by Jennifer Ly

Created on: September 03, 2008

Part-Time Breastfeeding- How I Made It Work

With my third child, I had a real desire to continue breastfeeding for as long as I could. However, I knew that with my work schedule I was not going to be able to pump. I had heard of other women breastfeeding part time, and I wanted to try it. However, there was very little information to be found on how to do it. From my experience, I can tell you which women are good candidates for breastfeeding part-time, how to start, what to look out for, and the benefits of continuing to breastfeed even if only some of the time.

Any mom who is currently breastfeeding can do this. You need to begin with a well-established milk supply. If you have not yet started breastfeeding, you can eventually go to part-time, but if you start out trying to do both breast and bottle you will have issues. So, the first requirement is an established milk supply. You also should have a true need to only breastfeed part-time. In my case, I could not pump at work. So, it was either try partial breastfeeding or go completely to formula. I had nothing to lose. Please read through to the section on possible issues before you decide to try this.

I began the transition to part-time nursing by slowly dropping feedings. I started with the mid-morning feeding. I would nurse first thing in the morning, give a bottle of formula for the second feeding, and then nurse again for the rest of the day. I only did this for about 4 days. Then I dropped a second feeding. I decided to drop the very next one. So, in my case, it was the third feeding of the day. After about another 4 days I decided I would drop all breast feedings from the time I would be away from my baby at work, until the time I came home in the afternoon. This was from 7:00AM to 3:00PM each day. Once I had finished, our schedule was something like this: I would nurse in the morning, give three bottles of formula, then nurse the rest of the day and through the night. There were some minor issues that we worked through and you should be fully aware of those before you begin.

Some of the issues I had were engorgement, loss of supply, and the baby had some nipple confusion at first. Nipple confusion should be worked out before you even begin. Start by pumping a bottle for your baby and making sure she will take it. If your baby will not take the bottle from you, try letting someone else give it to her. This can be common in breastfed babies because they know Mom is still there. Next, when you begin

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