EBF baby going to nursery

I saw this post the other day with others experiences and it really made me feel less worried and trust that these little people are actually pretty resilient! Hopefully it helps ☺️ (Mostly sleep related but a few mention feeding too!) https://www.instagram.com/p/DBPHMA8ONy0/?igsh=MXN3MjIzMWxwMXRmZA==

Thank you for sharing that!

It doesn't matter too much about how much food they are eating until they turn 1 really x

My ebf and contact napper went to nursery from about 9/10months and I was so worried. I sent milk and sometimes she’d drink it and sometimes she wouldn’t. She point blank refused bottles for me and close family. They would off her snacks and meals. They got to her to sleep by either rocking her or in the pram. My baby and the nursery just found what worked for them. It was rough for a few weeks/months but now she absolutely loves it!

@Rachel that’s because milk should be their main source of nutrients until then but the issue is he’s not going to be drinking milk because he won’t take a bottle.. so he won’t be having milk or eating much solids for the 10 hours he’s at nursery

There's a really good podcast on this by Makes Milk, I think it's called starting nursery Q&A and another episode called childcare and breastfeeding

@Alexandra thank you! Do you think she dropped weight initially? Did she wake more in the night to make up for the feeds?

@Charley thanks I’ll give it a listen!

I have the exact same worries, my little girl really struggles to sleep without me, she’s EBF too and I’m filled with fear about it all, hoping my anxiety eases after her first week x

My kiddo too had started nursery at 10 months, did not take a bottle and overall not the greatest eater. I sent him to nursery with pumped milk and a doidy cup and later with a straw cup as he just wanted to drink by himself. First few weeks were rough: a combination of nursery bugs, him wanting to only contact nap, but we communicated closely with the nursery and they made things work. At around 1 I stopped pumping and he was absolutely fine with just food. He is now 3 years and a half, and still breastfed. I found that he made up for lost feeds when we were reunited and he did BF overnight quite a bit. W just coslept and he had unrestricted access to boobies.

My little one drinks milk from a sippy cup. He drinks a surprising amount at nursery - started at 9 months. He also loves eating their food! They cuddle him to sleep and let him contact nap. He is doing really well, I don’t worry about him now, he has been going almost 2 months now. If you have found a good fit for you then nursery are magic and they will figure it out. Just send the milk in and let them see what works.

I was in exactly the same situation, my little one snacks at food, she completly refused bottles and I just thought "how?? How is she going to survive nursery life? 😱" A couple of people I knew said their ebf babies would wait until they were home to feed. One of them said their baby would just eat yogurts until she started drinking cow's milk and the other said her baby refused everything but was still fine with feeding when mum was home (she did work less hours in the day though). My little one, the extreme bottle refuser, started taking a 3-4oz bottle after her naps and because she is sat with all the other babies watching them eat, she likes to be included and will sit there and snack on a bit of food. Still not a lot, but I struggle at home too so any solids is something to celebrate 😅 Nurseries just find a way that works for them and the babies, I've never known a baby not to adapt to having to eat/feed and sleep at nursery x

Thank you so much all. I’m in two minds about whether to tell nursery that he’s a bottle refuser as I worry they might not try as much if they expect the refusal. Or I tell them and send in sippy cups etc to try everything. Thoughts? Also, how much milk do you send in? I was thinking 2x 120s but the thought of having to pump that much for it to be chucked is not fun!

@Emily no I don’t think she dropped weight. The first few weeks I had to feed her in the car before our drive home and then she could wait till we got home. She always fed loads at home and all through the night so I probably didn’t notice a huge difference 🤣 I told nursery she was ebf, contact napped and always refused a bottle and they accomadated and helped the best they could