BLW question /breastfeeding

[mumtotwo]

Hi

I'm hoping some of you can help me make a decision. I'm planning on weaning my baby at around 6 months but this is also when I go back to work. I don't really know whether to try BLW or use purees to start with. The problem is that I don't seem to be able to express much breast milk so I can only think of 2 options.

1-wean onto purees so solids fill baby up during the day and continue to breastfeed when I'm at home.

2- Follow BLW and accept baby will need a milk feed when I'm at work so I'll need to offer formula.

I'm really pleased that we've not had to use formula up to now and it upsets me a bit to think of using it in the near future (sorry I'm not meaning to offend anyone it's just that we struggled at the beginning so I don't want to stop breastfeeding now).

So what would you do. Any suggestions are much appreciated, thanks.

 

[beanie]

me personally I would rather offer a little formula rather then use purees - but thern I used BLW as I liked the idea my baby continued to dictate what they ate and when they ate it. You might be surprised that they don't take as much milk when you are away - when I went to work at weekends Cally would only have a few ounces halfway through the day and then fed like a right milk monster when I came home (which I was pleased about as I had boobs like Dolly Parton). So ther little breastmilk you can express will probably be quite a bit for LO and they only need a top up pf formula. However ulitmately this is your choice and if formula would make you feel bad then don't use it

 

[mumtotwo]

Thanks for replying. I'm hoping i'll feel better about offering formula in a couple of months because I really want to try BLW. I'm going to keep trying with the expressing as well to see if it gets easier! If anyone else has any experience of returning to work and still doing BLW I'd be really interested to hear about it. Thanks x

 

[Bubalu]

I agree with Beanie. I am just starting BLW...it's great fun. Sweatpea loves mealtimes. Anyhow, from what I've read, the first 6 months of weaning is for practice only. It's best for baby to get most of their calories from milk and gradually transfer over to more from solids. So in the early stages, it's not expected that they'll take too much solid food and will not reduce milk feeds at all. That's certainly been my experience (just for 2 weeks so far though). As far as pumping is concerned, there are a few things you can do to improve....

1. Get a good pump...Medela pump in style dual pump or Avent IQ are both good for me. Double pumps are supposed to stimulate more supply as the body is thinking you're feeding twins. If you can get the hang of it, pumping one breast while feeding from the other is also an option...I never could though.

2. Power pumping 10 min pumping then rest for 10 min repeating for an hour once every day for a few days also helps stimulate supply

3. Compression of the breast and finishing with hand expression also helps maximise supply. This video shows how... http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeed ... ction.html

4. You can try supplements to improve your supply. Fenugreek capsules/tincture or tea made from seeds helps some people others swear by oats (a bowl of porridge every day).

Hope this helps

All the best!

 

[Charlie:-)]

I too would go with the second option and offer formula of needed. You could try expressing but is it worth spending a lot of money on a decent pump if you are one of the unlucky ones who simply cannot express any great amount?

Maybe see if you can hire one first before making a big purchase.

You will find that around 9 or so moths your LO will start to reduce the daytime milk feeds as they start to realise that solid food can actually fill them up so you may be able to cut out the formula altogether and just have boobie feeds at home.

 

[mumtotwo]

Thanks - i'll definately try those expressing tips and try to borrow an electric pump to see if that makes it any easier x