Does Koby *need* formula when at daycare??

Just hoping some BFing gurus can help me with this question as I read on here some advice offered to a Mum of a 10 month old was not to worry about weening when returing to work as the baby could just drink water and eat solids when at daycare.

At the moment I BF all feeds aside from 2 bottles of formula he gets at daycare 3 days a week.

He rarely finishes either bottle and the carers said the morning one is hardly touched.

At almost 8 months, does he need to be offered the formula milk feeds or can they just offer him water from the bottle/sippy?

I currently feed him a BF upon waking around 7am and then a reunion feed at 4:30pm - Koby also feeds overnight (sometimes more that I would like ;) ).

He eats massive amounts of solids and at daycare they are given a fully cooked 3 course meal for lunch...LOL

His day looks like this:

breakfast: 1 weetbix with water with added fruit puree

Lunch: Veggies and yoghurt/fruit

Afternoon tea: fruit/yoghurt

Daycare will add farex to his fruit and/or veggies but he has started refusing anything with farex added...LOL

Anyway... Reason for my asking is, I think it's the formula giving him copious wind resulting in wakeful nights.

Yesterday I BF him all day and he slept through from 7pm - 4am without any resettles, however today he had one bottle around 1-2pm and I have already had to re-settle him 3 times and he is farting like a trooper!!

Any tips??

When I went back to work when DS was 8 months he just had water and solids at FDC and I BF him as soon as I picked him up which was about 3.15pm. I fed him at 8am before I left him too. We were lucky in that its a short day.
I think he'd be fine with only water and solids at CC, I'd just be prepared to BF a bit more when he's with you.

Latest I collect is 4:30pm - I feed around 7am upon waking as well.

He is my little boobyboy!!

How many feeds is he having on the days hes not at daycare?
DS is 9 months and goes to daycare once a week.
I feed him morning and night, and he has two bottles of EBM or formula at daycare.

Maybe if Koby is not drinking a lot of either of his bottles, he might jst have one bottle at daycare? He may just be dropping a feed and its more obvious those days cos its in a bottle.

Hmm do you know, I honestly don't know - let me think...he probably only had one BF during the hours he would normally be at daycare...

might send one bottle along and ask that they offer it at the feed he takes the most formula at.

Would love to not have to buy the stuff anymore.

DS1 was 8 months when he started fdc and he did have formula in a cup during the day. But he seemed to be ok with it, it kind of sounds like your DS doesn't like it very much :dunno:

DS2 was 11 months when he started at fdc and in the beginning i was giving him some EBM but was unable to keep up with having enough with storage. After asking a few questions myself i just include a little more dairy in the days he's in care. Cheese, yoghurt etc...

I too feed about 6:30am and then again at 4:30pm when i pick him up, we do this two days a week.

Also with the possibility of him wanting to drop a feed mentioned, it just made me think that formula is said to be more filling than bm so maybe he's not needing it as often as he would if it was a bf because it's filling him up longer. Just an idea :)

HTH :)

My little Tombliboo has been having expressed breastmilk in a bottle twice a day when he goes to daycare two days a week... only he doesn't drink it, most of the time, and I know now I'm pretty much just pumping to make sure my supply doesn't dip. He started this when he was eight months old, and he's now ten months old. He also doesn't eat a whole heck of a lot at dc.

They will get the calories they need by feeding more at night. Look at it this way - if your little one was sleeping through, they'd go ten hours without a feed. Our bf babies who won't drink at daycare just do their long stretch then, and have more frequent feeds overnight. (Well, Tom certainly does! LOL)

I personally wouldn't push the formula during the day, to make sure that he is going for the breastfeeds for calories and helping maintain your supply.

I suppose the other thing to consider is that he's happy whilst in care? Does he seem to be upset from missing a feed? If he's happy with the food you send and barely touching the bottles maybe there's no need to stress.

I totally understand the 'nutrional needs' mindset though because i posted a similar thread when i was returning to work. I didn't get a definate answer on that side of things but i know my little man is happy and makes up for his feeds when he needs to. His daytime routine is fairly set but night varies and if he wakes i feed him.

:) He'll tell you what he wants i'm sure :)

Chrissy, certainly he would be fine at day care 3 days a week without formula. He will be getting plenty of milk from you the rest of the time, and water and food will meet his needs at day care. Expressed milk is another option if you would prefer him to have a milk drink at day care and the formula isn't agreeing with him, but it's not necessary.

There is no benefit to adding farex to food either, so don't worry about Koby refusing the farex, just get them to leave it out. They probably do it in the belief that it will boost his iron but the iron in farex is not easily absorbed by the body so he will be getting less than 5% of the iron in there. Meat is the best source of iron for babies and in fact is now recommended as the most important early food for babies (it is the best source of both iron and zinc, both of which are important for brain development). I didn't see meat in the list of foods Koby is having - does he have meat yet? If not, you might like to introduce it now. Most babies love things like bolognaise, and you can also give steak to chew/suck on, safe bones (eg smooth and not splintery), or scrape meat into a pulp.

I hope this helps you with your decision.