Expressing for one day - how much? problems with taking bottle?

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Hoping some experienced expressers can help me
ds is 6mo, exclusively bf and I am back at work - I haven't had to express since being back as I'm a lecturer and live really close to uni and my classes fit round bf (dh is at home). However, there's a meeting on Friday 3 hours away which I don't really think I can get out of going to. The original plan was to take dh and ds, but the weather here is pretty wintry atm and I'm very, very reluctant to expose ds to the risk of driving all that way (especially if a colleague is driving, which is probably the way it would be) just because I have to go to a meeting. If we went by train I probably wouldn't get my expenses reimbursed because I could have gone in the car with colleagues iyswim. I'm now wondering whether I could express just for that one day. I would probably be away about 10 hours in total. The problems with this are that I wouldn't know how much milk to leave and whether ds would take the bottle at all. He was mixed fed until 1 month and took the bottle then, but maybe he won't any more? As I haven't expressed since ds was 4 weeks and have never used my hand pump, I would probably have to do it over several days to build up enough to last for the day. Would this be possible/would the milk keep? Has anyone got any helpful suggestions for me? Thanks

At first my boy would not take the bottle of expressed milk at all and spent my entire time away screaming(and that was just an evening out) so really dont know whether bottle of expressed will be ok! Also by boobs would not go 10 hours with out a feed-you would or should surely need to express while you are away.My expressing ranged from 1oz to 8oz depending on time of day.The evening wasnt good.
Boots do great sterile bags and clips for breast milk,I stored expressed milk in these in the freezer till i needed it.Hope this helps

of course, will have to express while away.
aaaaarrrgh.

Hope all goes well whatever you decide to do

I exclusively express for dd who is 6 mths. She has just started on solids and has 5 x 180ml (which she may/may not finish depending on how much she's had to eat).
I haven't got any ideas re trying to get your son to take bottles as dd never latched on but I'm sure some other MNers can help (getting someone else to give the bottle, trying from a cup).

Breastmilk can keep for 8 days in the fridge (I have read 11 days but that might be pushing it a bit) - or you could always express & then freeze what you've got. Any frozen milk which has been defrosted needs to be used within 24 hrs.

With expressing, just remember to relax as that will help with the letdown. Some mums manage to express from one side whilst feeding on the other - sounds like a juggling act to me but it might work for you.

I hope this helps. Good luck!!

thanks

Would definitely try it a couple of times before you go. Also my LO used to take bottle but I left it for a while and he hated it. Took 40 mins to take 9oz instead of 10 mins breast feeding. Realised it was because I was still using size 1 teats. Whacked him on a size 3 teat and all was well the next time! Buy a few different sized teats. I tried a size 4 by accident and he nearly choked and took loads of air and we had a really restless night!

Also - I'm sure people will disagree but my LO is now 4 months and I will be stopping bfing soon so if miss a feed and DP does it, he gives formula so that LO gets used to the taste. I express when I get home and freeze it for when I have given up so he can still have the odd blast of boob milk. Makes it less pressure on me to express enough milk. Wouldn't do this too often in case my milk supply goes down.

I normally leave dd 15 oz of ebm at nursery per day and that keeps her busy for 8 hrs. You will find that initially your lo may only have 1 or 2 oz per feed initially. Why don't you try now with dh giving her just 1 or 2 oz (with you out of room preferably out of the house) initially? At your lo's age I would also go straight to a sippy cup if I did this again. The tommee tippee 1st cup seems really good. Do not use one with a valve. If they don't have that brand in Germany then look for one with just a single hole on the spout. Or cup feed w/out a lid. My dd eventually took to MAM Ultivent bottles and nipples but that is because I was clueless about cupfeeding so I went to something in my comfort zone. It did take her a whole week before she was willing to take more than an oz at a time from a bottle at nursery. Lots of stress and tears from mommy and baby - poor nursery nurses too. Babies are likely to hold out for boobie so don't expect lo to take full feeds early on. Right now she won't have more than 5 oz per feed either. Remember though, babies will not starve themselves. They will hold out as long as possible but will eventually accept food from any container so take heart. In the long run, that is what kept me going.

Thanks everyone for your tips. Problem probably solved/deferred, as it looks like I'm not going - colleague has said I have enough hassle as it is and should submit my points through him in writing.