Not breastfeeding/pumping for 12 hrs?

[jessmke]

I am currently breastfeeding my 4 week old daughter. When she is 7 1/2 months old I will be racing in Ironman Canada, which should take me about 12-14 hours to complete. I am planning on having enough breastmilk pumped so my hubby can feed her while I am racing, but will I be able to go that long without feeding or pumping? Will my boobs be engorged or painful after that length of time?

 

[noon_child]

That depends on how much she is still feeding at that age, although most 7month olds are still reliant on nearly as much breastmilk as they were before the introduction of solids; it's the main food source till around 10months-12months.

 

[staralfur]

At 7 months my boobs still got painful and engorged after a while, yes. I was in school and working by then and there were days that I went straight from school to work and was gone 12+ hours, and I had forgotten my pump a couple of times. I ended up having to hand express in the bathroom for relief.

 

[jessmke]

Ok thanks for the replies! I might have to either have hubby meet me at one of the transitions with the baby so she can eat, or I will pump at transition to relieve the pressure. I don't really care about my time, I'm just hoping to finish the race, so if I have to take a break to feed the baby it's not the end of the world!

 

[apple_20]

Depending on how much you are feeding at the age you could get very engorged. I personally did if I went more than 4 hours and 12 hours still hurts now (14 months). Good luck! I'm impressed that you are doing ironman !