Going back to work - Girls 4 months

So my dilema is how to start the morning. I have to go back to work on Monday and have to be at work by 8am. It will take me about 1 hour to get to work, so I REALLY need to be walking out of the daycare by 6:45 am. The girls are sleeping through the night now (for the past month) and most of the time don't wake for the day until between 7-9am. They still get a last bottle around 10pm. (I think I can get them to wake earlier if I make their last bottle more like 8-9pm - it has worked before).

My choices are to get myself ready, then grab the girls and go to the daycare and let them feed them their first bottle or to wake up earlier get ready and then feed them, then take them to daycare.

I'm wondering if the girls will freak out having to eat so early at home for one (won't drink the whole bottle). on the other hand, if I let the daycare do it, the other issue is whether they will not like waiting once they are awake to eat for 30 minutes or so (the time to get them in the car, take them to daycare and have one of the teachers start their feedings).

For those who go to work and bring their kids to a childcare...what is your morning routine?

THANKS!

 

When I went back to work after having my twins (and even now with Hannah) we always fed them before going to daycare. Mostly it was bc we wanted the morning cuddles and also bc I was worried since there wasn't as much staff during "drop off" time at daycare that since we wanted them fed at the same time the teacher would be put in the position of feeding them right away after us dropping them off and other kids coming in too. I will say that our twins were sleeping 10-7 before going back to work and once we started waking them up earlier they pushed their bedtime back to 9p and pretty soon we're sleeping 7-6 and eventually we let them sleep in on my days off and they slept 7p-7a and sometimes later!

Do what is right for you and your family and what makes you less stressed!

 

I vote for feeding them before you leave. Early morning cuddles are the best.

The best thing that I did when I went back to work is to make a list of everything that HAS to be done before bed at night to make mornings easier. Write it out and check it before you go to bed. Lay out clothes, wash and prepare baby bottles (as much as possible), when they start eating make a baby feeding schedule and get the food ready for them for the next day, shower, and anything else you can think of. If you are hyper organized life will go much more smoothly.

 

First of all, best of luck returning to work!

I went back when my girls were around the same age. We gave them their bottle right after waking them (if they weren't awake already) at about 6am. Then they'd go hang out with Daddy while Mommy got ready for work (once they started eating solids, he feeds them at this time now). I didn't have to be out the door with them until closer to 7:30am so I was not under quite the same time constraints as you are.

I would try it both ways and see what is best. On one hand, I like the idea of feeding them myself, but on the other hand - if they aren't ready to eat that early then your answer is to let the center feed them.

Again, good luck!!!

 

IF the daycare will let you, try having them do the bottle cause it will be easier on you. My daycare wants kids to have breakfast at home, so I can't do that.

 

My girls sleep 8:30-7, but M-F we bring them to our bed where we do bottles at 6:00 (my husband hops in the shower at this point), then I hop in when he gets out and he changes the girls. They're really asleep through most of this, though, so they "sleep" all the way til it's time to load up in carriers at 7:15.

I don't know what your bottle arrangement is during double feeds, but for our morning bottles we lay them down in bed on their backs with pillows laying lengthwise on the outside of them. Then we lay the bottle against the pillow and into their mouths. They don't have to hold the bottle or even open their eyes, plus it creates an incline so that we don't have to sit and actively hold the bottle, either. I'm usually still more or less asleep during this routine and I love to snuggle up against them while they eat. When Paul gets out of the shower he usually finds three sleeping girls in his bed.

 

How did you get them STTN at 3-4 nights? Any advice you can share? My twin girls are approaching 12 weeks and it seems like we may be far from sleeping thru the night! What kind of schedule / cluster feedings were you doing, and at what times? Any advice appreciated!

 

I guess i'm lucky! I breastfed them the first month then went to formula (they have been on about 4 ounces each time for the past month or so with one week which must have been a growth spurt of 5 oz). Since then, we have just been on a 3 or 4 hour schedule. We let them tell us when they are hungry...I don't force it on them at 3 hours but let them give me their signals (but I also don't let them go more than 4 hours, however they have rarely ever made it much past that anyways without letting me know they are hungry). I don't have a specific 7-11-3-7 bottle routine as some moms do, but if they start the day at 7 then it typically falls that way, other days they start at 8 or 9am and we go three to four hours from there and end the day with their last bottle between 8-11pm ish (if the day started later, their last bottle is later, if it started early their last bottle is earlier). Seems to work for us so far.

At some point about a month ago, we fed them at 11pm ish and then we didn't get woken up until 7 or 8am...Now I am working on moving away from the 11pm bottle, which seems to be working (not doing anything special, just letting them sleep and seeing when they wake us up). Some days it is earlier than others, but with my new work schedule, I am sure things are going to get stirred up a bit. I just think all kids are different and we got lucky this time (with my first, it was AWEFUL and she was colic for 6 months and didn't STTN until after then).

What do we do that works for us? The only "Tips" I could give you are that we swaddle only at night, their room is very dark and we don't go in at every little noise. Typically the girls HAVE woken up in the middle of the night, but have always gone back to sleep on their own (since about a month ago...before that, they had to eat when they woke).

Hope that helps!

 

thanks Gina, very helpful! Good luck going back to work; I go back in December and I'm dreading it already. Don't want to leave my little ones!