Leaving 8 month old baby- I don't think I can do this....

[littlepurplerose]

Partner has bought me a suprise 2 night city break next June .. my baby will be 8 months by then.

It's leaving Friday morning and coming back Sunday night so only 2 nights but 3 whole days.

I plan to still be exclusively breastfeeding then and as much as I am excited, I also am feeling hugely anxious.

3 whole days.... it feels like too much.

She would be left with my mum who is bloody incredible and I have zero concerns about her ability to care for her perfectly.

But it's just the anxiety of leaving such a young baby... and will it interfere with bf?

What do I do?? Do I tell him I want to just do 1 night? Or do you think I'll feel differently by then?

Anyone got any stories of leaving their EBF babies? How was it???

Isn't 8 months really young to be separated from mummy?

Could the break be rescheduled for another 6 months on? You might not enjoy it in June if you’re missing your little one.

I did this for four nights at exactly that age thinking I'd have stopped breastfeeding by then. I hadn't, and expressed/left breast milk for the GPs looking after the baby. My supply dried up and I couldn't manage to get it going again so dropped to a couple of feeds and had to start combi feeding then just formula from about a month later

Then don't. There's no right or wrong on this one, if you don't want to go that's a good reason. I wouldn't have, personally but I know people who did and were happy about it. And yes, there's a fair chance it could mess with your breastfeeding journey.

Deep breaths OP - next June is 8 months away. How you feeling now with a newborn is very different to an 8 month old, who will be having solids as well at that stage and will be feeding a lot less that the current stage, and will be a lot more independent. Having said that, if you are still breastfeeding you should probably get a hand pump to go with you just to keep your supply up.

I personally wouldn't have left mine at 8m. They were still feeding at night and having 5 or 6 feeds every 24 hours. I would have said to DH that I was bringing DC too or would have postponed it. I wouldn't want to risk bf or to leave my baby upset at night not being able to feed and not be there. Of course it might be fine, but it's a lot of pressure if it isn't working out.

There's an option to go for 1 night which means we can still attend the concert he's booked for us. I feel like 1 night, 2days is more manageable and less risk of disrupting bf.

I couldn't do it!

I still haven't left mine and my eldest is 4

"Isn't 8 months really young to be separated from mummy?"

Christ. No, she'll be fine. Kindly, get a grip.

My babies were still feeding almost exclusively on my breastmilk at that point. They might have eaten 1/8th of a broccoli spear.

You'll also need a pump otherwise you'll explode when you're away.

I'd reschedule.

I think exclusively breastfeeding is the bit that makes it harder. Mine also were and I wouldn’t have been able to leave them for 3 days (I didn’t do an overnighter until over a year) at that age as both refused a bottle completely and were still feeding during the day and overnight.

Just change it to 1 night and think no more about it. Do a longer trip when you’re ready

I wouldn't. At 8 months they'll be starting to get separation anxiety and you can't explain that you're coming back. I wouldn't enjoy it for this reason.

Your instincts are correct.
it’s too long for an 8 month baby.
reorganise… bring baby with you.

No way on earth would I do this.
You are absolutely right.

Have you got a good pump? You'd need to pump every four hours at least to keep your milk supply up.
I think one night is fine.. I have an 8 month old breastfed baby and I recently went to a friend's birthday a while away. I was gone midday until 11pm the next day.
I took my pump and my milk supply has been fine.

Did your baby take a bottle? Mine absolutely refused whenever my husband tried so at that age I never felt I could leave them for too long let alone overnight!

I couldn't leave either of mine overnight till they were about a year and were no longer feeding just before bed and overnight. At 8 months they were still on 4-5 feeds a day and at least one overnight. No chance I'd have left them.

I exclusively breastfed all mine. By 8 months they were having maybe 3 feeds a day and were well onto solids. You would need to take a breast pump and pump a few times a day to keep your supply up. Can you book another room and your mum comes too and helps with baby? I went overseas for a week when my youngest was 2 and still breastfeeding twice a day. When I got back she just carried on as if there was no break and went on to bf for another year.

Why didn’t he discuss it with you before booking it? Once you’ve got babies some surprises are stupid rather than thoughtful. I wouldn’t have left either of mine at that age. I’d have been very pissed off at DH making a plan like that. Why can’t you take the baby with you?

No. Either take baby (and mum to babysit) or reschedule. I wouldn't have done three days at that age, especially not somewhere hard to get back from.

I was still feeding 4-5 times per 24 hours at that age and would have been really uncomfortable after 24 hours. I'm really prone to mastitis so would have worried about getting ill, and I'm one of those people for whom pumps basically didn't work so I needed the baby to actually feed! Even when I was stopping breastfeeding entirely down from once I day I had to feed every other day etc for a while to be comfortable. Can you wait until nearer the time and see what you are actually doing r.e. breastfeeding?

Can you take mum and baby along?

Have you had a breastfed 8 month old so speak from experience?

I also just wouldn't have wanted to leave either of mine for that long at that age. I've been away 1 night since my second was born and he's 15 months old now. It's very personal. I agree your husband should have actually discussed this with you.

It's up to you and how much you want to go but imo the effort in pumping would just not be worth it to me. Just on the trip alone.
Mine was probably on 4 times a day at that point. I wouldn't be bothered if baby had to have formula instead at home but I wouldn't risk mastitis or loosing my supply. That would mean pumping, cleaning, storing the stuff 4 times a day which would kind of kill the mood of the holiday for me.
Of course you might not be feeding that much .