Return to work and breastfeeding

[Kelbells]

Please help! I'm planning a return to work 4 days a week in September when DS is 10.5 months. We exclusively breastfeed and are working towards dropping his lunch feed which will cover my time away from him and he can use a sippy cup for long days. My job involves conferences several times a year (september and December this year) which include one or two nights away, I'm hoping to be able to take my husband or child care with me to look after him during the day and stay at the hotel overnight with me so that I can feed him. This won't affect my working day but I'm waiting to find out if they will agree to this. Do I have any legal rights in regard to continuing to being given opportunity to breastfeed or can they refuse? These are mandatory attendance and I'm panicking that they'll say no. I'm not prepared to leave him that long yet! (PFB I know! )

What would they need to agree to? Surely if you're working away and choose to bring your baby and either your husband or nanny with you, that's your business?

If you are paying the costs of the additional people coming, then there's no reason for your employer to object. At 10.5 months you should be able to manage a morning and evening feed only (or could express during the day so he can have it in a bottle during the day).

Yes, I'm hoping he'll be on morning and evening/night feeds by then - I'm anticipating that he'll still be feeding overnight which is the problem as I'm happy to express for a sippy cup in the day while I'm at work but the night feeds are staying while he's still young. Absolutely, I'll be covering all additional costs, they always provide a room in a swanky hotel so it would just be food.
I didn't see an issue and mentioned to my manager that this is what I would be doing - colleagues know my husband and would recognise him so I wanted to ensure they knew my DS being there wouldn't affect my ability to do my job during the day but they would be staying so that I could feed at night and she said that it would have to be discussed with the directors! I wish I'd just kept quiet now! I work in an industry where it's work hard/play hard and -unofficially - conferences include no downtime, you belong to the company for the full 48 hours to do with what they will - so I've yet to let them know I won't be included in the evening fun!

Hmm.

It may be a taxable benefit to share your room with your husband and son. Does your company take the whole hotel?

If they paid for a separate room, or if they stayed somewhere nearby and you met them at 7pm for evening feed then stayed for dinner, then went to where they were staying, would that work?

Personally if it was one night I would express and freeze enough for DH to have DS overnight and go on your own, you can always pump and dump. But that's up to you.

Regarding the hours, though, they are obliged to make reasonable adjustments to let you breast feed, I think, so you leaving early or whatever should be ok.

He may be sleeping through by then, of course