Very anxious about leaving baby for the day

[MrsCK]

Hi ladies

I haven't posted on here for a while but I am after some advice/reassurance.

My son is 24 weeks and has been exclusively breastfed. We started baby led weaning around 3 weeks ago and that is going pretty well, he is a bit fussy with breakfast, but he usually eats his lunch and dinner.

I have an all day training course (6am - 8.30pm) for my business that I have to attend in 10 days time. I spoke to the health visitor about leaving him for the day and expressing milk and how much he should be drinking and she advised for his weight (23lb, he's a big boy ), he should be on 8-10oz every 4 hours . This worried me as I don't really express and when I have done I am only able to express around 3-4oz at any one time at a push. So I thought it would be easier to introduce a formula feed during the day just to get him used to the taste as well as a bottle, so that my husband can give him that when i'm away on the course. Not surprisingly he hates the taste of the formula milk and we've tried 3 different brands now and have tried feeding him from both a bottle and a cup.

I've decided to start expressing in the hopes that I will have enough milk for the training course but i'm worried he won't drink it. A couple of months ago we decided to try and introduce a bottle of expressed milk during the day so my husband could feed him but he used to get so upset and most of the time refused to take it. There were one or two occasions when he did drink a couple of ounces in the end but he used to get himself into such a state that we stopped trying after a couple of weeks. we haven't tried him on a bottle since other than with the formula the other day, which he just chewed on the nipple and heaved everytime the formula went into his mouth. He drinks his water at lunch and dinner from a doidy cup so we tried to give him formula in that but as soon as he tasted the milk he threw the cup.

My husband is convinced that he will drink my expressed milk from a bottle as he'll have no other choice but i'm not convinced. I'm really worried about leaving him. I'm feeling so anxious, as i've only left him for maximum 2 hours before and i'm always back in time for his feed. what if he doesn't drink his milk, he's going to be so hungry all day? I'm not even sure if i can express 32-40oz of milk....I'm also worried because he's with me all day and I know his routine, my husband has only ever had him for 2 hours on his own (although my 19 year old daughter will also be there to help him out). I know he'll be fine but I can't help but feel anxious about it all.

I'm seriously considering backing out of this training course, but the other half of me is saying that i've got to leave him at some point and he's with his daddy and its only one day.

I just don't know what to do. In the hopes that I can express that much milk, do you think he will drink the milk when I'm gone? What if he doesn't, will he be dehydrated/hungry?


apologies for the essay i'm just really worried and panicking as it's getting closer to the day!!

 

[Maud]

What a difficult situation. To be honest, if it was me, I wouldn't go on the course. A whole day away from your baby is a long time if neither of you are used to it and with him being breastfed and not taking a bottle this makes it all the harder. But then I'm worrying enough about leaving mine with my OH in December (when she'll be 9 months) for a half day, so maybe I'm not the best person to give advice!

Can you use the next ten days for intensive practice?

 

[Fospetil]

You can start expressing now and freeze it? Also like maud says you could start now just giving an Ounce in his cup just to test him? However if he drinks water he won't dehydrate. I read up on this as my baby gets bottle snobbiness and there will be times when I have to leave her, a lot of people had said that their baby would happily go without until the boob came home! I my experience, Annabelle took an expressed bottle a lot better when I wasn't around! She didn't see the point in having a bottle off the booby lady but happily has it off grandma when hungry! A baby won't starve themselves. You just might end up giving a monster feed when you get home lol! Xxx

 

[Jajis]

Can you delay the training for a few months? I reckon by the time you get to nine months / a year it would be much, much easier, but I realise that might not be possible.

Could your partner bring your baby to you to feed during breaks? We had a lady take a week long training course (but with shorter individual days) once and her baby's nanny brought the baby to her at morning coffee break, lunch break, and afternoon tea break so that she could feed.

I'm sure your baby will be fine whatever you decide, although I imagine you might have an evening / night of constant feeding, but I do understand the worry.

Remember you need to think about yourself, not just your baby, you will most likely need to express a couple of times during the day as otherwise you may end up engorged and that can lead to a risk of mastitis, which you really want to avoid at all costs.