Leaving baby for a few days... Need adivce.

[ChaiTea]

Hi ladies,

Bear with me, this is kinda long. I really need some insight though, especially from those who have been through this.

My husband and I were planning on taking our son who will be 2 weeks shy of his 1st birthday on a beach trip with friends. We were recently at the beach with his parents and even with all the help it was exhausting for all of us, baby included. We were considering leaving him behind for this next trip with his grandparents. He knows them very well and loves them dearly. Here are my concerns:

1) He does not take a bottle or pacifier. Putting him on the boob is the best way to comfort him. His grandmother has put him down for naps, but never to bed. He usually sleeps through the night, but when he does wake up I *always* nurse him back to sleep. When he sleeps at night, he nurses and I put him in his crib where he kinda rolls around, talks, plays, and sleeps within 10 minutes. When he's extremely tired, he falls asleep while nursing and I put him down.

2) He will drink pumped milk from a sippy cup. I have no clue how much milk he's currently drinking since he rarely has pumped milk. He only has it when he spends 6-8 hours with his grandparents and I stay home. On those days he will have between 2.5 and 5 ounces while I don't feel is enough. I nurse him right before he goes and as soon as he gets back. He gets sips of water as well. I get very little milk out when I do pump so I don't even know if I can store enough between now and then.

3) I am nervous that he wouldn't want to nurse anymore when I got home. I'm also nervous I may dry up or head in that direction even if I attempt to pump while at the beach.

4) Is it even possible to get frozen milk pouches home from the beach if I'm flying? It's a short flight, about an hour. Probably 4-5 hours from freezer at the beach to freezer at home. I have no clue if TSA would allow me to take a cooler of frozen milk on the plane if I don't even have a baby with me. Not sure how if it would make it being in a checked suitcase or not.

5) Can he start having something like almond milk by that point? I don't want to use cow's milk (I don't even drink it). I don't want to use formula either. I would of course run this particular question by his doctor as well.

I don't even know if I can bear to leave him yet anyway. We'd be gone from Friday morning until Monday evening. I feel horribly selfish, but the flights are booked and so is the rental house. We would have to pay for the house whether we go or not and who knows if we'd get credit for the plane tickets... probably not!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Night Flower]

I would just take your baby with you. Sounds like there are too many "ifs" and worries.

 

[Moolia]

I disagree with the pp and think you should go for it! You deserve a break after a year of breastfeeding! If he is used to his grandparents then I'm sure he'll be fine. Maybe try some bottles or more sippy cups before then? Not sure about almond milk but would think that would be ok as he'll almost be a year old. Also, he won't need that much milk at a year old anyway. Would you need to keep the milk you express? If you just pump and dump then you don't need to worry about freezing and transporting. Also, how bothered are you if your milk does dry up? He'll be a year so doesn't need to keep nursing but obviously depends on how you feel about this?

 

[ChaiTea]

I'm not sure how I'd feel if BF ended after this. My goal was always at least a year. I just wanted him to wean by himself sometime after! I would feel guilty if it ended because I wanted to go on vacation though... If this trip was planned for when he was 18 months, I don't think I'd be questioning it.

Pump and dump always makes me sick to my stomach lol! Even spilling a few drops on the counter makes me feel awful! I've never gotten much out with pumping, so I'm incredibly protective of the stuff. I guess if I couldn't carry it on board and kept it in a cooler in my suitcase, got home and found out it was spoiled, at least I tried.

We have considered just keeping our original plan and taking him with us. We knew we'd have to ask everyone to stay quiet while he naps and at night. Luckily he doesn't sleep till 10:30, so it's not like they'd have to call it a night at 7 or anything. They all knew going in we were planning on bringing him and nobody backed out... None of them have kids though, so I doubt they really "get it".

Thank you both for your thoughts.

 

[Maxy1]

DH and I got married on DS's fist birthday and went on our honeymoon Friday through Monday a couple days after the wedding. DS was a booby monster. Hardly eating any solids and heavily reliant on BFing. We left him with his grandparents who he knows well. I pumped and dumped while we were away, it felt wasteful but it was nice to spend time with DH and be just us. Nan and pop sent pics all the time, love technology!!! DS was fine, happily took formula while we were gone and very readily took to the breast when we returned. It was like we had not had a break. I BF him to 22 months.

Take the break and enjoy it, your LO will be fine

 

[staralfur]

I wouldn't think you'd dry up or have him completely want to stop nursing at almost 12 months after only being gone for the weekend. I mean, I suppose it's possible, but probably not likely and I wouldn't let that be a deciding factor.

As for nursing to sleep and being heavily reliant on nursing for comfort: my LO was always the same. Whenever her grandparents would watch her, she was fine. She knew there were no boobies there for her to fall back on so she was comforted by rocking, cuddling, etc.

I totally understand your hesitance to leave him and I was the same. I planned like 3 different trips where I was going to leave my LO and then backed out last minute or decided to bring her along after all. The first time she ever stayed overnight was at around 19 months and everything was totally fine. We left her for a weekend shortly before her 2nd birthday and it was awesome! She had a blast with her grandparents and I had such a great weekend being a regular twenty-something out on the town having drinks with my DH.

Anyway, point being that I kept putting off leaving her and once I did it was way less stressful or worrisome than I had imagined. If the nursing stuff is what's mostly holding you back then I think it will all be just fine. Pumping should be good enough to keep your supply going and your LO will adjust to you being gone!

 

[TXJen]

You can absolutely take pumped milk on the plane as a carry-on even if you don't have your baby with you. I travel for work so I never have my son with me - breast milk is considered medical so there isn't a limit to how much you can bring. You just have to let security know and they may want to test a small amount.

 

[ChaiTea]

Thank you so much for all the responses! I'm feeling better about going and leaving baby behind. Being able to take the milk on the plane as a carry on makes me a WHOLE lot better. Guess I need to start pumping my 2.5 ounces a day in preparation.

Any other stories are more than welcome.