Expressing/ Leaving baby?!

[freddie]

Hi all!

At the moment I BF my 9 and a half month old boy roughly every 4 hours - when he wakes in the morning, when he wakes from each of his 2 naps and then before bed (and then a couple of night feeds too...)

I am in the process of starting up a small business and am hoping to sell my stuff at a market on Saturdays. My problem of course is that it will mean I'll need to leave my son for a whole day cry

I'd rather bring him with me but he is loving moving around now and I'm not sure if he'd appreciate being strapped to me all day at a stall?!?!

He's never taken a bottle so I'm wondering about expressing some milk for him to have in a cup when he wakes up from his naps during the day if I were to leave him... But number one I don't know when I could express the milk for this as will my supply not really be up to the extra milk? Plus while I'm away from him, would I have to somehow express at the market stall when I'd normally be feeding him?!?!

Oh man, I love breastfeeding so much but it does make things very complicated sometimes!!

Sorry for the waffle, just after some advice from people who understand what it's like to be a breastfeeding mummy as my mum/ sister have pretty much just said he needs to get used to being without me and I don't think they realise what it entails to "just leave him" with some expressed milk....

 

[stephie_corin]

Hi sweetie, I think you'd definitely have to express on that day for your own comfort. I'm not an expert but I think your supply would be pretty well established by now so I don't think one day a week of him feeding less would affect you too badly. But you would be quite engorged if you skipped two feeds. Is there somewhere for you to pump at the market?

If you want to take him with you I think he would love it! How does he sleep in the carrier or his stroller? If you've got a stand I'm sure you could spread a big blanket on the ground behind it and let him crawl around during quiet times and put him in the carrier when you can't keep an eye on him.

If you want to pump, I'd start a few weeks before and just pump a few ounces between feeds when you can and freeze it so you have enough for 2-3 feeds. On market day, take a break in your car to pump and keep the milk in a cooler. Freeze that milk when you get home for use the following Saturday.

The only other option I thought of was a family member brining him to visit after each nap. They could watch your stand while you feed him.

Good luck!

 

[freddie]

Thanks for the advice Stephie! I might go and have a walk around the market this weekend and figure out what my options are... I have a feeling it may be a bit cramped for him to have room to move around but you never know! I would much rather take him, the idea of leaving him makes me feel very anxious and kind of sad... Is that normal at 9 and a half months?!?! I think I might be a bit of a wimp

 

[fieryphoenix]

Would he be comfortable in a playpen? That might work!

 

[stephie_corin]

I think it's totally normal!! I couldn't leave Culver either!

 

[sewing_mama]

I run my own business too & I've been thinking about doing some craft stalls again soon but I have the same problem. The only thing I can think of is OH looking after her for the day, walking around town and bringing her in to see me & have a feed every couple of hours. I am really anxious about leaving my baby too & I think it's going to be a long time before I feel happy leaving her for more than a couple of hours & with anyone other than OH. My MIL has offered to look after her in my house while I sew which would be wonderful as I could still feed her easily. However she mentioned taking her out for a walk and that made me panic! Not that I don't trust her, I'm just not ready for that yet.

 

[freddie]

Oh I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels like it! Fieryphoenix - I'm not sure there's space for a playpen! Gonna go and look around and see if I can come up with any ideas... Thanks for your advice ladies