Leaving 7 month old ebf baby overnight

[apachepony]

Hi, in 5 weeks time roughly I have to leave my then just turned7 month old baby for roughly 30 hours including overnight. He has refused bottles since 4 months old and also nurses to sleep and cosleeps. I am intending to do blw starting in a week's time so I'm guessing he won't be eating much by then? How should I do this? Should I try to really hard to get him onto bottles or should I try to get him on a sippy cup? Or would a sippy cup be enough for overnight? Was also going to try to get him to sleep in a cot - currently he goes to sleep in our bed but this won't be safe as he gets more mobile. Will this be hard to do in a month?

Just wanted to quickly say I've seen this and will share my experience properly tomorrow, I have to go to bed now!
Firstly though - don't fret:

1. it is only 30 hours

&

1. A bf baby won't starve him/herself when food/milk/water is being offered .......so it will all be fine!

DS is now 12 mo and I've been there.
At 7mo He used sippy cup for water and a soft spout born free bottle/cup trainer for milk (in fact he still does!). He ate a little twice a day and would wait for me to get home so would not always drink milk in my absence. LLL said this can be normal and not to get stressed by it.

More tomorrow. Sleep well.

Thanks trying - bit stressed by this so all advice is welcome!

Co sleeping is fine with older babies, mine co slept until they were 14 months but because of your time away I would consider putting Lo in his own room and getting the person who will be looking after him while you are away to deal with some of the night wakings. There are some good tips here.

Keelymom has some good information on starting solids. Really don't think any 7 month old will take enough to replace milk feeds though.

Who will be looking after Lo while you are gone? Could they stay nearby so that you can do some feeds? How is Lo with alternatives to bottles?. Have you read how to bottle feed the bf baby too? If you look in the Mn archive there should be lots of threads on bottle refusing.

Will you be expressing while you are away? You might find that you will need to for your own comfort

It will be ok. I've been there with both my DCs and both have lived to tell the tale.

My MIL has a few more grey hairs as a result

Baby's dad will be looking after him, possibly with some help from his mum. He'll be over 3 hours away, unless I can persuade him to drop me to where I'm going (which would also shorten the time apart, possibly to 20 to 24 hours). So far I haven't tried him with bottle replacements - he's not quite 6 months at the mo, but will try him with a sippy cup soon. Unfortunately away from home and have left my pump behind which is going to delay me tackling this for another week - doubt he will like formula

I've done this & it was absolutely fine. I was away for about 30 hours too. My boobs were like rocks, take a good pump with you! I actually think it's an easy age for a baby to be left, as they are unlikely to have started on separation anxiety.

Can you hand express? Might be easier than taking a pump with you

It's good to hear from those who did it and said it was fine! Did your babies take bottles while you were gone?

I've been away a couple of times... At 4mo & 9mo. Daddy has a few more grey hairs!!! They co slept without me & daddy really did enjoy it despite not getting much sleep.... So he says :)
DS took a bottle or the sippy cup. I did leave ebm but there was not enough so daddy tried formula too. Bit hit n miss but he also ate cheese n yoghurt & fruit n veg & drank water (at 9mo) so was fine. At 4mo he was fine too. Daddy muddled through. He didn't feel the need to tell me all the trials & tribulations, which I wAs thankful for. A mummy does not need to hear about any suffering her little baby may have suffered in her absence. Best ask daddy & granny to keep schtum!!
Btw we partly co sleep & DS is 13 mo now. It works for us. The bed is against the wall & we have a co sleeper on the other side. Daddy taught DS how to get out of bed safely - on tummy & feet first. It really helped.

Some good advice here.

Don't count on introducing solids = baby wanting less milk; it certainly didn't mean that for either of my babies, especially in the early days of weaning.

You'll be fine - as others have said, the baby won't starve himself.

Thanks all for the reassuring words. I will work on trying to get baby to accept a bottle and am allowing myself to think there might even be a possibility of enjoying rather than teeth grittingly enduring this break away!

Enjoy it!! Happy mummy = happy baby
Plus why put yourself through the pain of separation if it is not to have a good time?

My dd refused bottles but took to a sippy cup when I started blw at 6 months. Failing that a cup may work so don't stress if your dc wont take a bottle.