Breastfeeding toddler - question!

[Milkybras]

Hi all
I'm currently still breastfeeding my little guy (18 months old) and I'm planning to feed until he's 2. He has a feed when he wakes up and a feed at bedtime (and some days maybe a little feed after nursery or in the middle of the day if I'm off with him). I've tried him with cows milk in a cup and he's not keen but on the nursery app it does show that he has milk in a cup there! My question is, I may have to go away for 1 or 2 nights with work. How many feeds can I miss before it does affect my supply and would I have to take a pump away with me (I've not pumped since he was about 7 months). I'm going to start getting my husband to do bedtime with a cup of milk maybe once a week just to get him used to it and also allow me to not have to be there every single bedtime but I've this work trip in my mind (likely to be November) and I'm getting worried about that. I know my supply is very well established but would missing 2 full days affect it now?! Thanks in advance

I'm BF similar frequency to you, at 11 months but haven't had a night away yet. I don't pump during a nursery day. If I were you I'd probably take the pump and see how you feel, maybe just do a quick pump morning and evening? You don't want to risk mastitis.

You'll have to pump not to get engorged, I'd say. I don't think it'd affect your supply. You might be very uncomfortable though.

I had to go away one night for work when DS was about 18months and it was awful. I expressed last thing at night in my hotel room and first thing in the morning but there was no opportunity to do so again after the day of work, so i was taking an evening train back home having not expressed since 7am and I felt I was going to explode by the time I got home nearly 10pm. I thought it'd be a relaxing break from the kids but it was awful and I won't repeat it till he's weaned. He himself was fine, just had cow's milk in the night and at nursery.

I think at 18 months your supply won't be affected by two days without your toddler feeding, it would be more a case of just pumping for comfort when you start feeling full.

If he's only feeding twice a day (usually) then I don't think you'll have too much to worry about in that respect either though.

When mine were that age I would sometimes have to go 48-72 hours without breastfeeding due to my shift patterns (nurse) and although I'd have to pump a few times per 24 hours to keep engorgement at bay, there was never any impact on my milk supply.

I spoke with the bf network about my supply as struggling to get out what baby would with a pump and she is at nursery now. They said a night or two away wouldn’t affect my supply at this stage (11m) so i would guess you’ll be fine. She said to just express for comfort rather than supply.

Although is it only me who literally never feels engorged any more? I thought it was because my supply was regulated but I could easily not pump while she is at nursery for 10 hours. If feel fuller but definitely not engorged 🤔

Same here, I can’t remember the last time i felt engorged, i can go from last night feed about 5am till evening 7pm and they feel full but not painful or overly full, i don’t even need breast pads anymore they don’t leak out at all anymore xx

Yeah I thought I'd be fine and just took my pump as a precaution...but for me at least, it turned out that there's a huge difference between 10h and 40h. A pump never properly empties you in the same way the baby does, so I just got more and more engorged for the whole trip. In the end I was leaking so bad it was almost visible thru my clothes, sorry for the tmi. So so uncomfortable and I won't be doing it again until he's fully weaned.

At that age we found our DS was not bothered about having the cup of bedtime milk if he wasn't getting a breastfeed, so (re the plan to build in one night a week of DH bedtime) don't worry if your DH is doing bedtime and your DS is not taking the milk. You might have to make sure you're not actually in the house though or he'll complain.

Not tmi at all, it’s good to know from someone ahead of me thank you. Makes sense ref the 40 hours tbf. It’s so irritating with the pump isn’t it, I used to get such good output. I’ve exhausted all types of pumps and inserts now though I just can’t express much any more it seems 🥲

Not tmi at all, it’s good to know from someone ahead of me thank you. Makes sense ref the 40 hours tbf. It’s so irritating with the pump isn’t it, I used to get such good output. I’ve exhausted all types of pumps and inserts now though I just can’t express much any more it seems 🥲

One more tip, if you express while you're away and you don't have a fridge. I took an insulated bag and some of those instant cold packs (you snap it and some magic chemistry makes it icy cold) and that kept my milk cooler than fridge-cold from 7am till I got home at 10pm. I replaced the cold packs halfway thru the day.

Edit they're the kind you get in first aid kits. Pack of 10 on amazon.

Thanks all, that's reassuring. I don't have any problems with being engorged any more, but may be an issue if I'm away for 48 hours so I will take the pump.. thanks again

isnt it wild! And then would your DC just empty them anyway? Back in the day it would build me a stash, not now though she just guzzles whatever she can get out. I think, wow it’s going to be a good nights sleep then and she just wakes up as normal anyway even after drinking a days worth of milk before bed despite drinking expressed at nursery all day 🙄

omg exactly the same, im not sure how she manages to drink it all n not throw up haha and then yes it doesn’t even make the sleep better, still every 3 hours 🤦🏻‍♀️ xx

I left my BF toddler for some days when I was abroad for a conference. It didn’t impact my supply at all. I hand expressed just enough to relieve engorgement.