How long can a bf baby go without milk?

[kimann]

I am in such a dilemma. I have a 6 month old son. He is ebf and will not take a bottle. We have tried about 10 bottles. Trying a free flow sippy cup now. No luck. He spits everything out. Doesn't really eat and spits most food out. He's a big boy though - 91st percentile for height and weight.

Here is my dilemma. My best friend is over from Dubai soon and wants to to out for an afternoon tea followed by a comedy show (2pm-9pm) Also - her and her husband want to go out for a dinner the night before (4-5 hours). Should I just cancel my plans? I really need to get out as i am so depressed just being home (housebound for 1 year since Jan 2016 as has severe HG) but at the same time - my son won't take a bottle. I don't know what to do.

Imo, he'll be fine for both spells. Assuming he'll be asleep for most of the time you're at dinner, and that he's on some kind of solids already? My I left my ds for 24 hours when he was 10mo. He does take any kind of receptacle but has always been ebf and does not like any other milk. At all. Even now at 17mo.

Not fully understanding. Will you be taking him with you?

Is he in a routine i.e. can you predict when he'll want feeding?

If he has a bedtime feed and then conks out for several hours then dinner should be ok I'd have thought. Assuming you would go out after his bedtime.

The afternoon tea plus comedy could be tricky if he doesn't take much solids. That's a long stint and a hungry bedtime could well be tricky. Can you take DS to the tea part? Can whoever is looking after DS bring him to you? Or can you come home for a bit in between?

If she's a good friend then hopefully she wouldn't mind adapting her plans a little to fit in with what you can manage - so going out for 3-4 hours at a time but no more than that?

I will bring my son for the tea - but I am a little worried about the evening part (comedy show and dinner) these would be about 4 hours (on different days though)

I reckon 4 hours without a feed is absolutely fine for a 6 month old. As long as he feeds well before the 4 hours stint.

I mean he might not be that happy about it (!) but he won't come to any physical harm.

Thanks all for your help. X

You can take him out for dinner with you. If you're confident he won't cry, there's nothing wrong with it. Mine is 6 months old too, is ebf and won't take a bottle, so I just take him everywhere

You can take him anywhere open to the public, legally, and all restaurants in the UK have to let you breastfeed. If you're worried about people being grossed out, you could shield their view with your hand or a muslin, but I've never bothered and have never noticed anyone be bothered by it.

If, however, you want to be alone from him for the evening, I'm sure he'll be fine. Give him a big feed before you leave and if he's thirsty enough (although he should be fine) he might drink milk from a cup.

My friend had a similar issues with her dd. She had to visit A&E forcing her to leave her dd with her mum. Voila, dd took milk from a bottle. Next time some tries to feed him, squeeze the teat in his mouth so he understands milk is coming out. It might start him off.

He may take it from someone else and if all else fails they can use a medicine syringe. Put a clean finger in his mouth near the roof to start his suckle reflex then slide the syringe in and gentle release the milk a bit at a time. I wouldn't wait until he's properly hungry though as it's much harder when screaming. Just leave the person looking after him with enough expressed milk. Go enjoy your evening.

thank you all who have commented/advised. I am feeling quite anxious today and was on the verge of cancelling everything because i am in such a state worrying what will happen if i leave him. After reading all your messages, i think I will persevere with the bottle i have and make a decision closer to time. I might get husband to try it out this saturday while i take my toddler to the playground for a few hours (weather permitting!) Dinner is on the 31st and the tea/comedy day is on the 6th of April (so able to cancel still)

Thanks all

Odd suggestion perhaps, but have you ever given him Calpol or Nurofen with those fat syringes that come with them? Breastfed ds sucked like crazy on those syringes; I guess it's because you can squirt little by little as they suck, a bit like a boob. Could be worth trying to feed him with one of those if you have one around, then you'll at least have an emergency back-up plan if all else fails!

Epoxy - yes we have, twice before when he had his jabs. Thank you for that suggestion!

My breast fed baby didn't take a bottle until he was 9 months old despite trying every bottle and tray know to man.

My return to work date was approaching and as I knew I wouldn't be around to breast feed in the day or breast feed him before bed then we just took the tough love approach.

As I hadn't been away from him for all that time I told DH that I was going out and that he would have to just keep offering bottles in between DS's meals.

DS refused the bottles all day and so before bed my DH offered the milk in a standard two handled sippy cup (the same as DS drank water from) and he drank the milk fine from it so we just carried on doing that.

That's supposed to say we tried every bottle and teat, not tray

I had to leave my (then) 5.5 month old cup/bottle/EBM/formula refusing son for 5 hours to do a speed awareness course. He was a bit grumpy towards the end but was totally fine.