Nervous about business trip when baby is 9 mo & 11 mo

[Ecoden]

I have a mandatory business trip at the beginning of nov and another at the beginning of jan both for 3 days. Dd is 3.5 mo now and the longest I've every been away from her is 6 hours (I work from home) so leaving her for that long seriously freaks me out. I know she'll be fine with her dad and grandma but I'm worried I'll be a wreck the whole time. Has anyone else done this? How did you do? Will I survive without having a cry fest mid meeting? I'm the only woman in my company (I know crazy) so nobody quite gets why this might be hard for me. I should also mention I plan to nurse her for a year if I can. She's EBF right now. Also I'd take her with me and have my mom come watch her but both trips are to Las Vegas and I really really don't want my baby on the strip with all the cigarette smoke etc!

 

[tulip1975]

IIRC, the cigarette smoke is mostly in the casinos, so I think you could bring your mom no problem. Vegas is a huge convention locale, so I'm sure it's fairly friendly to professionals.

Otherwise, you may want to start soon - leave your LO at grandma's overnight. The first time I did it, it was difficult - but it's easier each time.

 

[Ecoden]

We're staying at a casino (Aria) and while the rooms are non smoking, you have to walk through the casino to get to the room and smoking is permitted there. Plus it's loud and crazy and just so not a baby environment IMO. It helps to know that it gets easier...I just don't think I can bring her.

 

[MindUtopia]

I don't have much advice on the EBF, as I wasn't BF mine by the time I went away the first time, but I went away for 3 days when my daughter was about 9 months old and then again for two separate 1 week strecthes when she was about 16 months (one week away, then back for a week, then away again). It was totally fine. She was at nursery or home with my husband. We co-sleep and he co-slept with her during the night (we all slept in a family bed anyway and he would sometimes sleep on her side from about 7 months). I found it weird and I didn't sleep well (because I'm so used to her being there and just slept really lightly waking at the slightest sound in the hotel). But actually it was really nice to have a break for a few days, even if it was for work, to eat a meal alone for once (!), and to give my husband a chance to grow and gain confidence that he could be home with her for that long and not lose his mind or kill her. So it really was good all around. She's 2.5 now, still co-sleeping with us, and I've had a few work trips since then for a few days to a week, and it's worked out great for all of us. I would say try not to worry about it too much just yet. A lot changes between 3 and 9 months and I couldn't have even fathomed it yet at 3 months!