UCB Parents Advice about Breastfeeding
Temporary Break in Breastfeeding
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My sister is getting married in New Orleans in the
fall, when my son will be almost 14 months old. I
am debating whether he will come or not. If he stays
home, I will be separated from him for 4-5 days. I'm
not sure how this will affect our nursing relationship,
I have no plans to wean him for at least another year.
He doesn't take a bottle at all. Will I need to pump
while I'm gone? Or is my milk supply so well established
that I don't need to worry about a few days separation?
Maybe he should come with me? I am having a hard time
making this decision. Any thoughts are welcome.
jennifer
I have 20 month old twins, am still nursing and have
gone on a couple of trips without them. You will
definitely need to pump while gone. The primary reason
for this is that you are apt to be incredibly
uncomfortable if you don't! The first time I was away
from my girls they were about 10 months old. They didn't
use bottles either, but did drink from cups. They had
never showed much interest in milk, but my mother
informed me that they drank a lot when I was gone. They
also ate more solids. Same thing when I was away for a
few days recently. At 14 months your son is most likely
getting the majority of his calories from somewhere other
than the breast. If your milk supply drops slightly
during your trip, it will surely bounce right back when
you return. I know it is hard to contemplate being away
from your little one, but as long as you feel good about
who you are leaving him with, my reccomendation is go,
go, go! You will return refreshed, rested and sooo happy
to see your son. He will adapt quickly to your absence
and have a great time himself.
Stefanie
I don't think that leaving your 14 month old nursling
will leave you without milk or have any effect on the
nursing relationship once you return. However, if you
don't pump probably once a day or so, it could be
pretty painful. My daughter quit nursing for a week
when she was one and a half (because of a cold) and we
seemed to resume without any problem once the cold went
away. I did however have painful even leaky breasts
(for the first 3 days). In deciding whether to take your
child, I would think more about your relationship outside
of nursing. How much will you miss him, how much the
baby needs you. I don't want to offend anyone, but I
don't really understand why people leave their babies when
they go on long trips (unless they have to.) I have a 3
and a half year old and our tolerance limit for being away
from each other is about 24 hours. I personally feel
in my heart that my daughter is too young for me to go on
trips without her, but if going without your baby is
superconvient, important or will give you important rest
you need, look in your heart. You weren't very specific
about the trip but if the baby drinks from a cup and will
be with dad or a relative they are used to and attached
while your gone, it sounds better. But if you are leaving
this child who drinks breastmilk exclusively - rejection
of bottle and cup - and will be with a friend or relative
they don't see that much, I think the trip could be a
little traumatic for the child.
Elizabeth
Tough decision about taking/leaving your son, I don't have an answer, only
some comments to consider, as I went to a wedding when my daughter was 6 mos
old. It will be more difficult for you to fully enjoy the festivities trying
to keep track of him if he is walking (and zooming everywhere) and meet his
needs when his timing may not mesh with adult timing. What was useful was
having one or more babysitters hired specifically to watch kids in a certain
location. People pulled together toys, and a separate room was reserved for
the children who wandered in and out with the parents. If that could be done,
you could go in to nurse as necessary or if you've transitioned him to a
bottle, the babysitter could give him a bottle if separation is too hard. On
the other hand if you leave him here, my experience with business trips while
nursing is that you need to pump while away in order to keep up your supply
(even if your milk is well established.) You'll want a full supply the moment
you return, rather than experience frustration because you're not producing as
much as he wants - not a good way to celebrate your return. It is
supply-and-demand, after all, so if demand is down for awhile, shortly
thereafter, supply will be down too. And if you go this route, you should
start trying a bottle with him on occasion soon to see how he will react to
it. FYI, one of my children became more interested in the bottle once
introduced, because the milk flows more freely.
Janna
Someone suggested using a bottle -- if you have only
been breastfeeding, I'd recommend NOT going to bottle.
Just go straight to a cup at this age. Bottles are a
little hard to get kids off of and there's no need to
set yourselves up for it.
Barbara
I just wanted to add my 2 cents, because my experience
was a little different. I have been separated from my
now 2 year old twice- once at about 18 months and one at
22 months, for 3 nights each. He still nurses. The first
trip, I pumped about one less time per day than he would
nurse. My milk production went way down (i could watch
less and less milk coming out at each pumping). When I
returned, it took about 2-3 weeks to get my milk back up
to normal. During these weeks, I supplimented with formula
or milk (he still seems to prefer formula rather than milk
at these times, although he does drink a little cows milk
each day). On the second trip, I pumped more frequently
(I was at a meeting and it was sort of an inconvience),
but my milk still went way down. I have a good pump, but
my son is better! So be prepared to pump, pump, pump- if
it turns out that you need to. My son was fine upon my
return- on both occasions the first thing he wanted to do
was nurse! I really enjoyed the 6 nights of uninterupted
sleep I have gotten since he's been born. On the other
hand, my son is easy to have with me, and I prefer not to
be separated from him if possible. So you can decide if
you want to be with him at this time or not. Either way
is fine. Good luck. The first time you are separated
is the hardest. Another consideration if you have a
partner (which you might because someone will care for
him if you are gone), is that if you leave your son home,
your patner will gain a deep understanding and really
appreciate all the work that you normally do!
Lisa
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