If I need to be gone from dd for an evening...

[Pattyla]

I am wondering what to do. I sing as an alternate with a professional choir. I am hopeful that I will get to sing again this spring. This means leaving dd for 4 hours every Monday night for 6 weeks.

Pumping never worked well for me and the last couple of times I tried to pump I got next to nothing. DD never really took a bottle so I never built up any kind of a stash.

She now happily drinks water from a sippy cup with meals and snacks.

I haven't introduced whole milk and would rather stay away from dairy for the most part. I have a dairy allergy and don't eat any myself.

I am thinking that dh will have an easier time putting her to bed on nights when I have to be gone if her tummy is full. She eats solids pretty well but still loves nursing and nurses to sleep for naps and night time as well as just randomly throughout the day and night.

SO... What should I put in a sippy for her to fill up on? Soy milk?, Goat Milk? Something else? Nothing?

I don't know if it matters but she is 18% for weight and 90% for height. I'm not worried about her but at the same time I wouldn't mind if she put on a couple more lbs. I'm wondering if I should put something else in her sippys with meals to help that... I just don't see pumping happening.

Of course I have no idea if she will really drink any kind of milk from a sippy either. THat is why I am asking now. I think that if I do have that plan I should probably get started getting her used to it.

So, what is your opinion on the subject?

Thanks,

[Eman'smom]

I voted skip the sippy, on the RARE occation that I'm not here at bedtime, a bottle of BM/sippy whatever just makes her mad. Dh has better luck just holding snuggling and singing than trying to offer milk.

[azyre]

If she eats solid food and can go without breastmilk similar lengths when you *are* around, i'd just give her water and food during that time. When I started leaving my DD a little after 12 months, she never likes alternate milks in a bottle, she managed fine with food and water and cuddles from her dad or gparents

I did know however that she would eat and drink other stuff because if we were out and about and having fun she'd happily have the other stuff and not look for the boob until she wanted to sleep.

[Pattyla]

The thing is she usually doesn't go that long w/o nursing. In fact I doubt that she every regularly goes 4 hours w/o nursing.

I just figure that it may be easier for my dh to get her to sleep if her tummy is full and milk is more satisfying than water. Althought she eats solids she still really isn't eating a lot of them at any one time. Sometimes she surprises me and just eats and eats but that isn't even once a day. I was looking at a big jar of baby food today and realized that dd would take 3 or more sittings to finish it most days.

Thanks again for any imput.

Patty

[jessemoon]

I would leave dh with a sippy as well as her favorite solids...put in the sippy whatever you feel her system will tolerate best...my guy loves the Edenblend rice/soy combo...but I grew up on goats milk. Try it out ahead of time and see if there is one that she thinks is yummy.

That way, if she eats a big dinner, then dh can give her water or a little bit of sippy cup and cuddle her to sleep. If she eats a mini-dinner, then he can try the sippy cup as an alternate option. I am all about as many options as possible! Goood Luck!

[TiredX2]

I would just hesitate to introduce milk to a child that "young" (I know it's not mainstream young, but after watching reactions in 12 month olds to dairy ).

Really, though, you need to find what works best for DD!

[Pattyla]

I hesitate to introduce dairy too that is why I am asking about other milks that should be somewhat easier on her system than cow milk.

When she was younger I would always pump when I needed to go to rehearsal but the past few times I tried to pump I got less than 1 oz so it really isn't an option.

[LaffNowCryLater]

I leave my dd similar to your situation and I just give her water and maybe some water with a teeny dab of 100% juice. I nurse her right before I leave and immediately when I come back home. Maybe rice milk could work though?

[TiredX2]

Any chance you could introduce some special high fat food for right before bed time on those days (avacado or whole fat yogurt come to mind)? That would give the full feeling but avoid the bottles & milks.

[Pattyla]

Thanks for the high fat idea. DD doesn't like yoguart or avacado (unless it is guac. in a mexican resturant then she eats it up )

I gave her some soy milk in a sippy yesterday to see what would happen. She drank about as much of that as she does water. About an oz or less per meal.

I'm stressing about this because she used to go to bed with her dad but now it is only with me and she will just cry for hours if she can't get nursing. However I don't think that 4 hours a week away from her is too much to ask and I will be very disappointed if I have to turn down an invitation to sing again this spring.

I really appreciate the imput. No one irl understands why I'm not working on transitioning her to whole milk.

[Katiemare]

try a dry run and leave DH in charge. even leave the house after saying goodbye to DD (and sneak back in once she's in the bath or bedroom). you will probably find that those two will do just fine together. But it is SO hard not to worry, isn't it?
Now, sometimes if he wakes up in the night and his pappa is a work, DS looks at me and says, "NOT YOU!!!" that helps me relate to how useless the boobless one felt the whole first 18 months.