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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

BF baby, mum away for two weeks

23 replies

MiaMamma · 04/07/2006 17:50

I'm very confused and don't know what to do now.

My DD is 9 weeks old and e breastfed. I'm very happy to do it and would like to continue doing that at least until she's 6 months.

Yesterday I was offered to go to 2-week work experience in my home country (I've tried to get this place for couple of years now) and I know I don't want to miss it as I might never get this opp again. My mum is happy to look after DD and I absolutely trust her doing that. I'll be away during days and couple of nights (it's geological survey related job, so have to be out camping for some nights).

First I thought I'll start freezing ebm but journey there takes at least 10 hours - not sure it's safe to keep frozen ebm in freezerbag for so long.

I don't really want to give DD formula but now I think it's my only chance. When I'm away during the day I can express to keep my supply up but can't store the milk anywhere.

Is there something I haven't thought of I can do? Or if I HAVE to give her formula for those two weeks, should I start introducing it to her already?

Any advice would be great

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UniSarah · 04/07/2006 17:57

Have you thought about mixing formula and breast, breast when you can, formula when you can't?

there are small battery op fridges on the market, would one of them help with storing ebm?

nicnack2 · 04/07/2006 18:00

medula breast pump runs on mains and battery. could have formula and you express to keep up demand

KathyMCMLXXII · 04/07/2006 18:03

There must be some kind of insulated transport container (like they use for carrying blood or vaccines) that would keep it frozen for 10 hours - it's not that long really. Maybe expensive, but there must be something out there that can do the job.

hunkermunker · 04/07/2006 18:04

When are you going?

MiaMamma · 04/07/2006 18:08

On 19th July already

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tribpot · 04/07/2006 18:10

This may sound mad, but could your mum go with you?

MiaMamma · 04/07/2006 18:13

My mum is there already, I'll go with DD.
I can bf at nights and over the weekend but mum has to do all the day-time feeds.

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KathyMCMLXXII · 04/07/2006 18:13

You probably don't have time to build up enough of a supply for her to only have ebm during that time, so it sounds like you will have to mix in formula feeds and ebm feeds.

KathyMCMLXXII · 04/07/2006 18:14

have you started expressing yet?

MiaMamma · 04/07/2006 18:16

Yes, I've expressed before and DD is happy to take ebm from the bottle.

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KathyMCMLXXII · 04/07/2006 18:21

Have you worked out how much she will need and how long it will take you to express it?

(I expressed a lot because I work in a city 2 hours away from my dh, so when I went back to work I was away for 3 days a week and we gave dd ebm during that time. It did take me ages to get the point where I was expressing much, though - eventually I could do 10 oz a day but it took months to get to that point!)

hunkermunker · 04/07/2006 18:33

I think that your EBM will be fine for ten hours in a coolbag with squillions of ice packs.

It's fine at room temp for 8 hours.

I would express as much as you can now. Do you have any stored?

MiaMamma · 04/07/2006 18:38

I haven't really figured it out yet, it all came so suddenly and there's so many things to think about!

I can express 3-4oz in one go and quite quickly but so far I've done it only once a day couple of days a week - so not regulary.
As mostly I bf I don't have any idea how much she takes every feed.

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MiaMamma · 04/07/2006 18:42

I just run out of my frozen milk over the weekend, have to start collecting it again then

When I'll start expressing milk regulary now, how often should I do it?

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NotQuiteCockney · 04/07/2006 19:00

I would try to express a couple of times per day. And use a freezerbag. Oooh, and check the milk maybe? An airplane's hold is really really cold, below zero, for sure.

KathyMCMLXXII · 05/07/2006 15:35

MiaMamma, if I were you I would express as much as possible, since you have quite a lot of milk to get and not much time to do it. If it helps, I used to find that I could get much more by getting up early and expressing before my first feed of the day (but she was sleeping through the night - it may be different if she's not).

If you don't know this already, the cheapest bm freezer bags are from Boots.

I weighed dd's nappies to get a rough idea of how much she was drinking (obviously not 100% accurate because of liquid lost in sweat and breathing) and I reckoned it was around 21oz a day. I also read somewhere that 20oz is about average at around 3-4 months. Of course, you need a bit extra as some ends up getting thrown away if you overestimate how much you need for a feed. I was advised to freeze in different amounts (5oz, 2oz etc) so you have a choice how much to give at a feed.

As I understand it (and I don't really understand the science behind this, so someone who knows better may correct me) the problem with travelling comes because it's not safe to refreeze already-defrosted milk, so if the milk defrosts on the journey you can't freeze it again. You may be lucky with a cold bag and lots of ice blocks on a 10 hour journey, but I tried this last year on a 5-hour drive up from the south coast and my milk defrosted and I had to throw away a week's worth of expressing. Still, as NQC says, an aeroplane's hold is really really cold so you may well be lucky!

