Extended breastfeeding and sending milk to daycare

musicalsilver · May 2014

As my LO approaches a year, I know his need for milk is going to be decreasing as he eats more table foods. I've read that for some folks who exclusively breastfeed, that they don't feel like they need to send milk to daycare, as their LO's get the ~15oz of milk/2 cups they need through nursing sessions at home.

For those of you that are extended breastfeeders - how much milk (of any variety) do you/did you send in to daycare after the 12m mark?

Thanks!

(XP to Breastfeeding)

skibunny59 · May 2014

I don't send any breastmilk. I stopped pumping at one year and I never had a freezer stash. She wasn't a big milk drinker (cow's milk) until just recently. She would just drink cow's milk or water when I was at work and I would nurse we when were together.

musicalsilver · May 2014

@milkergirl1said:

I quit pumping at 1 year, didn't have much of a freezer stash and started the transition to WCM at DC and BF at home. It took about 2 weeks to transition, so I would send some BM and my DCP would mix it with WCM. At 14 months, I still nurse twice a day. Even though he eats 3 solid meals a day plus snacks and nursing twice a day, he's still drinking 20+ oz of WCM a day.

20oz! Wow! How does this compare to how many oz your LO drank of breastmilk at daycare before you transitioned?

My LO is not a fan of drinking milk without me (so I'm impressed!), and DCPs are lucky to get 10oz of milk in him a day.

cecilyandgautam · May 2014

I initially had planned to quickly wean myself off the pump after the first birthday but my daughter's skin had the most awful reaction when we introduced cow milk. So I kept pumping 2xday, most work days, until she was 15 months old and I sent whatever I made - I never mixed breastmilk with other milks because I didn't want to waste any. For awhile, it was enough for 2 3 oz bottles, but then it was only enough for 1 4 oz bottle. I made up the difference (generally sent a total of 16 oz) with separate bottles of goat milk. We put a sticker on the BM bottle so DCP would know which one to offer first.

After the first year, I figured it was all just a bonus anyway - so I sent what I made, didn't stress about meeting some quota, and if I missed a pumping session at work due to a meeting, I didn't frantically try to make up for it with an extra pump at some other time in the day. It was very easy going, and I actually enjoyed that phase a lot - probably the best part of my pumping journey.

litzo27 · May 2014

I nursed both boys till the 2 year mark and they were with a nanny all the time. I stopped pumping at work around 13-14 months. Until then they would get one 4oz bottle when I was gone - to drink before nap. But they were less and less interested in bottles and we stopped at that point. I still had a hefty freezer stash but we used all of it for cooking things like oatmeal and for bedtime bottles when I was away. Also I still nursed at naptime on the weekends until about 16-17 months and then I just went to morning and bedtime. DS1 wasn't really into WCM until he was 2 but he got plenty of calories and calcium from other sources. DS2 was all about the WCM once we introduced it.

TheBorg7of9 · May 2014

My doc said they didn't need milk at all necessarily. It's good for them, but not to worry about the amount. But he did say to limit him 2 two cups since it might fill him up too much and prevent him from eating other food. We went cold turkey from bottles of BM to cups of milk at 12 months. I continued to nurse at bedtimes until 15 months.

snicksnack · May 2014

My LO is 23 months and still nurses at least twice a day. He has whole milk at school. He does fine the rest of the time with table food

mb314 · May 2014

Around the 12 year mark, I started to mix breast milk and WCM. But DS was really attached to his bottles, so we made the transition very gradually(the transition from bottle to cup was harder than the transition from BM to WCM). I started with 75% BM, 25% WCM for a few weeks, then 50/50, and then 25/75. I also gradually stopped pumping at work - going from 3 to 2 sessions, then down to 1, and then down to none. I finally quit pumping at about 14 months - I knew it was time, because I was only getting a few ounces during one mid-day pumping session.

Even though DS still nursed at night and in the mornings, I still sent WCM to daycare. DS really likes milk, and I didn't have a reason not to. It may not have been necessary, but he was happier with it.

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