Expert: ruth kraft - 9/17/2009

Question
I just recently went back to work and I'm afraid that I'm going to have trouble keeping up w/ the breast milk supply for the day care center.  I have been breastfeeding him up until this point but giving him a bottle of expressed milk at night so my husband can help out (while at the same time ensuring that he gets a good 4-5oz).  I then pump during what would be the night feeding and store for day care.  I am pumping while at work, 2-3 times a day but am worried my supply of stored milk will run low.  Am I bad if I start to give him 1 bottle of formula for the night feeding instead and save that extra bottle of expressed for day care?

Answer
No, you are not a bad person. You are doing the best you can and that is all that can be expected of you. I would however, reccomend that you pump first thing in the mornning as well. this is when your milk is most plentiful. You can pump when you get up and have that extra bottle you need, then when the baby wakes, nurse him, and then you wont have to worry about the formula at all.  You can also try to take some mothers milk tea and see if that doesnt give you a bit more milk to compensate for this extra bottle you are wanting to have . I hope that helps... always remember a little breastmilk is better than none at all! and its more than many other babies get.

Best of luck and I hope that helped!