What to do at 5am without the breast

[smurfmother]

My 11 month old ds wakes around 5 and cries vigorously until we get him. He comes into bed, has a breastfeed (his only one of the day) and we usually both drift off to sleep for another hour. But I need to stop the breastfeed as I'm going to be travelling for work in April, leaving ds to the care of dh - and I'm not sure what to do at 5am without the breast. Should we give him a bottle, or is he too old to be starting that habit? Otherwise will we have to start getting up with him at 5am? I don't want that to become a habit either if there's an alternative!

[MrsBadger]

what happens if you send dh in to get him and settle him on dh's side of the bed?
ie do what you always do but just don't feed him

[smurfmother]

We haven't actually tried that yet. I got a bit fixated on the whole 'breastfeeding mothers are more alert to their babies in bed and less likely to squash them', so I've been a bit nervous of him being on dh's side. I guess at 11 months that's not such a worry.

[MrsBadger]

no, and esp not just for an hour in the morning - not like it's all night

I suppose the alternative is for ds to go cold turkey for the short time you're away (with lots of daddy-cuddles instead and maybe a bigger breakfast later) and just pick up again when you get home.

[smurfmother]

I'm away for six nights so don't think my milk would hang around that long. We'll try the daddy cuddles this weekend. Thanks for the suggesion.

[MrsBadger]

you'd be surprised... you could always express when you're away if you wanted to carry on

[phraedd]

maybe your dp could offer some cooled boiled water....baby may just be thirsty!

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

If you've been bf'ing for 11 months, I would be surprised if your milk isn't still there after 6 days - even without expressing. But if you don't want to take a chance, express while you are away.

I would get your dp to attend to your ds in the morning. As it will be something different for your ds, your dh could try re-settling him in his cot. You never know - your ds may be ok with that.