Advice needed! Worried about returning to work

[ahayden1230]

Moms.. I'm very nervous about returning to work in 3 weeks... My baby will be 10 weeks when I return and has very few bottles... I'm nervous he will be upset with not having the option to nurse for comfort during day like we do many times a day.... He won't take a pacifier. Also I'm scared it could do the opposite and he won't want to nurse at night when I get home. What is everyone's exoerience with this?? I'm feeling scared and nervous.

[briannea]

Have you tried multiple brands of pacifier? I know my LO only likes one brand.

Maybe practice with bottles more?

[Deleted]

Practice bottles a bit more often so you won't be as worried about that part. Some babies dont ever take pacifiers and they usually find their fingers or thumb and get thru just fine. Go talk to day are and visit them and talk about your worries.

[casey]

Practice with a bottle more days than not. This will also help you get used to pumping.

Going back is a big adjustment. You'll work it out. My LO also much preferred nursing to paci - she never did take a paci. They were able to soothe her just fine ... And, after an initial adjustment, she went back and forth with no problem at all.

[melody330]

It was a very difficult adjustment for us. You will get through it, too.

Practice bottles with small amounts in them so there's not so much pressure to finish it - make sure you pump each time baby gets a practice bottle. We did one every other day, and he still hated bottles. The first day of DC they couldn't get him to eat one drop of a bottle. He was fine.

DS also never took a pacifier or a bottle over 4 oz. DC was great at soothing and redirecting him after his bottles (once we found the magic tip of running the nipple under hot water!)

[fish8412]

www.llli.org/docs/0000000000000001WAB/WAB_Tear_sheet_Toolkit/22_bfabreastfedbaby.pdf

Give this to daycare. Nurse before drop off and as soon as you get home. Tell daycare this so they don't feed LO too soon after drop off and so they don't feed him when you are about to pick him up. Good luck!

[rosalie12]

Returning to work was hard for me, but it has gotten better. Make sure you read about paced bottle feeding and encourage caregivers to practice this method. Paced bottle feeding more closely imitates breastfeeding ane can help make switching back and forth between breast and bottle easier.

[saraml13]

DS started daycare at 13 weeks. I was also worried about him because he was/is a very frequent nurser during the day. He's mellowed out in the last 2 months, but when I was on ML nursing was often the only way for me to effectively soothe him.

He was fussy for the first week at daycare, but they figured him out pretty quickly. They are used to figuring out how to soothe fussy babies.

[ellabee]

It's completely normal and understandable to be scared and nervous.

Practice with bottles more so it's one less thing you need to be worried about.

Going back is tough. That first week I got little to no actual work done. My days were spent setting up to pump, pumping, cleaning pump parts, worrying about LO at daycare, then trying to fit in something to eat if I remembered. Each week things got a little easier. I became more efficient at daycare drop-off. I picked up some tips on how to save time with pumping. DDs teachers learned her quirks and personality and everyone was happier and less stressed.

One thing I did with DH was a "practice" work day. We took one day over the weekend that we went through the whole weekday routine. He gave DD bottles and I would pump. I also got out of the house and ran some errands so we could see what it was like to not have me around for back-up or comfort nursing.

I also recommend not going back to work on a Monday if possible. If you can start off with a half week, it may not be so overwhelming when you have the weekend to recover after a few stressful days.

Good luck!

[jtizzay]

He prob will be upset. So will you but you both will get through it. Regardless of practice bottles my Lo still regressed and reverse cycled. It took some time to regulate. Enjoy your last few weeks. You will make it through!

[Deleted]

I went back to work when DS was 12 weeks old and I had the same concerns.

I had three different kinds of bottles... may have seemed like overkill, but I'm glad I did it because DS liked one much more over the other two (Avent natural nipples).

For weeks before I went to work I would have DH feed DS from a bottle once a day. At first DS would get really mad, especially when he was very hungry. One thing I did was nurse him a bit first to take the edge off and then hand him over to DH to give him a bottle. That seemed to help.

Also, if you have someone give LO a bottle, leave the room. As long as you are there LO will want you over the bottle.

As for LO not wanting you when you get home from work, I made a strict rule that EBF only at home and when I'm around.

Good luck. I know it's hard, but it will work out and you all will fall into a good rhythm.