hi, i'm returning to work in a few weeks and originally was going to express milk for isabel during the day, but i think the realistic solution for both of us will be for her to have a little formula in the day if she wants it (she still won't take a bottle/beaker) but for me to breastfeed her first thing in morning and then from when i get in from work in evening before bed.

will my supply cope with only feeding morning and evening, as during the day i might get time to express once a day but that'll be pushing it due to the demands of my workload (i realise H&S requires your employer to give you breaks but realistically speaking this is not doable for my job due to deadlines)

also, as isabel is stubbornly refusing to adjust to drinking expressed milk or formula, will she be ok only mainly drinking milk morning and evening then just having food and water during the day?

What you may find is that she will pick up more evening, morning and night feeds to compensate for less milk in the day until she decides to drink from a cup/beaker.
Your supply will adjust but be prepared for some painful engorgement during the day, I really would try and MAKE time to express at least once in the middle of the day otherwise you may end up being unable to work properly because of engorgement and you risk inflamed ducts etc as well.
If you can manage to express once a day you can leave that milk for her to have in some food during the following day (just adjust her meals so that something that contains the expressed milk can be given) so then if she continues to refuse formula and expressed milk in the daytime she is at least having SOME milk in the hours you are away.

thanks that's helpful...and god yeah i didn't think of the engorgement and blocked ducts...i'm so used to it not being a problem now supply has regulated that i forgot it could become an issue when back at work!

i wanted to express for her to use, but apart from being pretty sure i won't get enough time to express much, my milk seems to taste off from the fridge or freezer no matter what i do so i think my milk just doesn't keep well for some reason hence me resorting to formula in the day

i've no experience and wondering this too for when i go back to work ... my SIL ended up doing this as her lo wouldnt take expressed milk but had 3 marathon feeds in the morning, afternoon and night (1.5hrs each) and food/water through the day. she carried this on till his 1st birthday. she said she had no problems but did express once or twice during the day. i guess even if you managed 1 or 2 sessions and yours didnt keep, it would at least keep up your supply?

I was going to ask that same question. I'm going to work in June and plan to feed her before I go at 7am then she will hopefully, if I can express enough, have EBM til I get home at 5pm. There is nowhere, or no time, for me to express at work so I am worried about getting engorged and my supply diminishing. The day I had to go to A&E with burned fingers and didn't get to feed for over 6 hours was agony . Its worrying me quite a bit. I'll be interested in hearing how you get on Wishingonastar.

u could also incorporate milk into some of her meals to get her milk intake up during the day

I have over the last month started to cut out some feeds in preparation for my return to work. I am keeping up night feeds and morning feeds and one around 6pm. Firstlly I have cut out the night time 7.30/8pm feed, I had 2 early morning engorgements then and it then settled down. Then last week I cut out the mid afternoon feed (around 2-3pm) fed her as usual at 6pm, had engorgement in the early hours of the following morning, and now it has settled down.

So far I haven't seen any effect on my supply, no complaints from her. She is on solids now so that helps fill her too. I don't feel as full in the mornings but she's is content after her feeds. I generally give her a 6.30am feed, 9.30am and 12 noon feed.

I don't recommend pumping every day to relieve the engorgement as this will only keep your supply up if you are trying to drop a feed. If you don't feed and don't pump your brain registers to miss this feed and your supply alters to miss this feed from then on. I just fed her an hour early when engorged which helped me.

I would recommend you start dropping the feed a few weeks before you return to work to avoid engorgement at work and to settle into the new routine, if purely BF until now your LO will need to get used to taking a bottle from someone other than you too.

Good luck xx

I've been back at work since December, and I do express at work - my employers are very baby-friendly - but I can't do much with the milk, because LO goes on milk strike while at the nursery. I leave her with expressed milk and her own cuppie, but she'll drink water with her solid meals and ignores the milk. I express twice a day - it's entirely possible with a small manual pump to express with one hand and keep operating your mouse with the other - and my employers have kindly provided me with a little fridge all of my own to keep it in, because you wouldn't want to keep breast milk in the communal fridge of an archaeological unit, there's things in there that went past their sell-by date three thousand years ago. The trouble is, the milk stash is outgrowing the freezer! I find the best thing to do with the surplus milk is to feed it in a cuppie with her tea, and then to make the rest of it into custard for her pudding!

Hon, don't you get a lunch break? Can you at least express then? It only takes me 15-20 minutes total, including set up, pumping and clean up. I know you have a fast let down and flow, too, so you should be able to pump fast.

Ugg! Sucks when work makes these things complicated!

P.S. The Imps miss you and Isabel!!!!