Leaving my breastfed 10 month old Baby overnight with the in-laws for the first time

[BreastfeedingMomma2019andup]

Hello,

So my baby is 10 months old and with lockdown we have just never got around to leaving her overnight. Now I’m so worried and anxious. She is breastfed alongside three meals a day and when I have expressed and left her in the day for a few hours before she tends to not really drink much milk just a little water and has her meals.

My husband and I are meant to be going on a staycation with some friends this weekend and with the weather being hot I’m so worried about leaving her. My mother in law is great with her and I know will do her best, but when she has tried to put her to bed before she just leaves her to cry it out. I really don’t like that method I find it very upsetting. Also the last time I left her with her she didn’t seem to have got on very well with the milk and when I asked how much water she had had it was Hardly any!

My husband says he really needs this weekend, but I just can’t stand the thought of her being unhappy or thirsty.

Am I being ridiculous?

I don’t think you’re being ridiculous, I personally wouldn’t want to leave her. You’re unlikely to enjoy yourself if you’re not sure your DD is being looked after properly. Any chance your husband can go by himself?

you aren't being ridiculous. I would be taking the baby on the staycation.

little babies need their parents. there can be child-free vacations in a couple of years but it is perfectly possible to get through the baby years without any child-free breaks.

it's about balancing the magnitude of need, and the magnitude of the harm that will be done if that need isn't fulfilled, and the resilience of the individual who will take that harm. your DH is more capable of coping with a decision that goes against him than your baby is, and if he is a decent person he would rather take the hit himself than put his child through something traumatic.