EBF but need to leave DD for 36 hours....

[gherkins]

Hello wise ladies,

DD is 15 weeks old and EBF (apart from the odd bottle of formula and regular breastmilk top-up for her last feed of the day). So far she has had no problem switching from breast to bottle and back again, and also is sleeping very well at night.

Issue is I need to do a work trip this week, which involves leaving her for 36 hours. I have a little pumped milk stored in the freezer, but the rest of the time she will have to have formula.

Does any have experience of having done this successfully? Obviously I will pump diligently while I am away in an effort to keep my supply up.

But I am worried that by receiving 10 or so bottles in a row, as well being fed a lot of formula while I'm away, will mean DD will be reluctant to feed from me when I get back.

Any tips for how to minimise this? Does anyone think this will seriously jeopardise my breastfeeding? I am keen to keep going until 6 months.

Thanks

I think that at 15 weeks it shouldn't be a problem. Especially as you won't be the one giving the bottles, so she won't associate them with you. You might want to get rid of the bottles completely for a day or two; no matter how much you pump it's not as efficient as a baby is, so although it shouldn't hurt your supply too much at 15 weeks it might be worth giving it a boost.

Thanks for the advice Flingon. I will try to ditch the bottles and have a bit of a babymoon when I get back for 24 hours or so, to re-establish supply, as you suggest.

Guess I am just nervous because DD is already showing signs of not getting 'enough' from me at times (have to top her up with expressed milk during the day quite often now), so I'm worried this might make things worse. If she feels like she's not getting enough, she refuses to suckle, which of course doesn't help matters either.

Hello - just wanted to add, I went away for 3 days when DD was 5months, and I found that even with pumping I was surprised at how engorged I felt. The pump just isn't quite the same. But I soon found out that hand expressing for 5 minutes each side after using the pump somehow made me feel much more comfortable.

All was well on my return, DD was straight back to it, and we had a babymoon which I think was a big help. HTH.

I also 'went away' for a similar length of time when my DS was the same age (SIL hen do).
I pumped at normal feed times & would agree with milkjetmum that I still felt a bit engorged afterwards, but managed fine.

I took many breast pads away with me too (-& will have a lasting memory of my handbag being searched when entering a London cocktail bar & the bouncer showing my pads to the world, demanding to know what they were! I'll also remember his face when I boldly told him & the rest of the queue... hee hee!)

DS had only had formula & a bottle a couple of times before I left, to check he'd accept it. (I really didn't/don't get on with expressing large volumes). This meant he got quite constipated when I was away & had a good ole clear out once I was home and he had a BF or two inside him!

I must admit however, that I did get mastistis not long after my return home, which was promptly treated with antibiotics. So definately hand express as well I think.

Otherwise it was fine & although a little stressful for me I felt quite proud of myself for doing it & it reconfirmed my happiness at BF. DH also felt proud he'd managed alone for this time!

Good luck!

I left DD aged 4.5 mo for 48 hrs with EBF by bottle. Pumped whilst away for supply and comfort.

Fed within 30 mins of being back (more for my comfort!) and no probs at all.

Good luck

Make sure that whoever gives the bottles knows to only give the LO the teat if they open their mouth wide with tongue down. Doing that really helped us when DD was on top-ups earlier on - it stops bad eating habits forming.

Have you tried pumping? It can be a learnt art and even then, isn't always easy. I've pumped from day 1 but as soon as DD got to 4 months, I found I struggled to get much out.

Hi ladies,

Thanks for all the advice - very useful - and also great to hear your stories.

In the end it went fine. I pumped regularly while I was away (lots of time in yucky public loos staring at graffiti!), DD had some breast milk but mainly formula while I was away, and went happily straight back to my breast when I got back.

Couldn't get my head round the hand expressing, but the pump seemed to do the job.

Success!