Breastfeeding help! Have meeting out of town - 4 days away from baby!?

My baby is 5.5 months old and I just had to go away for 4 days due to a court case. Fortunately, I knew I had to go so I had some milk stored. However, it turned out that I did not testify on the day they said I would and I had to stay 3 additional days. In that time, the baby ran out of milk! Of course this freaked me out! I called baby's doctor and he told me to use Similac... Can't remember which one it was but the bottle is blue and silver.

Your baby will be ok with formula. I know it makes you feel horrible but he will survive.

Now, you are going to be uncomfortable! Get some nursing pads! If you are flying, you will most likely leak on the plane (I DID BIGTIME!). I don't know if it was the change in altitude or just the fact that I was so distraught leaving my son! Either way, some nursing pads in my bra would have been a nice thing! You will have to pump and pump a lot. I pumped and froze my breastmilk then carried a little cooler with some icepacks back with me on the plane (just be sure you don't fill each bag of milk with more then 4oz or they won't let you take it on the plane). If you don't want to do that you will have to pump and dump. I pumped 6 times a day (every 4 hours). I think I only skipped 1 time when I was asleep. When I got back, all my son wanted to do was nurse! No sooner did he see me then he had his head up my shirt (literally!). I felt like I nursed him for 3 straight days afterwards! And truthfully, it was about every 2 hours (like he was a newborn!) that he wanted to nurse for about 45 minutes. I of course let him! My milk was back up to par after that! It had decreased slightly while I was away.

So, yes, you will be able to continue a good nursing relationship when you return!

My advice is to RELAX! Pump as much as you can before you go. You can only do what you can do at this point! I know it feels awful to formula feed the baby!!! TRUST ME, I CRIED AND CRIED the day my mom had to give him the formula!! I promise, your baby will be ok! Just keep pumping... Don't worry if your supply decreased in a day or two, baby will help build it back up as soon as you get back. If you are giving baby solids, skip them when you get back and just breastfeed to help it build back up. Give yourself a break! You are an awesome mommy! There are too many people out there that don't give what thier baby eats half the thought that you are giving your baby! Keep some nipple butter on hand so that they don't get sore while pumping so much! All will work itself out!

Very best wishes to you and your baby!

Well whomever is watching your son is going to be in for a rough few days! Has he ever had a bottle? If not that will be the issue! Changing nipples if very hard, especially if he hasn't had any others before.... And formula really does taste bad incomparison to breastmilk... If I were you, I would try to pump a little extra in the next day and have that to give in the first bottle so at least he has the familiar taste. I would also go to the store and buy a couple different nipple styles which may help when he goes to eat... he WILL eat eventually if he is hungry enough, but I know it will be very stressful. As for pumping, you need to continue to do it as you have been and when he would normally be eating, save ALL THAT MILK! So when you get back you have a little bit of a supply, incase this happens again. I would also work on him taking the bottle after this just incase! Don't worry it will work out in the end!

Mommy to 5 y.o., 3 y.o. twins and 34 weeks pregnant with #4

at the very minimum you have to pump as often as your baby is feeding. If you can, you should even pump more often because pumping is not efficient at emptying your breasts as your baby and because of this,( your milk will lessen somewhat ).

Your baby may protest a little bit at the taste of formula, but will son take it when he gets hungry - what other choice is there?

When you return, your baby will have no trouble going back to breastfeeding. Babies love the taste of breastmilk more than formula.

PS - is this the first time he'll be on formula? If so, you may want 2 small cans of different formula.

I weaned my son from breastfeeding at 11 1/2 months. And being a stickler, my hubby said we should give him formula for 2 weeks until he was 12 months old and then we could give him cow's milk. Well, my son didn't like similac but liked Nestle Good start (brands in the U.S.).

It's good to have a break, enjoy it! I'm breastfeeding at the moment, and all I'd suggest is don't wait too long after the birth to start pumping and storing your milk. You have a lot to begin with, and by pumping, you will probably increase it a bit more. It is much easier to pump in the beginning rather than a month later when your breasts have regulated. Get some storage bags (I use Lasinoh) and start filling your freezer. I put about 2 - 3 oz in each bag. Better than putting too much in and having to throw the excess away. You will also need to take your pump with you to keep your supply going. This will probably be a bit of a pain, but you will probably be in pain without it (they will be like bricks!!!). The other option is to leave formula with your Mum. Some people do combine breast and bottle feeding perfectly well. Last piece of advice. Don't wait too long to introduce the bottle to the baby. Once they get too attached to the breast, it is hard to get them to use a bottle. I started my daughter on a bottle early, then didn't use one for a few weeks, and suffered. She started to refuse the bottle and have only just managed to get her to take a little bit again (a right pain when you want to go out!) Hope this helps, good luck with the birth and enjoy your trip! Just another thing........once your baby is here, you may be reluctant to leave him/her for 5 days! I find 2 days long enough!! Amazing what your hormones can do!!

I exclusively pumped for 8 months, my daughter never latched on. If your kid already is used to the nipple and bottle, you're good to go. He might not like the formula as much but he'll eat it if he's hungry. Make sure you pump while you're away to keep up production. If he's not used to a bottle, you might be in some trouble. I would do a crash course in bottle before you leave to see how he does, otherwise you might have to quit your job.

Can you take him with you? Can someone watch him while you are at the conference? If he stays home, make sure you leave enough milk. Formula. Whatever he is drinking. Similac made my kids very fussy, so much iron. They liked Nestle good start when I had to use it.

If you can afford it why don't you have the person who is watching your son to come with you and then go to your room and feed him. Or have the person who is watching him at least go with you and your son and pay for a whole another room. Thats what I would do intead of trying to give my son formula. Since he has not had formula there is no garantee that he will drink it. But you can try it if you have to.

Good Luck!!! I feel so bad for the two of you.

wouldn't it be nice if someone could come watch the baby at the hotel room and you could breastfeed instead of pump.

make bottles