Will my milk dry up? (please say no!)

[mammycampbell]

DS 10.5 months old is bf first thing in the morning and last thing at night as part of bedtime routine. during the day i am at work and he has formula.

A dear friend of mine is gravely ill and i need to see her. logistically this means 48 hours away from my baby as she is in another country and I can't take him with me for various reasons.

will having a 48 hour break necessarily mean the end of bfing? i don't really know how the supply-demand feedback loop works at this stage. Has anyone done this and still been able to bf after that gap?

I love the feeling of closeness I get during our two feeds and am keen to carry on for a bit longer, but i would never forgive myself if i couldn't go to be with my pal at this time.

Can you take a breast pump with you to keep your supply going? A small hand pump wouldn't take up too much room in your luggage. You need not save the milk, but pumping would keep the supply up.

I wouldn't have thought that your daughter would stop feeding in such a short period of time - but that is based only on my experience.

It'll probably be fine but i would take a pump in case you get uncomfortable.

No, your milk won't dry up.

Expressing will keep you comfortable.

Your ds may find it hard to do without you, and may need some coaxing when you get back - but this should be temporary and love and patience will resolve it.

Sorry about your friend :(

brilliant thanks so much - of course expressing is a great idea. ameda breast pump will be coming with me! Haven't expressed since the v early days of sleep deprivation so it will almost be nostalgic. DS and I both seem to love these feeds so any chance of keeping them going is well worth it.

still have high hopes that my pal will recover enough to meet DS2 one day but her doctors don't share my optimism :(