Advice - going out for whole day without 6 week BF baby - possible or not????

[TamTam29]

Hi all,

Baby isnt due here till next week, but we booked Oasis concert tickets shortly before I found out I was pregnant with number 2! Depending on when baby arrives they will be between 4 and 7 weeks old. I was really looking forward to going with DH as it has been years since we have done anything similar.

I BF DS1 till around 5 1/2 months (would have been slightly longer but soon as I started mix feeding DS got lazy)

I am not sure if BF would be established enough by then to go - we would be out for pretty much the whole day & evening. Im thinking I would be very engorged and that it would mess up my milk supply for a few days afterwards! And would I have enough time to establish BF and build up a supply of expressed milk to freeze and give to baby on the day? I only ever missed odd feeds with DS1 and he was older and BF established.

I even thought about sneaking in my breastpump and pumping in the toilets!! (LOL)

I am now fairly resigned to the fact that I wwont be able to go, but wanted to check if any of you knowledgeable ladies had any tips or suggestions.

Hi. As it's your second baby BF might well get established quicker. If it does, you'll be able to express and freeze your BM from about 2-3 weeks. This should mean that you'll have a decent supply when the time comes. Laughing aside, if you're out for the whole day, you will have to go and pump at the times you normally feed, otherwise you'll bugger up your supply. Not to mention the pain if you don't feed all day!!!
Good luck with everything chick.

If you're separated for that long then expressing would be pretty much essential to avoid engorgement and the risk of mastitis/blocked ducts. If a pump's not possible, then hand expressing in a disabled loo which has a sink could be an option (assuming you would dump the milk?)?

Expressing enough in advance to provide milk for a very young baby in only a few weeks could be challenging, even if bf is going well. Often it's hard to find time to express, especially with an older child to care for as well.

How would you feel about being away from a young baby for so many hours?

There's also the question of how to feed the expressed milk to your baby. 4 weeks is fairly early to introduce a bottle, though some people do it without problems. Nipple confusion can happen, but doesn't always -there's no real way to tell in advance. Some babies are reluctant to take a bottle.

I wouldn't have been able to do it with either of my 2 becaus

1. wouldn't have been able to express enough for a long stint apart (and I can express fairly well)

2. wouldn't have wanted to risk upsetting the supply that we'd built up.

3. Hated feeling so engorged and expressing in a public place isn't nice.

4. Neither ds had tried a bottle by then.

5. wouldn't have wanted to leave such a young child for so long (hormones!)

Good luck if you do decide to go for it!

Thanks ladies - think you just confirmed what I already knew/was thinking!

As for leaving LO, I was going to cross that bridge when it came to it, although i think that would have been my biggest hurdle! I dont remember leaving the house without DS till he was around 3 months and thaat was to pop out to do some Christmas shopping between his feeds!

And I am determined to give BF a try for longer this time!

So looks like DH will be pulling names out of a hat as he has a queue of friends waiting for my ticket!

I went to Silverstone for the F1 when Tom was about 8 weeks old and had started a supply of frozen BM from about 6 weeks. I got up 2 hours earlier than I had to so I could express each morning and rouse Tom enough to give him a feed before we left. Then when we got home each night (3 day weekend), i'd either feed him or express again. It was a bit uncomfortable. Tom was a stubborn baby (still is at 3 ) but we were lucky he took the bottles.