OK all you breastfeeding mamas - I need help!!

[npd]

I am planning a trip to Cleveland in August for work - I have absolutely zero choice in the matter and MUST be gone for 7 nights. My DS is almost 10 months old, and exclusively breastfeeds. Our schedule since I have been back at work (the past 5 weeks) is to nurse in the morning before I leave, again when I get home and then on demand through the evening and all night (co-sleeping - he latches when he wakes, usually 3-4 times a night). At lunch time he has expressed milk in a sippy cup, and of course he eats finger foods and solids for his meals. Anyway, he really has no interest in a bottle of breastmilk, though he used to have one occasionally in my absence. I am very worried about this trip as I don't want to be away from him at all, but my husband is home with him full-time and I know he will be well cared for - sorry, I'm getting off topic. I guess I'm looking for suggestions as to how to handle this from a breastfeeding point of view. I can probably store up enough milk for him to have milk constantly available in a bottle, (i.e. one in the morning, one at noon, two or three in the evening... and then through the night - yikes - can I really store that much??) I know it's two months away but I'm really quite stressed about this already!! Everyone is telling me he can just have formula (grr), whole cow's milk or soy milk in my absence, and DH seems to think he'll be fine to get through the nights without me - I am not convinced. HELP!!  What do you think?  I tried posting about this on a breastfeeding support forum, and the only answer I received is that if I can't bring DH (and DS, and our two other children, aged 4 and 5) with me, then I shouldn't go.  Which is fine to say, except we can't afford for me to lose my job - I am the income earner right now (my income is about 5x that of DH) and to lose my job would be catastrophic for us (we just bought our first home!)... anyway, I think realistically it is clear that I have to go, and that we can't afford for me to bring everyone with me.  I am really looking for help as to how to manage this - bottles?  sippies?  how much will I need to pump to maintain supply?  Also worried about safe cosleeping with DH while I'm gone - he usually sleeps elsewhere after DS's first nighttime waking (after which DS sleeps with me - safely).  Open to suggestions... Andi?  Anyone?

[anxiousmomtobe?]

Well, I would start trying to wean him off the overnight feeds.  He will be close to a year by then and he really is physically capable of sleeping through, he's just used to having Mummy at his beck and call.  

I nursed my ds to 17 months.  He would always take a bottle when I wasn't in the same building, but if I was there, no way.  So he may just do fine by then.  I always had some in the freezer for those times.  I had to teach seminars at a local university when he was three months old and he made it through.

How is he doing with solid foods? Is he eating a wide variety?  Even if he is skimpy on the milk while you are gone, he should be fine.

The reality is, this is going to be harder on you than him.

[tomel]

Seems to me your only choice is pumping. I would think by 10 months the baby isnt nursing as much. You would have to pump as much as you feed.
You could start now and store in freezer. I used to nurse my son on one breast and then pump on the other while he would be feeding .You get more this way.  

[AnnieBrooke]

I'd take it from a different direction.  Do you know a local reliable teenage girl who would be interested in coming on the business trip with your and your baby?  She could babysit during the day and you could handle it all after your business is over, in the evenings and nights.  If you got a hotel room with two king beds that would cover the lodging, and all you'd have to pay for besides the kid's time is another plane ticket.  If you have frequent flyer miles, not even that.  I suppose this sounds a little grandiose, but if your income is really that much better than your dh's it sounds like you could afford it, and this way you are not parted from your baby and you will have someone there devoted to helping you.  How many high schoolers do you know who would turn down a trip to another city plus money (pay a lump sum rather than hourly) as a fun thing to do?

[AndiJ78]

Cool idea Annie ; )

I am going to wager a guess that he will need a bottle and thta he is continuing to nurse at night because his suckling needs ar enot being met during the day. Babies thorugh their first birthday HAVE to be able to suckle, it is soothing, calming, and a very major part of their inborn instaincts that needs ot be met. So by simply giving a sippy during the day and not bottle or breats, he is most likely making up for it at night, not out of hunger, but out of that need to suckle.

I am not sure what will work for you. I wouldn't add formula, seems like a bad idea given how far you have come with nursing. I like the bottle idea, but even more i lOVE Annie's idea. I realize the expense, but a week is a long time for a baby to be without mom, even if you had Mary Poppins taking are of the baby.

