Leaving my BF 4 month old for a weekend away

[Corbiere92]

Would love to hear any experiences of leaving your LO with family for a weekend away.

Before I fell pregnant I booked a trip abroad to celebrate my 30th with a group of friends (we’ve been friends since primary school and all turned 30 this past year).

Obviously have since had my son, but would still like to go on the trip. It’s abroad, friends are all staying a week but me and my OH are planning to go Fri-Mon.

He is breastfed but has been taking an evening bottle (that I’ve pumped for, so while I’m away he can have combo BF and FF). Leaving him with my mum who I trust 100%.We’re doing a trial run overnight this weekend and if all goes okay we’re good to go!

Will pump while I’m away (only have a hand pump, will I need an electric??)

Anyone with experiences of leaving their LO at a similar age?

I left my 16 week old with my sister when I went for a wedding, but that was just for the day, not for a weekend.

If you are giving your mum expressed milk to feed your LO, I'd suggest giving her far too much. I left 850ml with my sister (DD had 2 feeds in the morning before I left) and we had to leave early as DD had chugged it all!

If you want to make it happen you can - just be sure to pump enough and not get mastitis! I think that will be your biggest risk - read up on the signs beforehand and be prepared to clear it if you do get a blocked duct. Have fun!

Thanks Pitstop, I definitely won’t have pumped enough for him to be ebf while I’m away so my mom will be topping up with formula.

Did you pump while you were away for the day, if so any tips/suggestions on type of pump? I have a hand pump, but scared of mastitis!

@katnyps thanks! I’ve unfortunately had it once before so I was a bit clueless but am now a bit more aware of the early signs, I’ll definitely brush up on it before I go though!

I really don't want to piss on your chips, but... My best friend left her bf 5m old with me to go to a wedding. It was great until about 6 pm and after that there was precisely nothing I could do to calm him because the only thing that could work wasn't there and he refused bottles and had never used a dummy. It was the longest 3 hours until she got home and I refused to have him again for that long until he was able to manage a day without a breastfeed.

Can you pump extra each day and freeze, but topping up with formula if he has no problem taking it will be fine. I would try and pump while you are away at similar times as you would when at home to keep flow going.

I wouldn’t of done this but would you not be better switching the formula if you want to go? You run the risk of being incredibly sore whilst abroad.

At the wedding, I used my hands free pump (bought for about £50 off Amazon) and pumped every 2 1/2 - 3 hours for 20mins each side. Because the hands free pump just sits in your bra, I was able to just pop a scarf around me and and over the chest to disguise the bulge, but I was able to sit with family and carry on talking. A few people who didn't realise that I was pumping wondered what the noise was, but it was easy and convenient

Thanks all

@Imsittinginthekitchensink I won’t lie I’m a bit worried about that, I’m hoping a practice run at my mums this weekend will put my mind at ease, but there is a chance it might do the opposite and make the decision for me if he refuses for my mum when I’m only five minutes away.

@Mindymomo thanks yeah I’ve been pumping 3-4oz each day for the last couple of weeks and freezing it (I’ve replaced one BF with a FF and pumped to build up a bit of a stockpile) but he’s greedy so I have a feeling he will likely need a top up of formula too.

@Pitstop1986 thanks, I’m tempted to get a hands free one although I’ll likely only need it for this weekend trip, so undecided on whether I should save the money and just crack my hand pump out. He’s feeding every 3.5 hours ish so I will just pump to mirror his usual feeding pattern while I’m away.

I was so naive to the complexities BF’ing before I had my son!!

Your little one feeds every 3.5 hours?! That's the dream! My DD feeds about once an hour (she does sleep well during the night, so goes 10pm until 6am without a feed) I struggle doing anything trying to work around her feeds!

Enjoy your holiday, I hope your LO behaves!

Quick update! We did a practice run at my mums with me sleeping in the spare room
last night and went okay.

My boobs are a bit sore so I think I’ll need to either buy a more powerful electric pump or at least pump more often to avoid engorgement.

Baby however absolutely fine, quite happily settling - only difference being he didn’t feed through the night despite being offered a bottle.

Anyone out there with recommendations for electric breast pumps?

I went away for one night when my breastfed baby was five months old. I had managed to
pump enough milk to leave but the engorgement was unreal just for 24 hours. I had to take a hand pump and an electric pump for use at the concert and night out and then at the hotel. I had to pump every three hours max probably more like 2.5

inhad a medela swing electric pump which was great . It was only a single and as with the hand pump I had to collect from the other side in a cup or wineglass
the joys of motherhood!

Thanks @Whiskeypowers its only just been 12 hours for me and using the manual pump obviously doesn’t match up to bf’ing because I already feel pretty uncomfortable!

Just looking at the medela swing online now, seems to have good reviews!

did you find even using the medela swing that you still became engorged then?

Sorry for late reply
no the electric Medela one was much more effective at extraction !

Hi @Corbiere92
just a thought, do you have a local Childrens centre you can hire an electric pump from? I hired one recently for £10. I already had my own doubly electric pump but they are hospital grade and so much better. I used it to build up my stash before returning to work at 6 months, and another 3m on I’m still trying to get through all the milk (and still breastfeeding!) x

Thanks all, in the end, I didn’t go! :( little one was feeding well and had a lovely time with my mum but my boobs were just too uncomfortable so I didn’t want to risk mastitis while I was away - although never got chance to try and electric pump, I think if I had my time again I’d have started preparing a bit sooner as maybe that would’ve reassured me!