BF and going back to work

klmbbb

I'm going back to work in just over a week and am wondering how that's going to affect LO's milk intake.  She refuses to take a bottle and isn't very good with a sippy cup yet - she won't take more than 1 oz from the sippy.  She's not STTN yet so I'm worried I will have to wake up even more frequently then I already am (on average twice a night) to nurse her to make up for the nursing she is missing during the day. LO is 8.5 mo.  

Anyone else been in this situation?  How did it play out? 

brewcitybride

She'll take a bottle. It might take a little bit of time, but she will.

mexicolombiana

For me, I went back when DD was 12 weeks old.  At around 6 weeks I discovered she wouldn't take a bottle.  It was awful.  But then we just had to do it.  I left the house for an hour, had my mom come over and force her to take a bottle.  She eventually did.  And it's been fine ever since. 

So not sure if this is really good advice?

Also your LO is already 8.5 months this is pretty much the exact age of DD now.  I think the only concern I would have is that you've waited so long to introduce a bottle.  I think this should have been done a long time ago?  But anyway I would maybe try the sippy cup again and try with other kinds of sippy cups until you find one she likes.  My DD drinks out of a sippy cup sort of.  She mostly chews the sippy cup and then spills water on herself, so maybe not.

Anyway I would recommend you leave the house and have the caregiver try the bottle or sippy cup again and again until she gets it.  My DD takes 2 bottles a day with the nanny so I think she wouldn't be able to go without milk in the day while you're at work.  Hopefully it won't result in more milk drinking at night!

 I do nurse DD a little more than usual when I come home to make sure she's still getting enough milk. 

I guess the point of my story is that everything will be ok! 

jnealet

At 8.5 months, I would almost skip the bottle and go straight for the sippy cup.  Just keep offering it and she will eventually pick it up. 

Until she does, just send extra solids to daycare so that she has something to eat.

Good luck!

sarenu1

What level of nipple is on the bottle.  My daughter got very annoyed when the milk wasn't coming out of the bottle fast enough for her.  We moved to medium flow and all of a sudden she was drinking from the bottle without any problem.

 

If shes 8.5 month you might need a fast flow bottle.

jteneback

You could also skip the regular sippy and go straight to a straw cup.

klmbbb

Oh, I should have mentioned, H is staying home with her for 5 months so she's not going to DC or a caregiver she isn't used to.  And, she isn't taking much in the way of solids either.

We gave up on the bottle.  All previous attempts (and there were many) were complete failures, except the first (oddly enough).  At this point, I think it would be just more work (later) to get her to take a bottle now then transition to a sippy (which is effective a bottle anyway, except for straw cups).  We've had a bit better luck with a couple of sippy cups (including a straw cup) but she isn't taking milk in any quantity from those.  I guess there will be a painful few weeks to adjust.  Luckily work is flexible and I could WFH a bit, but I don't want to rely on that too much. 

azuremama

Straw cups are a good idea at that age. She'll be okay. She'll probably up her milk intake at other times if she isn't getting that much from the cup. Both my kids hated bottles, but got used to them once they were taking them consistently. DS never really liked taking them from DH or me, but would at daycare.