Start pumping now and stock up as much as possible. See where that gets you and satart saving pennies to buy an extra ticket. Do you have a sibling who could help? A close friend who needs a little mini-vacation? Or conversely, someone who could watch the other munchkins while DH and the baby come with you?

[tomel]

How do you nurse strictly breast if you work?

[npd]

I guess I should clarify - Quinton is OFFERED a bottle of expressed breast milk before his morning nap, at lunch, and prior to his afternoon nap (I express 12 ounces on my lunch break every day).  He will drink it, but if it is in't offered, he doesn't ask, and probably half the time he sucks at it a bit and then refuses it.  He sucks his thumb occasionally, and likes breast milk from a sippy cup.  He nurses in the very early morning, again before I leave, then when I get home, and before bed, plus through the night.  He is a very diverse eater with finger foods, solids, egg yolks, grains, fruits, veggies etc., and is gaining weight very well.  I have been thrilled with our breastfeeding relationship to this point and really feel no need to eliminate his nighttime feedings - he is barely awake, and it doesn't bother me or my DH.  Also, they are becoming fewer and farther between.
Thanks for the great suggestions regarding babysitters... I've been looking into that but we don't know anyone who would be a good candidate. :(  I'm trying to find a way to bring DH and DS, but that means leaving our other two.  They've never stayed with anyone else other than overnight, but it is probably something that would be possible, if my father and his wife aren't too busy then.  Mainly it's the expense of the tickets - though I do make good money, I'm supporting all of us, and JUST went back to work from mat leave because we couldn't make it anymore without my income.  Plus we JUST bought a house (we haven't even moved in yet), and I would have to buy these tickets in the next few weeks - I simply don't have the money.  I'll have to buy my ticket, and then try to save enough for DH's ticket in the meantime - he'll get his passport updated and everything just in case.  I'm not optimistic that I'll come up with a thousand dollars in the next few weeks though - every last dollar we have is going to closing costs, moving, and our usual expenses (I was a student up until three years ago, and in some ways we're still recovering financially).  ANYWAY, all of that to say that I'm 85% sure that I'll end up having to go alone, and that I'll have to find some way to minimize the stress on DS in my absence.  I'm going to start storing milk, and my DH will offer it in a bottle whenever DS would normally nurse.  I'm just not sure I can store enough, or that it's actually the milk that DS is looking for - I think it's more the bonding time with me, and comfort through the night, especially with me working.  I think the bigger issue here is that I"m feeling intensely guilty about having to be out of the house at all, let alone in a job which obligates me to go away for six nights.  Granted, it's only a couple of times a year that I travel, and my DH is great with the kids.  I just wish I had the option to stay home for a few  years.  That's another subject, though.  I'm still really open to any suggestions for preparing for this trip - how best to store these quantities of milk, how to manage to pump this much this quickly while working, how to help DH convince DS to take a bottle in my absence, what to do about the cosleeping thing while I'm gone, etc.  Thanks for your support...

[tomel]

According to the literature I have from Breastfeeding.
Freshly expressed Breastmilk Room temp 4-10 hrs.
Fridge. 5-7 days
Home Freezer 3-6 months , make sure to date and use oldest first.

Thawed breastmilk (previously frozen) Room temp.- do not store
Fridge 24 hrs.
and Never ReFreeze thawed milk

Can store in bags made for storing breast milk
I have read the best thing for storing is glass.Evenflo makes glass bottles with a cover for stoing breastmilk. But you have to be careful it doesnt go from one extreme temp. to the next.

When you freeze leave room at top cause. Freeze in small portions 2-4 oz. samller amounts thaw quicker. Seal container tightly.

Co sleeping Do you have one of the special co sleepr little beds? They sell them at Target and One Step ahead, that way if your DH rolls over he will feel this.

Also arent kids supposed to start  regular milk at 1 yr old. I thought the breast milk wasnt really much good anymore after 12 months of age? At 12 months formula wouldnt do any good either.

intake by age on my literature only goes by age and weight
age 4-6 months 5-7 ounces per feeding.

Weight 10 lbs. 26.7 oz.
11 lbs 29.3 oz.
12 lbs 32.o oz
14 lbs. 37.3 oz.
16 lbs 42.7 oz, this is the highest ti goes

Hope this helps. Im sure the hardest thing for you to give up is the bonding part of the breastfeeding. I cried for days when I had to give this up with my son. Good Luck.