Question for mums bfing beyond 12mo

[PDog]

DD is 13mo and DH and I have planned a weekend away at the end of this month.

MIL is coming to stay and look after DD, it will be first time she has spent a night without either of us.

It seems like she is close to self weaning and I would rather let weaning happen naturally rather than force it on her; particularly as she seems so close to doing it herself anyway.

Have any of you left your bf LO for a night? She drinks cows milk fine during the day - the before bed feed is only one I do now.

She understands that breast milk only comes from mum so I am assuming she will be OK but would love to hear other people's experiences if they have done something similar and whether it has affect your supply at all (particularly as this is the only feed I do now).

Thanks

Dd2 is 13MO and she stays with her dad for two nights, but BF before bed and in the morning all the other days; she seems to know it's ony from me. She has formula in the day just fine. It doesn't appear to affect my supply at all.

I left my bf DD1 for 3 days while I had DD2 (difficult labour so I was kept in hospital). She was apparantly quite clingy and confused as to where Mummy had gone (tho I had planned a home birth and we hadn't prepared her) but she settled fine without mummy milk and went straight back to bf when i got home - she self weaned 4 weeks later and that was because the taste changed. She should be absolutely fine so don't worry and enjoy your break. Im sure your MIL is planning to spoil her rotten and that should more than compensate!

Thanks for the reassurance.

Step FIL and SIL are coming too so she will certainly be spoilt rotten!

yes, i left ds3 when he was 14 months old as I was going to my friend's hen night. it was only one night, i couldn't have done more

top tip... take a pump! i totally underestimated how much ds3 drank! by the middle of the night i was desperate to express and ended up hand expressing into the sink
was mahoosive by the morning and had to do it again.

ds3 was OK I guess. He did get upset, and cried for quite a while, but dp did manage to calm him down and gave him a bottle of oat milk, so overall he was alright

Ooh, enjoy your w/e away, PDog.

My sis used to go away for a week at a time and resume lactating when she came back.

DS (16 months) still feeds morning and bedtime. He also drinks cows' milk. I often miss a feed if I'm not home to put him to bed. I think I've missed up to three in a row without a problem.

Have fun!

I left DD1 very suddenly when she was 15 months and I had appendicitis (in early pregnancy with DD2) and despite being a complete milk monster at that age she just went without for 3 days and resumed exactly as she was before when I returned.

I've left ds (18 mths) overnight at various ages, not regularly/often but for up to three nights and has been fine- he resumes feeding when I return. There have been stages where he's more tearful at bedtime and stages where he's been fine. Today I came home late and he was upset - I think that's the 18 mth separation anxiety thing, as between about 14-17 mths he was't too worried. Actually it can be nice to have a break in some ways! Get a bit hormonal/emotional when the milk builds up though...

My DS only wants breastmilk when he sees me. If I'm not there he's quite happy not to have it.

Thanks for the replies - makes me feel more comfortable to know other babies have survived without mummy milk!

Thanks AngelDog. Really looking forward to it. Going to set a limit on the number of times I can call to check on her .

Thanks for the pump tip thisisyesterday. Will def pack it as was really engorged the first day after DD dropped her day time feeds.

I am hoping she is happy enough purcellfan as it would be nice to have a break every once in while. I've had to turn down quite a few invitations over the last year as my friends tend to eat out straight after work.