How much to pump for trip?

[cww]

I will be going away to a conference for about 4-5 days in February, when our daughter will be about 13 months old.  Right now she is still BFing 5-7 times per day, but she is also eating lots of solids an average of about twice per day.  I'm not in any hurry to reduce how much milk she drinks, but I do need to be able to figure out how much to pump for her in preparation for my trip.  I hardly ever give her a bottle of pumped milk these days because child care is just 10 minutes from work, so I tend to just go there to feed her, but on days when I can't get away, she will drink 3-4oz in a bottle around midday to replace that one feed. 

The thing is, most of her feeds are not in the middle of the day when I'm at work, so I don't know how many oz she drinks in typically in a 24h period.  So I'm wondering how much milk I need to pump for the trip.  We don't have a ton of freezer space, so I'm trying to get my best estimate and then try to make sure to have a few extra bottles of BM just in case, but I don't think I can just pump tons and tons as backup.  Does anyone have any tips or advice about how to estimate the amount of BM she will need per day when I'm gone?

Thanks in advance for reading my post!

[cat13]

Kellymom has a great calculator that you can use. I think it's based on EBF babies up to 6 months, so it might estimate a little high (depending on how much calories your LO gets from solids).

Also, be sure to freeze it in small quantities (2-3 oz bags), so that it doesn't get wasted, since defrosted milk has to be tossed after 24 hrs.

[cww]

Thanks for the reply.  I have seen calculators for younger EBF babies, and maybe I'll have to just go by that.  If anyone else out there is willing to chime is as well, I was hoping that I might hear from some parents of older babies/toddlers who might be able to share their experience and/or offer advice about what might be different for a 13m old vs a 6 m old. 

I'm not clear, for example, on whether or not a 13m old is actually drinking less milk (she is drinking less often and getting calories from solids, but has she also increased her caloric intake as she has grown so that she is still drinking the same volume of BF per day, even with all the solid calories?).  I could, for example, assume that each solid meal replaces a 3-4 oz BF session, and use the numbers from a 6m old minus these amounts, but that would assume that the total caloric intake is the same for a 6m old as for a 13m old.  There just isn't that much info out there for BFing toddlers and older babies (I have read a lot on kellymom, which is a great site with lots of info, but sometimes on certain topics she gives less detail that what I'm looking for).  So if anyone else knows more about this and is willing to share, I'd be grateful!

[foreverinbluejeans]

Since she is over 12 months she doesn't need any milk, she could get by on solid foods. You could pump at the conference just for comfort and to keep the river flowin'. Children over 12 months don't have to have any milk, human or cow. Any milk you are able leave could be stirred in her food or given to her by cup if she doesn't take bottles.

[cww]

Thanks for the response, foreverinbluejeans.  I know that technically after one year she doesn't need milk nutritionally to survive, but since she is still nursing pretty frequently, and since I think it is good for her to continue nursing as much as possible for as long as possible as long as she is still also eating other foods, I'd rather minimally disrupt our routine while I am away.  I think it would be an awfully abrupt change for her to have no BM for five days straight, especially when it is the first time she and I have really been apart for longer than a single workday, and that will probably already be a big adjustment already.  So I think I definitely want to pump enough milk in advance to leave with my DH and MIL, but I just don't know how much to pump. 

[lsmama]

Hello.  I am currently working/pumping for a 9 month old who also eats lots of solids (approx. 3 x/day).  Typically during the day I leave about 10 ozs and she nurses 4 additional times during that 24 hour period.  Like you, I don't really know how much she's getting from me, but I assume it's enough because she's big and happy (90th %).  I think if I were you, I'd just leave whatever I could without going crazy and/or pumping my way into oversupply/mastitis.  How much time do you have before your conference?  Maybe add 1 session in the early am and 1 before you go to bed.  These are my best times.  Typically I get 3-4 oz. per session.  If you can get an extra 4 oz. per day, and you aim to leave 80 ozs total, you could do it in a month.  I think the bigger issue will be her adjusting to your absence. I imagine that the milk and/or how she's getting it will be less of an issue.   I'm sure she'll be just fine - in similar circumstances I've always been worried, but my kiddos have always been fine. Does she still wake up in the night?  If so, you may want to have DH or MIL save some of the BM for the overnight hours and give additional water and/or cow's milk during the day. 

[cww]

Thanks, Ismama, for the response!  I have about 2 months before the conference, so I think I have plenty of time - the limiting factor is really the freezer space at this point I think (especially packing in 3 oz bags so that one portion at a time can be thawed...).  I guess I'd like to aim for 100 oz, but I'm not sure if that will fit since that amounts to about 33 three ounce bottles!  For those of you who stockpile pumped milk, how do you do it?

[cat13]

I like to do it like this: http://greenlitebites.com/2011/06/02/breast-milk-storage/

eta: fixed link

[AnnieA]

That's a very clever trick for storing! I have a small plastic basket that I keep in the freezer to keep all the bags contained in one area.

[cww]

Cat13, thanks for the link - that's a great idea. :)

[cww]

Just a quick update in case it's helpful info for someone else - I did a kind of trial run for a shorter conference where I was gone about 36h, and the LO seemed to drink about 21oz in a 24h period, so I'm planning on leaving 24oz per 24h period just to be safe. It's amazing - I'm not sure that he is drinking much less than before she started solids, and she eats at least 2 full non-milk meals per day...

[Megan73]

Originally Posted by cww 

Just a quick update in case it's helpful info for someone else - I did a kind of trial run for a shorter conference where I was gone about 36h, and the LO seemed to drink about 21oz in a 24h period, so I'm planning on leaving 24oz per 24h period just to be safe. It's amazing - I'm not sure that he is drinking much less than before she started solids, and she eats at least 2 full non-milk meals per day...

That's awesome! Average intake for an exclusively breastfed baby - so before starting solids - is 25 ounces. So she's really nursing well and your supply is great. She must be a healthy, growing girl.

[cww]

Thanks for the reply - it's always good to get encouragement! :)  It's a pain to have to pump that much for travel, but I was so pleased for her sake to know that she is getting so much milk.  We had bad problems with undiagnosed tongue tie early on, so I've always been paranoid about my supply - it's nice to know that it is still going strong! :)