Advice on leaving 18 mo overnight for first time?

[marchair]

I need to go on a work trip this week, I have the choice to either stay overnight or come back with the train. Staying overnight would be easier and also means I could bond with my team who I've not yet met. Plus it's an 8 hour round trip so not ideal.

My partner says I should stay over, the thing is I'm scared because I don't know how my 18 month old will cope (or maybe it's me that won't cope and my DC will be fine?!), does anyone have any experience or tips?

I've co-slept with my son since he was 8 months old because he was and still is quite a bad sleeper and it was easier that way. I also exclusively breastfeed, he wakes up quite a lot in the night (between 3-6 times) and I mostly breastfeed him back to sleep as it's the easiest way. Sometimes he settles without milk, but very rarely. Will it be a huge distress to him if I'm not there? I should also add that he has started nursery for the first time last week so I'm worried another change will not be good for him.

Am I overthinking? My DH thinks it will be totally fine and I'm stressing for no reason..

At 18 months I think he will be fine. Your DH might have a bit of a sleepless night though.

Yes, he might be upset that you aren't there to breastfeed him. But tbh that's what I did when I wanted to stop overnight feeding. I didn't go away but instead of me feeding, DH just went in with water and she was happy with that very very quickly.

You might find he sleeps better and then when you get back you can hand over night times to your DH and sleep better yourself!

Thank you for your advice, I am certain DH would have a very sleepless night. I just can't stand the thought of him wanting me and me not being there to comfort him..

But you're at work, right? So I guess he's either with family or in childcare? You've probably left him with his dad at times that you've gone out?
So there will have been times before when he's wanted comfort and you've not been there. I know overnight feels different, but you could look at it as a nice way for your partner to bond more with his son, if the night times have been mainly you since he was born?
I was still breastfeeding DD1 at that age, although just last thing at night and first thing in the morning, so I do understand how it can be worrying to think about how they'll manage to fall sleep without you etc. But I think from about that age she started having the occasional sleepover at her grandparents (with DH there as well) and she was fine. And I continued to breastfeed her until she was over two so it didn't affect that either.

Obviously though ultimately if it's not something you're comfortable with, and you don't have to do it, you can always skip it this time.

How long have you known about this work trip for?

Thank you for the replies and the really useful words of advice and support. I actually ended up not staying over night, but planning now to do a few trial runs with DH to see how it goes before committing to a night away.