If you are flying somewhere with rules about importing foodstuffs, maybe you can confirm in advance that it's ebm and that it doesn't count as dairy - you don't want to turn up for your flight and have them refuse to carry it.

As to whether you should introduce her to formula in advance, I would say you have to decide based on how likely it is that you will manage to get away without giving her any, how concerned you are to keep things smooth and easy for your mum, and how concerned you are about maintaining her 100% bf status. Eg. if you think your mum probably will have to give her formula at some point, you can make things smoother for your mum by introducing it to her first (so dd doesn't have to deal with strange person and strange food all at once). On the other hand if you think you can probably get away without it, then why lose her 100% bf state just on the offchance that something might go wrong. After all, if there is a disaster (eg the airline loses your milk!) and you have to give formula, or you miscalculate and run out unexpectedly, she'll be fine in the end -either she'll drink the formula, or she'll just bf more when you're around - she won't starve (though might give your mum a hard time if she's not happy about it, or keep you up all night feeding!)

As HM says, bm has really good keeping and antibacterial qualities - better than formula or cow's milk. 'The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding' (by the La Leche League) makes out you can be amazingly relaxed, eg. not sterilise your breastpump every time you use it. If you can express during the day I'd have thought the milk would be all right in an an insulated bag or thermos stuffed into your rucksack, specially if your mum then gives it to her the next day. I don't know what kind of pump you use, but I personally only used a hand pump and found it took ages, which I didn;t mind when I was expressing at home, but when I was expressing at work it was a pain in the neck to spend 30-40 mins locked in my office able to only type one-handed! So a battery pump might be the best kind.

What country is it by the way? What is the weather like there, and the attitude to breastfeeding?

Hope some of this helps.... BTW I think it's fab that you are going for this. Lots & lots of luck.

MiaMamma · 05/07/2006 16:11

Thank you Kathy for all this information and all those good tips. I def want to try to freeze as much as I can and take it with me. Will contact the airline and find out their rules about it - good tip.

I'm using hand pump and I can express 3oz in about 5-10mins. I'm used to using it and think it's pretty good result, so wont by a new one yet.

I'll go to Estonia, will see my friends and family again And my friends can't wait to meet my little DD.
The weather is same as here at the moment (hot!)and I think their attitude about bf is pretty much same as in UK. But I'm relaxed about it and bf happily in the public - no matter what the comments are

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KathyMCMLXXII · 05/07/2006 16:17

3oz in 5-10 mins is v good going!

It's great that you are relaxed about bf in public. It never bothered me either, and I never had any negative comments (though a group of teenagers on an expedition did a double take once when they passed me breastfeeding halfway up a hill in the Lake District!)

Estonia always sounds lovely - hope you have a great time.

Rosieglow · 05/07/2006 22:47

Good luck with the trip. I had a thought that if you were concerned with the storage of your ebm on the journey you could put a max/min thermometer in the bag with it. Then when you got to your destination you'd be sure the milk hadn't defrosted on the journey. Not sure where you'd get one from though - don't people use them in greenhouses?

prettybird · 05/07/2006 23:42

My ds was 6 months when I went away for 9 days on a skiing holiday, so a wee bit older than yours.

I expressed loads before going, so he didn't need any formula.

I expressedon the way out to France - it was nearly 24 hours before I got to the chalet dh was already in. I just put the stuff I had epxressed straight in the freezer. I would express during the day out on the sloopes and then transfer o the freezer.... the advantage being of course that the outside temparature was very cold!

Goin home again took nealry 24 hours (driving, ferry and then more driving up to Glasgow). We had loads of freezer blocks and used an insulating bag. The milk was just starting to defrost when we got home, but I put it straight in the freezer, and ds never seemed to show any ill effects.

.... this was during the foot and mouth crisis and I was just itching to be stopped at Dover and told I couldn't bring in "dairy" products...of course, we weren't stopped!

muffinmum · 06/07/2006 16:51

mammamia, i just came across a website called expressyourselfmums.co.uk, there is an article there about expressing and it mentions an organisation called unitd kingdom association for milk banking. perhaps they can give you some advice about getting your store of frozen milk to estonia without it defrosting? good luck

UniSarah · 06/07/2006 17:41

Has any one used dry ice pellets or blocks to keep milk frozen? NO idea if its a good idea or not. BUT beer put in a dry ice cooler stays frozen for days.
Long story , why we were frezeing beer with dry ice... didn;t taste good when defrosted :-( BUT it was cold.

MiaMamma · 06/07/2006 22:18

thanks muffinmum - will have a look

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