Will she forget how to nurse...or will she wean?

[masja]

Just have a quick and maybe odd question. Hubby and I are thinking about going on holidays alone next year in April. DD will be 11 months old then and hopefully still nursing. My question is, while I am gone and she will be taking a bottle, when I return, what are the chances that she will still want to nurse? Will she remember how? We'll probably only be gone 10 days, and I plan to pump while we are away, as not to lose my supply, but I really don't want to wean her until atleast 2 and truthfully, this may be a deal breaker. Any advice or experience with this?

[hotharmony]

I hate to be really honest with you about it but yes she may wean. It's a good possibility she will not want to go back to the breast and it's very probable that you will have little milk supply left after only pumping for 10 days.

To keep your milk supply up you will need a good double electric breast pump and you will need to pump 15-20 minutes every 2 hours during the day and 4 hours at night, even if she isn't eating that much because the pump is not as effective as your sweet baby.

I would suggest taking you baby with you, having a LO with you on vacation is a wonderful thing and you will cherish the memories you will make together.

[ani'smommy]

Yeah, I wouldn't leave an 11 month old for that long. It would be hard on the kiddo, but also really hard on you. You would likely have to do a lot of pumping, unless you actively started to wean before you left, and it sounds like you wouldn't want to do that. Sounds like you could be at risk for a bad case of mastitis while on vacation which would suck.

[Ruthla]

If you had no choice but to be gone for 10 days, you could do your best to make it work. You could spend lots of time pumping to maintain supply, and pray that the baby will still want to nurse when you return.

I've heard of women doing that for unavoidable trips, with varied results. Sometimes the baby weans (and sometimes the mom continues to pump for a long time so the baby keeps getting mama milk.) Sometimes the baby picks up on nursing like there was no interuption. And sometimes the baby is reluctant to nurse but can be coaxed back to the breast.

But this isn't something "unavoidable" such as a work trip (that would leave you unemployed and unable to pay your mortgage if you declined it), a hospitalization or incarceration. This is a "pleasure" trip. If you're nursing an 11mo, you probably won't even enjoy that long a break from her! Many moms choose to not go on vacations without the baby until the child is several years old. Others will go away for one overnight, or maybe 2 in a row, but always someplace relatively close by so they can cut the trip short if necessary. Others take the whole family on vacation (or at least bring the nursling along) rather than going on "couples only" vacations.

If your DH is insistent that you have some "couples time" without the kids, I'd suggest making it a lot shorter than 10 days.

[Jenne]

As a teen I went on lots of trips with families with young ones. Basically, I babysat in the evening while Mom and Dad went out or during the day while Mom and Dad "napped" or went to less kid-friendly attractions. The family compensated me some prearranged wage and paid for my room and board.

Would something like that work for you? Or would the person/people you'd be leaving DD with be willing to go along to provide babysitting?

Best of luck!

Jenne

[Xerxella]

I'll give you more hope! I went on vacation with DH (to concieve #2 ) when DS was 16 months old for 5 nights and I pumped just 2x's a day while I was gone. DS took back to the breast with no problem. If my supply dipped a little, it quickly rose again with frequent nursing. I'll be taking a vacation for 4 nights with DH next March when DD is 10 months old and I'm not concerned.

That being said, everyone and every baby is different and 10 days seems like a kinda long time. But, only you can make the decision about what's right for you.

[masja]

*sigh* Thanks ladies, I have a lot to think about. Bringing her might be an option if we have someone with us....but I'm not sure. Guess if its important to me, we'll make it work.

[lifeguard]

Ds is 11 months now. I don't think I could leave him for 10 days. Granted I am sahm so being away from him that long would be traumatic for him, a complete abandonment from his pov I'm sure.

As for bfing - he is currently bfing 6-7 times in a 24 hour period. That would mean a LOT of pumping during a vacation to keep my supply up - so not my idea of a vacation.

Why wouldn't you want to bring dc along? We've done a few little trips with ds & it's a lot of fun.

[KangaTwo]

I've thought about this. DH and I were talking about taking an Alaska cruise next year, right when school gets out. But I also nurse to 2 years min. and I could see it causing DS to wean. So we will have to wait another year.