no breastmilk and just 'a few sips of water or juice' for at least 5 hours before operation?

[YuleingFanjo]

I just got a letter through for DS's operation for an undescended testicle.
He will be 14 months old on the day of the operation and I breastfeed on demand. It'll be a monday and usually he would have Breastmilk when he wakes (around 7.30) a beaker of expressed milk at 10.30 in Nursery and then lunch at 11.30.

we have to report to reception at 12.30 so I imagine that he won't have the op until at least an hour later...

Am i really not supposed to let him breastfeed for 5 - 6 hours and only give him a bit of water? I called tehm to check and they say 'probably best not to'!

Poor DS! The reason is breastmilk is counted as food and if he is having a general anaesthetic he must be nil by mouth in order to negate the risk of him aspirating anything left in his stomach. It's for safety but it's very upsetting if you are his mum! He will be fine and will most likely have fluids during the op. I see little ones bouncing about in recovery half an hour after ops so try not to worry too much.

Isn't breastmilk digested as quickly as water though?
Maybe ask La Leche or similar?

nil by mouth except water or fruit juice? I can maybe understand water but Orange Juice?

DD is having a GA tomorrow -- our instructions are she can have breastmilk up to 3 hours before admission/4 hours before GA and water or clear (not cloudy or carbonated) apple juice up to 1 hour before admission/2 hours before GA. Formula or any other drinks have an earlier cut-off time (don't remember what as she wouldn't have been having those anyway).

I wonder if I can contact someone at the hospital who might know more. They have sent me nothing about the operation itself either so what I have seems to be general cover-all info. 5 hours will be hard, 6 hours a nightmare, anything longer is going to be worse!

Tbh clarify as orange juice is counted as food as well. Usually clear fluids are allowed up to two hours before but no milk or any other sort of fluids/food. The best person to check with is the anaesthetist.

good luck for tomorrow Tmesis, hope it's not too scary for you and noting too serious.

Sounds right to me. DS has had operations monthly since four months old and they need to go nil by mouth for about four to five hours beforehand. Don't worry, it's a lot easier to distract a hungry fourteen month old than a four month old.

Dr Sears says 4 hours for human milk. Kellymom says 3-4 :(

My DS had an op last year was about the same age and had to do the same. We spent alot of the waiting time wandering the hallways and playing in nursery playroom - lots of things your not supposed to do and touch in a hospital to distract a 14 month old. My DS was fine pre op but quite upset when he woke up as by then he was really hungry and we fed him straight away - nurse suggested doing this rather than wait the reccomended hour after as he was crying quite a lot and would have made himself sick anyway. He was fine after he had a full tummy - no sickness and was up exploring shortly after. Hopefully at 14 months he will be the first to go in. Good Luck

The thing with bf also is that it cannot be measured (as well as being classed as food) because when they say it is a few sips, it really is. It is one day, he is over a year old not a newborn and honestly he will be fine.

Ds was still being exclusively bf when he had to have an operation aged 6 and a bit months.

I couldn't feed him for 5 hours pre op and he flatly refused water in any form (had never had it before).

He was fine.

Much safer for him to be hungry/thirsty/uncomfortable than to risk having anything in his tummy.

Hope it all goes really well

Ds had an operation at 18 months and I was amazed how easy the nil by mouth stage was!

I had same as Sirzy.

Much easier for first op at 20 months than second at 3.6yo. The first he didn't really seem to notice, the second he stomped into the hospital and announced "My mummy's trying to starve me to death. She won't give me any food." I'd blocked off the doorway through to the kitchen as I didn't trust him not to help himself if he had the opportunity.

For the 20 month op, I put him to bed really late which meant he slept until about 10:30 which helped.