I'm really curious how other bf mums have coped if they've needed to/wanted to go away and leave their baby for a period of time. My situation is that my ds is 6 months; my original plan was to bf until he was about 1 which would co-incide with me going back to work and him being able to drink ordinary cow's milk. However, my friend asked me a while ago if I could come away for her hen weekend at the end of april. Ds will be 8 months by then so I just thought I might as well change the goal posts and wean him gradually in time for that. She's even changed the date to suit me but now the time is looming closer i'm really nervous about leaving him!
That gives me just short of 2 months to decide what I'm going to do. I know if I want to wean completely I need to start asap if i'm to do it gradually (ie drop one feed a week). When I've asked friend's/family's advice they've either said 'Can't he go with you?' (eh? Its a hen weekend-are they trying to make me feel guilty about leaving him?!) or 'why don't you pump enough to freeze and leave'. This sounds fine in principle (even the fact that i'd have to 'pump and dump' whilst I was away to stop me becoming engorged wouldn't bother me that much)but I feel quite strongly about the fact that my disappearing for 2 days will be traumatic enough for him without it co-inciding with the end of such a special thing that bf has been. I know he's in fantastic hands with his dad but at the end of the day, as i'm the one at home I am his main carer so its bound to be unsettling for him. Thats why I'm adament that if I'm going to do it I'll have to wean(I've convinced myself now just writing that......)
Sorry this is such a long post and thank you if you're still with me......
My main concerns then are a)how do I start weaning? b) will that be it-ie should I carry on-eg one feed a day when I return?
As for how-I know I want to start gradually but am not sure which feed to switch to a bottle first. I'm torn between whether or not to do the night-time one. Part of me thinks its a good one as his dad can then do it which will be nice for him/good coz we've got the prob of him using breast as a sleep trigger and this might put an end to this and help with middle of the night waking but then another part of me feels that this is the one i'd like to drop last as its such a comforting/relaxing/special time of the day. Also, should I encourage the use of a feeder cup as I've heard that bottles should be discouraged from 6 months. At the mo he's had about a bottle a week of ebm and although he doesn't properly suck (from an avent bottle)he gets the milk inside him! I've bought a beaker which he just messes about with at the mo with water in and a training bottle from boots which is supposed to help with transition from bottle to beaker. Is it ok to put formula in a beaker do you think?
Also (there's more?!) it turns out he has cows milk allergy so has been precribed hypoallergenic formula (Nutramigen). It stinks and tastes AWFUL (really bitter) so he hates it (mind you it could just be that he hates the bottle and would hate ordinary formula too).
as for b):If I do go he'll have to cope with out bf for a weekend so if I was to take it up again upon my return would this just be daft? My mum says carry on the night feed alap as once you stop there's no going back/at least he'll be getting anti-bodies etc still but i feel mean leaving him then taking it up again as I feel like its rubbing his face in it when I get back (ha ha, look what I've deprived you of whilst ive been away!!!!!!!!!!!) daft/irrational I know!
Thank you so so much for any kind of insights/advice/experiences.
I really appreciate you for reading all this way down!