How many breast feeds does my DD need

[Joey123]

I am stressing out because in a couple of months my DD will start day care / family day care (yet to be finalised). She is BF and is having some solids, but breast milk definately makes up most of her intake. She will be 10 months then.
My problem is that she won't take expressed milk, fresh or from the day before, in a cup, sippy cup or bottle.
I will be able to BF her when she first wakes at 5.30am and again at 8am when I drop her off and go back at 1.15pm to feed her in my break, but what if she won't take any EBM between those hours?
She is not eating enough at the moment to fill her up, she is still mainly experimenting with food. If I concerntrate more on the solids, will it be ok for her to miss that feed?
I will be picking her up at 3.30pm so she can have another BF then, and will have one at about 6.30pm before bed and once, sometimes twice during the night. So that adds up to 6, maybe 7 feeds in 24 hours, so perhaps I just need to get her comfortable filling her tummy with solids?? And it is only 2 days a week (may be 3).
Maybe I have answered my own question, but would love to hear from those of you who have some thoughts.
Thanks.

[NonnyMouse]

I"m pretty sure she'll be fine. 5 hours ish isn't too much of a stretc a couple of times a week and if she gets really hungry then the carers can always offer her some EBM , even if she won't take it.

I had to go back to work when DD was 4 months old and I used to duck back at lunch time to feed her because she wouldn't take a bottle. After a while, she surprised everyone by drinking EBM out of a sippy cup one day.

[c38]

I agree. It sounds like she will get heaps.

DS was 10mths when I went back to work.He would take EBM but my issue was being able to express enough for at least 2 feeds while I was away for 9hours. He wouldnt take formula, or water. After a couple of weeks (I worked 1 day/week to start with then went up to 2 days /week) his water intake out of a sippy cup and his solid intake increased dramatically (we did bay led weaning). You will be surprised, they will often take things for the carer that they wont for Mum or Dad, espescially when there's no sign of Mum's Boobs.
If you think about it at 10 months many bubs will sleep through the night (DS didnt) at least 6-8 hours without a feed. You may find she does want to feed more often on those evenings/nights then she usually doses to make up for what she missed during the day. Though if you are going to go and feed her at 1330 then she should adapt well.

DSsort of found his own pattern for CC days. He would BF before I left, have water from a sipy cup with meals ie morning tea/lunch and afternoon tea, and one bottle (about150mls..which was all I could express) after lunch. Then BF again when I got home about 4.
When he was about 13mths I stopped stressing about expressing and he soon learned to take a bottle of cows milk in the afternoon. I found he did make up for some lost feeds the during the night and my first day off after the 2 days.

He is still BF at 18mths and will feed about 4-5x in 24 hours. I now work 5 days a fortnight. And it hasn't effected his BF at all:)

[Aries7]

If it's a couple of months away, you might find that by then she's already increased her solids intake & reducing her BF's by herself.
My DD is 10.5 mths & she has reduced her BF's down to 2-3 per day (& 1 at night) all by herself. Just in the last couple of months, she has become far more interested in food. Some days she will only take a feed in the morning & then one late afternoon (after she wakes up).
Do you offer water to your DD? If you don't, then it's a good idea to get her used to drinking water out of a sippy cup, ie when she's having solid meals. At first, my DD thought it was pretty much a toy, but after a couple of months she got the hang of it & now she has an Avent Magic cup with handles that I leave on the floor for her all day & she will drink from it whenever she chooses. At solid meal times she has water in those Take & Toss sippy cups (I just keep washing & reusing them).

[JabberJaw]

I agree she will be fine.

My DD is a boob monster but is able to go a whole day without a feed while hubby looks after her, if i was home she would have at least 3 feeds.

In a couple of months she will be more interested in solids and they will tide her over till you pick her up.

[Jaspat24]

That sounds fine! I agree, in a couple of months she'll be eating more solids and taking some water so that should be fine! I would just continue with the soilds (ie don't try to force more food into her) as you are doing and she'll start to eat more at her own pace. A lot can happen in 2 months!

[qtkiwi]

I have just started back at work 3 days per week and was stressing as well as bubs wont take any ebm or formula. He will happily suck away at this straw on his water bottle but as soon as I put milk in it he spat it out (luckily he was happy again once it had water in it, not tempting mixing those two up again!).

Anyway, he is 8 months old, I feed him when he wakes at about 5.30-6am and he has extra solids during the day to make up for it and I feed hium again when I get home at about 6pm and a top up before he goes to bed. He has started waking (I guess to make up for the missed feeds). I just make sure he has plenty of solids (and a mixture so if he doesnt feel like veges he can have yoghurt or fruit or vice versa).

I am a little worried that maybe his diet might be lacking in something that they get from milk so am going to visit the CHN this week just to check that what I'm doing is okay. But he seems happy, and he doesnt starve while he's waiting for the boob that's for sure!

I'm sure you're little one will be just fine and adapt to what suits her!

[Joey123]

Thanks everyone. I think I have it sorted. I have started expressing and freezing it into ice cube trays and soon I will start her on vita brits and she can have some EBM with that when she wakes after her first sleep at child care. So I will be able to feed her when she wakes at 5.30, when I drop her off at 8, EBM with her cereal around 9.30, snacks of solids until 1.15pm when I call in to feed her during my lunch break and put her down for her second nap and then I pick her up at 3.30pm, so I can feed her whenever need be from then on. She is still waking in the night, and I dream feed her at about 8.30pm, just before I go to bed, so I think she will still end up with around 7 serves of breast milk in a 24 hour period.

My husband thinks I'm crazy worrying about this now, seeing it's still 2 months away... but if I don't, who will. And I am starting to try and fit her feeds/meals and sleeps around this routine so when she starts going to care, there is no change in her routine, just the people around her. I'm also going to book her in a couple of days before she has to start, so she can have some half days there, and before that I'm going to just call in every now and again to say hi with her so she gets used to the place.

Anonnymouse - Yep, maybe she might start to suck on a frozen ice cube of EBM and then get the taste for it and it might end up becoming a regular drink for her. Hope so!

c38 - I'm also a little concerned about expressing at work. At the moment, I just express after her morning feed, because there is always a little left over, also I express after her night time 'dream feed'. But there is no milk left during the day after her feeds usually. Or not enough that makes it worth while expressing anyway. Great to hear that he is still BFeeding. Well done!!

Aries7 - Yes, she has water a bit. She really likes it and will drink it often. That's a good idea to leave it on the floor.

JJaw - Thanks. I'm sure she will be fine. I'm just a stresser!!

Jaspat24 - I'll just have to make a concious effort of offering her solids more. Once she is finished, I will stop, but I forget to offer her solids a lot of the time!!

qtkiwi - Perhaps try EMB iceblocks?? A friend of mine makes her DD iceblocks, you know the ones on the stick in the plastic cup, but she is on formula ones. I am going to try giving her a ice cube EBM to play with later in the day and see what she does with it. Also, can your DS have vita brits or some other cereal? Maybe he will have EMB with that? That will increase his intake. That's what I am going to try. If she won't take just EMB and vita brits I am going to add yoghurt too cause she LOVES that. Maybe I can even thin her yoghurt down with EMB???

Thanks everyone!