Breast-fed babies!?

[bright sparks]

I think your answer is perfect. It isn't rude, it's matter of fact and you have explained for very good reason why it's not something you can accommodate. I am sure it's the mother just feeling sad about minimizing the breast feeding experience with the child once she returns to work but it is what it is. It doesn't sound like a need as the little one drinks from a bottle, so can have expressed milk and drinks formula so it's not about the nutrition clearly but more about mommy baby time but he sounds of it. It may be difficult for her initially but I bet once she is back to busy working life she will see that she would never have been able to keep up with it anyway.