Is it possible to nurse when at home and give formula while I'm at work?

[Luvmysunshine]

Hi ladies, I returned to work this week. My ds was EBF until this week. He gets formula while I'm at work and I nurse the entire time I'm at home. Will my supply stay up enough to keep this kind of schedule? I have noticed a drop this week. I hate the idea of having to quit because my supply goes down. Has anyone had success with this type of feeding schedule?

 

[diggory77]

How many days do you work? Are they consecutive days? My daughter is 12 months old and normally has 4 feeds a day. She has cows milk at nursery (2.5 days a week) and breastfeeds the rest of the time and my milk supply is fine. I've donated a lot in the past though and have never had trouble rebuilding my supply to meet my donation needs and my daughter is a lot older now. So it could be different for you.
Could you pump at work at lunchtime just to give your supply a kick?
X

 

[Luvmysunshine]

I work 5 days a week from 7:15 to 3:15. I can pump at lunch but I travel a lot and don't have a set schedule. Lunch times are not consistent and some days I don't get a lunch at all. I'm just hoping I can still fb when I'm home and on weekends.

 

[diggory77]

I think its definitely possible to maintain some of the feeds but it might be difficult maintaining all of the feeds with doing very few day feeds so many days in a row. If you can add in at least one pumping session in the day it would be a massive help to keep your supply up. I find that my milk is there at certain times of the day when my baby uses it most, like the afternoons and evenings. I hope it works out for you xxxx

 

[seaweed eater]

I would continue pumping if at all possible until your son is 3 months old. Supply is very sensitive in the first 3 months so after that you won't experience as much of a hit if you drop nursing or pumping sessions. Nursing as much as possible overnight will help too (I know it's hard in terms of sleep deprivation). And keep in mind that you won't be able to nurse during the day on weekends because you won't be used to producing as much milk at those times. Your supply won't know it's the weekend and suddenly increase just for those days. But if you continue nursing at the same times every day, 7 days a week, that should be fine, especially if you have 3 or more sessions in 24 hours (ideally 4).