Questions for those BFing beyond 1 yr. w/ LO in daycare

AimeeL85

As DS is approaching his first birthday in a couple of weeks, I am struggling with figuring out the best way (how much, via bottle or sippy, at what times) to continue giving him his breastmilk on the 3 days per week that I work. 

On the 3 days I work, I leave two 5 oz. bottles for him. The amount I give him in bottles has always been just a guess. He doesn't like taking bottles and DC has a hard time getting him to drink them. At home he nurses fine during the day, so I really want him to continue having breastmilk on the days he's at DC as well.  I'm not interested in weaning or switching to cow's milk any time soon.

On the one hand, since he'll be a year, it doesn't seem necessary to have his DC teachers continue to give him bottles he doesn't want and get him to drink as much as possible.  On the other hand, I do want him to continue to have breastmilk there, but if I just send some in a sippy for him to have "whenever," I know he won't bother with it.

I really do want to transition to sippy cups now but he associates them with just taking a sip here or there with meals because that's what we do with water. Do they ever sit and actually drink a whole milk feeding from a sippy cup in one sitting?

I am rambling but just very confused about how to make sure he continues to have his milk at daycare without forcing it. They are going to think I'm crazy pretty soon when I have no idea what to provide for him. It's so hard to judge it right when the way they eat at home is a completely different method than when they're away. 

Any advice is very appreciated!

erika_sue

I don't know what the best advice for you in particular is, but I'm a teacher in an older infant room and we have a little girl who is 14 months old and still gets breastmilk.

What works for her is two bottles between two and three ounces. She gets diluted juice at breakfast, a bottle with morning snack, water at lunch and a bottle at afternoon snack.

Her mom is having a hard time pumping, which is why the bottles are so small, but C is happy with any amount and will nurse at home to make up what she misses during the day.

Since most of his nutrition will be coming from food now that he's one, I would just suggest being open with his teachers and letting them know it may be trial and error for both of you until you guys figure out what works for you.

pitterpatter129

We switched to sippys at daycare.  However, both the daycare and I worked on sippys for a few months until he was drinking the entire contents.  He gets them at regularly scheduled times, just like bottles - one with lunch and one with a snack- and in a high chair.  He gets between 3-4oz, plus water as needed.  We nurse three times at home and WCM with dinner to prepare to switch when my stash runs out.  (This past week was my last week of pumping.)  After a lot of trial with different brands, the take and toss sippys work the best for us.

misssurly

Thank you for posting this... and asking so many of the questions I have on my mind with my return to work in March when LO is 11 months. I work from home 3 days a week but the 2 days I work in the office, it's a 2 hour commute and full day. I am so stressed thinking how this will work when we are still nursing at this point every couple/few hours!!

LO has never taken a bottle (or pacifier) so we've been working on her cup for the past couple months. We use a shot glass and help her hold it a little but she mostly drinks from it herself.

I'm hoping that she'll be taking in enough solids that she isn't super hungry for breastmilk by that time. I assume she'll reverse cycle and I'll be feeding her a lot once I am home and at night - cosleeping if need be. I plan on leaving a little breastmilk to have from her shot glass IF she wants it. I am worried but really hoping by almost a year that we can continue BF and that she'll adjust to the days I am not here.

Good luck!