Leaving for a week, do I need to give DS a replacement for breastmilk?

[Biscuits & Gravy]

DH and I are going on a trip. DS will be 20 months when we go, and my mom will be staying with him and my older DS. At this point he only drinks water, with the occasional little splash of juice in his water. He is allergic to dairy and peanuts.

Should I start giving him a milk alternative from time to time and leave that while I'm gone? Or should I drag out the pump and start pumping (although I have no idea if he'd drink it, especially since it would need to be frozen)? I just can't imagine that water would be enough to sustain him for a week, but I'm not sure. My older DS drinks a bit of soymilk each day (probably about 4oz total). Other options would be coconut milk or hemp milk. Almond milk is not an option since we are avoiding all nuts due to the known peanut allergy.

[lifeguard]

I just got back from leaving ds for almost 2 weeks & we didn't add anything different. A week is a pretty short period of time - not really enough to become malnourished. He may up how much he is eating of solids during that time to make up the extra calories.

I also did not leave any breastmilk 'cause I just hate to pump so much - but I did pump while I was away to maintain my supply.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Originally Posted by lifeguard

I just got back from leaving ds for almost 2 weeks & we didn't add anything different. A week is a pretty short period of time - not really enough to become malnourished. He may up how much he is eating of solids during that time to make up the extra calories.

I also did not leave any breastmilk 'cause I just hate to pump so much - but I did pump while I was away to maintain my supply.

Can I ask you, how did things go when you got back? DS has never been away from me except for a few times for a couple of hours at night when I've gone out with friends or once with DH. I know he will be okay, but I do wonder how our nursing relationship will be when I return.

And yeah, I hate the pump, too! I'm dreading using it on our trip. How often did you pump to keep up supply?

[lifeguard]

I had been away from ds for weekends before this so it wasn't totally new for us. The first night I was home (I got home about an hour before his bedtime) he wasn't so sure about me & didn't ask to nurse at all. The next morning the moment he woke up he asked to nurse & has been back to normal ever since.

I had intended to pump 4x a day but never had the time to actually do so. I pumped morning & night for the first few days but then I was getting so little that I stopped pumping altogether for the second week. I knew I still had milk though as I could hand express some without problem. My pump is just not a very good one.

I'm sure my supply has decreased some but ds isn't complaining & I know my body will adjust again as he is nursing quite a bit again now.