Weaning before holiday

[AliFar]

I am starting to think about weaning my now 8 month old dd as dh and I have a romantic week away planned in two and a half months time. I am getting myself into a bit of a state about what to do as dd and i love breastfeeding, so hoping for some advice.

Due to the distance it will be to mother in laws I can't really express and take a weeks supply of milk with me (dd currently on 4 feeds a day). I am also concerned about her been in a new environment, both dad and mum missing for the week and losing the comfort of the breast, so I thought it would be best to wean her at least a few weeks before we go. so a few questions.

1. Will she be too young for cows milk - is it best to switch to formula?
2. Once on the bottle how many feeds does she need - i don't want to overfeed her?
3. HV has suggested she go straight to a cup - but she doesn't seem interested in cup at all and only drinks a small amount of water with meals, not interested if milk is in there.

Sorry very long winded.

Alifar I know this does not answer all of your questions but it is perfectly possible to take a week off breastfeeding
and resume when you get back, if you are not really ready to stop. I did this when my baby was 14m old.

AliFar - try not to panic at the moment. You really do not need to do anything. In 2 months time your dd will be 10 months old and can cope with just a couple of breastfeeds a day.Are you planning to just drop dd off at your inlaws or are you going to stay with her for a day or two. How far away are they? You can transport frozen milk packed coolbag with icepack. Could you express some milk to freeze at your mother in laws?
Definately keep trying the cup. As she will be on solids, missing milk for a week is not going to do any great harm. If you really enjoy feeding, you could resume when you get back.

On the cup issue - I think it often takes some time for this to take off, especially while babies are still getting a lot of fluid from milk (breast or bottle). I changed over from bottle to cup at around one year - transition took several weeks replacing one bottle at a time with a cup of cow's milk. It wasn't until several weeks after ALL the bottles had gone that ds started drinking any real quantity of fluid from the cup (i.e more than an ounce or two) - took a little bit of nerve to trust that he would drink what he needed, but I knew his diet was good enough that the low milk intake wasn't a problem.

So my advice would be to go for the cup and skip the bottles - or you'll just have to go through the whole process again!

Thanks for your replies, sorry for the delay - i am in Australia - so time difference.
Jasper, I had thought about resuming when I got back as I do enjoy feeding her, but I was really worried about how she would feel losing mum, dad and feeding all at the same time. Or maybe I am more worried about how I would cope.

Mears, yes thanks, I think I am getting ahead of myself. I am going to spend a few days at mother in laws first, but as it is a 2 day drive not sure it is safe to transport milk and i am happy to substitute formula.

Elliot, thanks I will keep perserving with the cup.

Alifar. If you are going to use formula it is best to try it out beforehand. My dd ended up having a very bad reaction to the first we tried which involved projectile vomiting - not nice. The second formula was absolutely fine for her, but you don't want to discover she is alergic the day you get to your MILs!
I also took a break (4 days) from feeding when dd was 10 months and she coped just fine.

Alifar, in my own case I too was concerned about how much I would miss my baby but Ihad such a great break away that it was NOT an issue!
My baby did not appear to miss me either.(He was still waking most nights at that stage )
I had no problem at all resuming feeding, and did not even get engorged while away. I know it was a bit of a gamble but I asked around in advance if either my baby or my breasts would "forget" how to do it and the general consensus was that chances were we could start from where we left off if it suited us both.

Maybe someone will correct me if I am wrong here but I think formula for one week is completely unnecessary. If your baby has had nature's best up until now and probably again on your return, why not just let her have water or cow's milk or some fruit juice while you are away? There is no need for her EVER to have formula.

Best of luck with whatever you decide and do have a great holiday.