (I was hiding upstairs!). Even though she has always been very confident and would happily crawl away from me to play on her own, I was worried nursery would be a disaster as she'd get upset as soon as she got hungry. However, it's been absolutely fine! She doesn't take much milk there, but eats plenty, drinks water and usually has a bit more milk with OH when she gets home. I am pumping 300ml per day with just one pumping session! I have no idea what to do with it all as she's drinking way less than that. She isn't desperate for me when I get home, though she does always ask for a quick feed pretty soon after I arrive. We co-sleep, so I know she can catch up with milk overnight if she needs. I find that very reassuring.

Babies are very adaptable, and as long as she's allowed to feed on cue when she is with you, she will catch up somewhere. A lot of babies feed more over night if they're away from mum in the day, which is called reverse-cycling.

I really hope it goes well! I was so worried about how DD would cope, but she's done amazingly and I'm sure your LO will do too.

 

[Cattia]

Thank you so much, I feel better reading your replies. She already feeds a lot at night. She slept through from 7 weeks to 5 months, then the sleep regression hit and she currently feeds around three times a night so I expecting that to continue or maybe increase. I know I will be tired, but if we co-sleep I get more sleep and she is more settled. At the moment we co-sleep between 4am and 6am. I'm hoping that she will eventually realise that this is how it will be, and will maybe start to take at least a little milk during the day. I really feel horrible about it and I truly don't want to be going back to work, but there is also no point me getting depressed about it, as I am the breadwinner and I need to show up and earn money to support us all, that's just the way it is.

 

[bitethebullet]

I went back to work with my first at 6 months and no matter how I tried, she refused a bottle and even a cup. I expressed for her at work but she just wasn't interested. She had purees while I was at work and then would wake to feed 4-5 times in the night. I have to admit, it wasn't easy but she was absolutely fine, especially as she was old enough to have solids

 

[Cattia]

Thank you. I am going in for a full day on Thursday as a trial so we'll see what happens. Luckily she is a pretty good eater and she loves cheese and yoghurt so I know she'll get some milk, but obviously it isn't the same as having BM or formula. I think I'm just going to have to latch her on for the entire evening once I get home and hope that my supply in the evenings will increase accordingly.

 

[SarahBear]

The human body is incredibly flexible and that goes for both you and baby. Good luck