Going away for 2 days with 3 1/3 yr old nurser?

[cheeselady]

I've been asked to go to a conference for two days in Feb. My nurser will be 3 1/2 by then, but I've never been away from him for more than 8 hours and never at night. I want to go on the trip, two days away from my kids for the first time in 6 years!, but I'm nervous about what ds#2's reaction will be. Dh will be home with the boys if I go, but I think it might be rough.

Has anyone gone away for a weekend from a frequent 3 yr old nurser and what was their reaction? Did they return to nursing once you got home?

I'm really torn about this one...

Caroline
mom to August (12/14/03) and Ronan (9/13/06)

[jemar]

I just did 24 hours without breastfeeding my three year old and there was no problem.

[woodchick]

My DD1 is 3.5 and still nursing. I've been away from her twice for two days at a time in the past 8 months. Both times she has returned to nursing with no comment or issue.

You mentioned never having been away at night. Is he still nursing during the night? DD1 was not nursing at night by the time I went away.

[Eman'smom]

I left both my older kids at different times and they both went back to nursing no problem and did great while I was gone, go and enjoy your conference.

[lorrielink]

this last summer i left my then 2 yr old for a weekend. we usually only nursed 2-4 times a day but i knew he would be ok during the day, it was the night-time snuggles i was worried about. it turned out fine. i talked to him before i went (hes a hyper-aware kind of kid) about how i was going far away and wouldnt be there for nite-time snuggles but that we would snuggle as soon as i came back- several times. dad gave extra time for going to sleep with him and warm milk and cuddled with him till he fell asleep and kept him super occupied while i was gone.
when i got back he was super happy to see me and we nursed right away and we didnt even have any seperation anxiety to work out.
i think you'll be fine

[CheriK]

I was away from my twins twice for several nights when they were 3-4. As far as nursing went, it was fine. They were used to going to sleep one night a week with DH as I would get home from work after bedtime, so that wasn't a new experience. And of course they were getting plenty of other nutrition at that point. They returned to nursing as before once I got home with no comment.

We did have some behavior issues with DS while I was gone (hiding at preschool, fighting with twin sister. . .well, more than usual ). He has never handled change well, and was upset with Mommy being gone. It was pretty hard to be a several-hour plane ride away and listen to DH tell me how he was acting. In retrospect, I could have cancelled/postponed the trips, but he was just acting out his unhappiness, and I suppose it didn't permanently scar him (easy for us to make ourselves feel guilty, though). Nothing to do with nursing, just his personality.

The one surprise I had was how often I had to express milk while I was gone. I expected to be able to pump twice a day, and not have any problems. I ended up with plugged ducts for the first time in years, and had to up the pumping. I was at a work-related conference for one of the trips and couldn't get to my hotel room easily to pump, so ended up hand-expressing in the bathroom several times. Lovely!