i need help!. traveling for 2 days..

[mava]

hi i am traveling for 2 days and need to leave baby 3 weeks old with my mom.

what do you recommend for me to do? i've been breastfeeding her, and i don;t think i will be able to leave my mom so much milk.. what are my options? should i give formula for this 2 days?

how do i pump, so i can leave bottles? how many times can i pump in a day?

please help. i am traveling the 8th february. i still have one week...

thanks,

marcela.

[hotlama]

I pump three times a day which gives me 2-3 4oz bottles.

I would try to leave as much breastmilk as possible with formula as a back up just in case she runs out. Have your mom feed her in small portions to make sure nothing is wasted. Since it's only two days you could probably gibe her a couple full 8oz bottles so she can just poor what is needed into a smaller bottle. You might have less waste that way.

[MNAHAKU]

try pumping every 3 hours (even at night) and after feeding your baby...Good luck!

[KaraJ]

If you want to BF her for sure, pump right after every feeding. If you end up pumping, and she wants to eat right after, put her to the breast, even if you feel like there's nothing to get. Babies are much better at getting the milk out than the pump.
Make sure YOU don't give her a bottle, it'll be easier for her to go back to the breast after two days of bottle feeding.

[madelsmama]

Are you sure there's no option for baby to travel with you? Maybe your mom could go as well to keep the baby? You should know that there's a good chance that getting baby back to the breast, even after just 2 days, may present a challenge to you and your baby. Your supply will also be at risk if you don't pump often while seperated.

It's really too early to introduce a bottle or any kind of artificial nipple. If you must travel alone, I suggest an alternative feeding method, such as a cup, medicine dropper, or finger feeding. See link: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/alternative-feeding.html

Your body is making more than enough milk for your baby at this stage, so try pumping after her feeds to collect for your time away. At 3 weeks, she will not need more than 1-2 (her stomach is VERY tiny) ounces of milk per feed. It is easy to overfeed a baby with a bottle, by the way, another reason to avoid it at this age.
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html

And while you're gone, you'll need to pump about every 2 hours during the day, and get up and pump every 3-4 hrs at night. I hope you have a really good double electric pump to use.

Best wishes to you!

[momoffaith]

Madelsmama is right ... I too have to travel. I've gone on probably 8-9 business trips since I returned to work anywhere from 3-7 days per trip. I take DD with me, it's a hassle traveling with all the gear but oh so worth it. I pump during the day and nurse during the evening, night and morning time.

I know it's easier said than done in some cases but think about your situation and see if you can make it work.

[Tufftitty]

ITA with Madelsmama and Momoffaith.

[CaptHeather]

I found that when I was away from Johanna I HAD to pump every three hours, even in the middle of the night because the pump just isn't as efficient as she was. It was not convenient at all for me to bring her, so she didn't.

If you can't bring her, call the hotel and ask them about storing pumped breast milk. All the hotels I stayed at would loan me one of the mini-fridges at no cost since I was pumping.

For prep time, I pumped after every feeding. You can mix milk from different pump sessions to make a full bottle, but the storage guidelines go for the oldest milk in the blend. Also, I wasn't traveling when Johanna was that young, but when I needed to increase my storage amount when she was a little older, I found I could pump a decent amount when I pumped about an hour after she went down for her long sleep stretch (which was around 4 hours) and then still get 3 hours of sleep before she woke up wanting to nurse again. I also found that the morning pump session after feeding her seemed to be the most productive.

To bring back the milk, I froze the milk. The last day's milk didn't have time to freeze, so I alternated storage bags frozen, fresh, frozen, which kept the milk cool, and the frozen milk didn't thaw out all the way so I could refreeze it when I got home (ice crystals in the milk mean you can still refreeze)

That was a lot. I hope it helped and that this works well for you. That young, I really hope you can swing taking your mom with you to watch the baby there so that you're only dealing with pumping during the day.