Leaving baby overnight - anxious!

[Jennysbean]

Hello,
My DD2 is 13 weeks and I have been invited to a hen weekend in 3 weeks so she will be 4 months at the time. I am planning to go down on the Saturday morning and drive back on the Sunday morning.
I really do want to go as they are a great bunch of friends but i feel a bit sick at the thought of leaving her.
I didnt leave my DD1 at such an early age however now she is 2.5 she spends the weekend with my parents and my in laws and really enjoys it - she asks to go sometimes!
I will be leaving her with my DH who adores her but I just worry that she will be upset.
She is breast fed exclusively but will take a bottle of EBM ( although not delighted to take a bottle at her bedtime feed at 7pm) She also wakes once in the night to feed but i plan to start feeding her at 11 pm to see if that helps her.
I have started to freeze my milk and plan to leave more than enough.....pumping frenzy!!
I dont know, I guess maybe I need some reassurance from mums who have worried , done it and its all been fine.
The hen night is in the Peak District and I live in Scotland but i am hiring a car so i can leave at any point....that sounds dramatic!
She is a very chilled out baby and I wouldnt say she was clingy. That said she with me 24/7!
Can anyone put my mind at rest???
Thanks
x

I didn't leave my PFB first born DS1 till he was 21 months old. I just couldn't do it. The first night he spent away from me was a weekend at my in-laws and he LOVED it. I was determined to be more relaxed with DS2 so made plans to leave him when he was almost 6 months old as my friend's DH was planning a surprise 40th birthday dinner party that would have ended in the wee hours of the morning. As it got nearer the time, I got really cold feet over it as he seemed so little and fragile (he was the more sickly child compared to DS1, who was a bit of a screamer and a lot more robust!). If not for the fact that this friend is one of my best friends, I think I would have chickened out. In the end, we dropped the boys off at my in-laws in the morning, went home and lazed about, went to the party and didn't get home till 2.30am and slept in. It was bliss and when my in-laws finally rocked up at about 3.30pm on Sunday, both boys were fast asleep in the car, absolutely bushed and 100% fine. So don't worry! Your DH is looking after her. Go out and enjoy yourself. Once you do it the first time, it will get easier...

Have you checked what your defrosted milk is like? Some women have high levels of lipase and that means that their breast milk curdles when frozen unless they scald it first. It's worth checking before you freeze too much (I've known too many women have to throw away a whole stash -- it's still nutritionally fine, but it tastes gross).

I left DD overnight at 6 months to go on a work conference. I had the best night's sleep but DH struggled a bit. Day 2 was really tricky as she got a bit overtired - DH wasn't so good at spotting the signals and we weren't really in a routine then.

Anyway, it was fine, DD survived and was asleep in bed when I got home. If I was doing it again at that age, I'd make sure DH had plenty of practice looking after DD on his own. It was just his confidence that made things stressful for him as he missed her sleepy signals so she was overtired and then hungry = screaming. Bless him, he didn't know what to do! Well... he got in the car and went to his mum and she got DD to take a bit of formula and go to sleep!

Definitely do it, worst case scenario is that you'll leave early and drive home.

i have the same problem OP!
only my hen weekend is in 4 weeks time and my "baby" is 13 months
BUT, he still has one feed in the night and i am sooooo worried that he won't settle and he'll be really unhappy

If it helps, they won't remember any of it! I'm planning to leave my (will be) 3-year-old and 1-year-old DSs with my ILs for a week in November so I can take DH away on a surprise trip for his 30th birthday. I know DS1 will love it, DS2 will be okay but he won't remember any of it anyway... LOL!

I know people who did this, I didn't and I'm so regretful now. Nothing bad happened except they had a great evening off and came back refreshed and ready for the challenge of the next few months.
You're not planning to leave them with strangers, so GO.

Thanks everyone for your advice and stories. i am planning to go and if it does not feel right on the day then I just won't go. Spoke at length about it all with my HV yesterday who was very supportive about me going. Think its what I need to be honest as feeling a bit down and anxious about everything.
DH is really keen for me to go and is looking forward to bonding with the baby - he is being super chilled about the whole thing while I am flapping about getting stressed about bottles and freezing milk!
Professor I didnt know that - I will test out a batch on her at a time when she is receptive to taking a bottle.
thisisyesterday I left DD1 at 13 months and she was still waking once only she didn't that night and had a grand time with my mum and dad - that was the start of freedom for us!!
I Will let you know how it goes so hopefully can be supportive to future posters/worriers