If you go to daycare during the day to feed LO

tazmm18

How do you manage it? I went back to work last week and really want to go feed DS at daycare during the day but I can't seem to get the timing to work out. DS is 3 months old and eats every 23 hours but isn't consistent. I try to time my visit but it seems like every time I go he either just ate not too long ago or he is sleeping. I don't really want to call every day to find out when he ate last but I don't really know what else to do. I am wasting a lot of time between pumping at work and failed trips to daycare. Any advice from your experience?

jamima757@yahoo.com

I went to DC on my lunch break every day until LO was 6 months old (I came back to work 6 weeks PD) I would wake LO up in the morning and feed him at 5:45am this would put him on schedule to take his morning bottle at about 9am then I would go right at 12pm. Then he would take his afternoon bottle at about 3pm and I would nurse when we got home. It worked great for me. When he got to where he wasn't nursing good at 12pm I pushed it back a little. At 6 months we were at the point that the spacing between feedings was just too much to swing it plus he was starting on purees. I think that it made a huge difference in my milk supply. I am still nursing at 15 months and have enough frozen milk to last until LO is 18 months.

MrsI

I work at a preschool/daycare and I know it has been done a few different ways.  Many come at their lunch time like PP and sceduled the bottles around that in the same way.  And those with more flexible schedules have had the provider call them when the child showed signs of hunger and they came over to feed, or gave the go ahead for a bottle if they had gotten tied up at work.  (Most of our parents work across the street so this worked ok, not sure how far away you are).  Others would call the provider to see if they should head over or wait, etc. 

SouthernMom70

wife07mom09:

if you are going to do this you need to CALL daycare and tell them when you will be there and to hold the bottle. Whats the big deal with calling?

This is what I did with my first; I told them what time I would be there and asked them not to feed him at least two hours prior. I had kind of a standing appointment, if you will, at the same time every day, so his caregivers knew to expect me at noon and that he shouldn't get a bottle after 10 a.m. If I was going to be late, I would call them and let them know.

It always worked out great. I plan on doing the same with this little one.

brewcitybride

This would be way too stressful for me - I get why you'd want to try it, but for me, it was better to separate my day - Mom is at Work, baby is being taken care of and fed by daycare or grandma, or whomever.

allisons1014

I have been doing this for the past 5 months since DD started daycare at 12 weeks.  I usually base the time off of when she last ate in the morning as a rough guess to plan my day and then I call daycare around 10:30 or so to find out when I should come over (in the begining she was always eating around 11:30, now that we do solids it's usually 12:30 or 1 p.m.)  When she is hungry early or she is still asleep, they call me and tell me so that I can adjust my schedule.

There have been a few times when I have gone over and it just hasn't worked:  DD has had a rough day and is finally napping.  I just don't wake her up.  I usually send her with 3 bottles just in case I can't make it or our schedules don't line up correctly.  This way if it works great, if not, she still has what she needs.

Good luck!  It's not always easy but I do think it's helped to keep my supply up and I really enjoy getting to see her during the day.  It helps if you have the support of the daycare teachers.  They have to be a partner in making it successful. 

Bella427

I went every day at 11am to feed DS next door.  This went on for 9 months, then his separation anxiety made it hard to leave him twice in one day.  95% of the time it worked out fine.  Daycare knew to not put him down for nap until I came at 11.  Occasionally he would pass out early or they would feed him b/c he was very hungry early and then I would have to pump. 

preggersin2011

My first day back to work I didn't cry when I dropped LO off. I went back at lunch to BF (told them i was) in place of a bottle at that time slot. I provided bottles for the other time slots. I cried having to return to work and not bring LO with me home. So i never tried again. I just always pumped at work from then on. Plus it was 15 mins each way, and another 20 at work to find a spot again after lunch... 

katsonneborn

I love to feed DS at daycare, I started by calling over to daycare and checking when he would be due to eat again and asked the daycare providers to wait for me to feed him. Sometimes it didn't work out but after a few weeks we got into the swing of things. We have a loose schedule which we just kind of fell into. I wake DS and dream feed at 5:30 before I leave for work. My husband drops him off at daycare at 7:30 and I go over to feed him at 8:30, 11:30, and 2:30. Honestly walking over and feeding DS is a huge perk and a big reason I keep breastfeeding. I love spending that extra time with him. I plan to continue to feed him for a year or until he develops separation anxiety and it becomes too difficult for him. And if it looks like my day or afternoon is too busy to come feed I just let the daycare providers know.

Good luck!

EmilyStL

I was super-spoiled because my DD is cared for by my DH, in-laws, or my mom, and whoever had her would meet me at a park about 2 minutes from my work every day at lunch time.  They would always try to time it so it had been at least 1.5hr since the last time she'd had a bottle, and that usually worked out. 

My suggestion would be to either have a scheduled time that you go each day, or tell daycare at dropoff time or call ahead to let them know when you'll be there. 

I LOVED nursing/spending time with my DD during my lunch break.  It worked out really well for us; I got to spend that extra time with her, and it was one less pumping session for me to stress over.  She's almost always cool with it when I leave, too, so separation anxiety was never much of an issue.  If you can make it work, this is something I always strongly recommend!