Advice pls - 7m old having an operation

[shimmymummy]

My 7m old baby boy is due to have an operation. We have been told he can't have anything to eat or drink from midnight. He's breastfed and has started in solids but usually wakes at 3 and 6 an for a feed. How on earth will he go that long without a feed? Already very concerned about the op and having an inconsolable baby will be horrid. Any advice please?

Hello,

DS had a hypospadias op when he was around 12months old and still breastfed. A nurse friend of mine told me the rules for nil by mouth are different with breastfeeding. I did contact the ward to discuss it before he went in, they said it was fine to breastfeed him in the night after midnight as usual. I remember setting the alarm on the morning of the operation for 5.50am and waking him up and giving one last bf for 10mins, then we drove to hospital to be booked in at 7am as instructed. They consider it to be the same as clear fluids like water if I remember correctly.

If you call the ward or call the surgeon's secretary and ask advice about what time the last breastfeed can be, I'm sure they will tell you that you can still feed your DS in the night and they'll know where your DS is likely to be on the surgeon's list and can tell you what time you can do the last feed.

BF really helped his recovery too. Any time he had a bit of discomfort bf calmed him down immediately. All the hard slog of trying to make bf work in the beginning was absolutely worth it just for being able to comfort him after his operations.

Hope it goes well xx

My dd was breastfed and had heart surgery when 7 months old - she was also first on the morning list and they said I was ok to feed her til around 3am if I remember
Agree you can get advice from the consultant or even better the anaesthetist re timings
Hope all goes ok for you

Thanks so much, I'll ask the hospital

My LO had an op at 6 months and I think I had to stop bf four hours before she was due to be seen. Def check with the hospital as there were different timing rules about solids, bf and water.

I was really stressed out about it and hated the thought of my LO being hungry and not understanding why I wasn't offering bf. The way I comforted myself about that aspect was that I reminded myself that if my LO suddenly slept through the night, I wouldn't have woken them to offer a feed, I would have thanked my lucky stars and slept the night! I bought a dummy and took it with me just in case that helped, as well as the usual toys etc for distraction. My DH also held my LO whenever possible once at the hospital so that they didn't start nuzzling in, thinking they were going to be fed.

I hope it all goes well for you.

Good luck - it's so awful worrying about an op. Our DS had heart surgery at 7 months and we too were given a time in the night where we could feed until.

Thank you everyone. I contacted the surgeons secretary who spoke to the anaesthetist who said we could fb until 3hrs before the op. So glad yours responses made me check, one less thing to worry about :)