Feeding the baby if something happened to me

[mkat83]

I guess this is a weird thought, but, recently I had the thought of how would my dh feed the baby if something happened to me?  Our ds is currently 3 months old and EBF, and I do not pump or use bottles.  I don't know how or why this thought came to me, but I realized if something were to happen to me-- I was seriously injured and couldn't BF, or if I died-- DH would not have any immediate way of feeding a hungry baby.  First, I'm sure that if something happened to me he'd be upset already, and then he'd have to at minimum go to the store and buy a bottle and formula.  All while the baby is hungry.

I mentioned it to DH last night, and he said, "well, I guess I'd have to go buy some formula and a bottle.  Does this mean you want to pump some milk and freeze it?"  I was impressed with his line of thought.... I hadn't even thought that far into my hypothetical situation.  I already have oversupply issues, and so the thought of pumping at all makes me nervous, but I do like the idea of having at least a few feedings worth of my BM on hand in case something did happen.  

I also mentioned to him that donor BM is available and mentioned who he should contact if he ever needed to get more info on that.

So, anyone else had thoughts like this?  Do you have a plan in place?

[sosurreal09]

http://www.hm4hb.net/ Human milk 4 human babies!

[erigeron]

An occasional pumping shouldn't exacerbate your oversupply too much, not like if you were doing it routinely. You could just pump once every couple of days or so, when you feel particularly full, and accumulate a little stash for baby if that would make you feel better. Single pumping rather than double pumping would also be less likely to exacerbate oversupply.

I've had this thought process too. (I know. It is unlikely.) We have a decent freezer stash and she does take bottles. I'm not sure DH would be able to get enough donated milk to get her through to a year, but from breastmilk in a bottle to formula in a bottle isn't as much of a jump as breastmilk from the tap to formula in a bottle.

[PatioGardener]

I have a friend who would have nursed my babe if I were to have died. If I was hospitalized or unconscious she knew to bring him to me and latch him on!

[Bokonon]

If you died, chances are you'd be at the hospital at least briefly, and the nurses could hook your husband up with some formula and bottles.

Personally, I would only have allowed formula and bottles in my house if I knew for certain that it would only be given in an extreme emergency and not just by a well-intentioned caregiver or Dad because they thought baby was hungry in the hour I was out at the grocery store or whatever.

I always figured that if I died and for some reason my husband wasn't at the hospital, he'd call local friends for support and to help watch the baby, and ask them to pick up formula and bottles at the store.  It was just such an unlikely scenario that I never considered putting more money into the formula company's pockets "just in case".

[sosurreal09]

Well you may not get 100% of the milk you need from donors but every ounce of human milk helps! You can supplement with formula...

[Mulvah]

If I were to die soon after birth, I would want my partner to feed my LO organic, all-natural formula.  I would not make breastfeeding, donor milk, etc. a priority in that situation.  Breastfeeding will take a back seat in extreme situations and I'm happy with that balance. 

[Megan73]

Originally Posted by Mulvah 

If I were to die soon after birth, I would want my partner to feed my LO organic, all-natural formula.  I would not make breastfeeding, donor milk, etc. a priority in that situation.  Breastfeeding will take a back seat in extreme situations and I'm happy with that balance. 

Seriously. If I suddenly died leaving my husband with an eight-month-old and a toddler I wouldn't expect him to run around looking for milk donors. It would - and should! - be the least of his worries.
I do have about 60 oz in the freezer but it wasn't to be prepared for death or disability - I just needed to pump and supplement while breastfeeding got off to a rough start. Reminds me I need to donate that!