1400 mile road trip and pumping ?'s...

[mi.birthdoula]

Dh and I will be taking our family south to Florida for the holidays. It will be a 1400 mile trek, we are going to break it up into two 700 mile stretches. I plan on pumping in the car and letting babe take the milk from a bottle when we are traveling and nursing all night if need be while at the hotel we will be staying at while on the road.

So my question is this, Should I pump every 2 hours from start to start, or would you recommend more often?
This is the first time I've not had a problem with supply, and the first time I've gotten to the 2 month mark and not used even 1oz of formula. (secretly patting myself on the back right now!) and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize this. Dh, and my fam just keep telling my to just ween him, and do the formula, but I won't do it, especially because this is our last baby, and I love nursing him and doing what is best for him and have finally had success with weight gain/growth while nursing a little one and it just seems selfish to me to ween him for ease of travel on my part.

any thoughts? opinions?
TIA!

[Michigan Mama]

Wow, Crystal! You've got guts! It would take a lot of courage to drive that far with your little ones!

I think if you pump every two hours you should be fine, as long as your nursing stays normal the rest of the days. But maybe you can still get some feedings in along the way? I mean, you've got to stop to pee and eat sometimes, right? Maybe you can nurse then and just pump as needed.

Congrats on the successful nursing so far! Don't give up!!!

Enjoy!

Christina.

[Ravin]

When we took a long car trip with DD when she was 3 mo., we just stopped every couple of hours. I nursed her at rest stops, in truck stops, etc. Diapers got changed, potty stops made, and snacks obtained as well.

I would want to make frequent stops with a baby no matter how I was feeding her, though. If nothing else, diapers need prompt changing if you don't want a screaming case of diaper rash going by the time you reach your destination!