All,
Months back I asked if anyone had ever gone away on business for 3-3.5 weeks and had to leave their breastfed baby behind and asked for advise. I got some good advise and promised that I'd come back and write about how everything went. I hope this thread will help any of you who might have to do the same thing that I did.
All in all - it went very well. I was able to keep up my milk supply while away, and continue to breastfeed my 16 month old when I came back. I was nervous that he was going to be weaned and not want to breastfeed, but after a half a day, he wanted to again.
I recieved a lot of suggestions to take my baby with, but since I was going to multiple countries with tons of flights and I wouldn't have much freetime, I thought it best if my baby stayed with my mother and continued to visit the daycare he is used to during the day. My mom said that nights were a little difficult, but in general he stayed very happy during my absence.
Here is what I did, that I believe helped:
I created a little picture book showing mom and dad away on travel (we work together and both had to be on this trip), the plane, while our baby was sleeping, mom and dad sleeping while our baby was with his grandma or at day care. At the end of the story we are all back together again at the airport. Hopefully he understood some of it.
I already had a freezer supply of breastmilk and was trying to add additional milk to my supply before leaving. I was paranoid about my son not having enough milk while I was gone. It turned out that I really didn't need to do this, because most of the time, he refused to drink it and most of the milk ended up being dumped. The result of me trying to up the supply in the freezer made it more difficult for me to regulate my supply during my trip, so in hindsight, I shouldn't have done this.
I ordered a medela battery pack, battery charger and batteries for pumping. I have an older pump and style that I took with on the plane. I'm fortunate that I was able to fly business class to Manila, so I had a bit more room on the plane. I pumped about every 4-5 hours on the plane when I wasn't sleeping using the battery back, and dumped the milk out in the bathroom sink. Even though I was carrying little bottles around on the plane, I don't think anyone really noticed what I was doing, except for possibly some flight attendants. I had a stop over in Tokyo, and asked at the lounge where I could pump, and they opened up a separate lounge for me. Unfortunately they couldn't keep it private and others came in as well, but they pretty much let me be in my corner.
This is how every one of my flights went.. I pumped on the plane and asked for privacy in the lounges, or at least where there was a corner with fewer people. For the most part, I was accomodated. There was one airport transfer, where I ended up pumping in the back of the taxi cab, but with all of the noise, none of my colleagues noticed what I was doing, let alone the cab driver.
During the days I pumped 4 times - when I woke up, Lunch, after work, and before bed. The first days in Manila were terrible.. I missed my baby terribly, and was already having a hard time dealing with the separation - this was my first time being separated, but I also got engorged and then plugged ducts. I could not pump out the plugs, so I increased my pumping to try and try to unplug them. I massaged by breasts, used compresses, pumped in all different positions, used every method I could think of to get out the plugs. I developed mastisis in Manila, and was just about ready to see a doctor there when I had to fly on to Bangkok. Fortunately I was finally able to pump out the blocked milk in Bangkok, and it got better from that point on.
The Medela battery pack worked great. I had to change batteries after around 6-7 pumping sessions, and the pump worked the same as it always has with the batteries. The batteries also made it quicker to begin and end a pumping session, because I didn't have to worry about where to plug it in. This was a big help, when I had to locate a discrete place to pump. In the evenings I would recharge my second set of batteries.
At each location I worked at I either found a spare room, empty hotel lounge or even a quiet corner, or empty cubical and pumped there. I suppose after pumping in an airplane, you don't get so picky about privacy! I found that if I asked, for the most part, hotel/building staff were very helpful. In Vietnam, they let me into their business lounge to pump, even though I didn't qualify.
Another helpful hint was to purchase skype time. I got to talk with my mother and son every day over the computer to find out how everything was going for only a few cents. If the internet connection was good, we also used our webcams, so that my son could see his mom and dad over the internet and we could see him.
Knowing that I did as much for my son as possible during my absence, helped me accomplish the work I had to do, and enjoy my freetime abroad with my husband. It was also a very nice feeling being out and about with just my husband for awhile, even though we both missed our son so much.
When I first came home and offered my son my breast, he didn't want it and acted upset with me. I was really worried that this was it, considering he also refused to drink my milk when I was gone. Then later in the day, when we were alone, I offered it to him again, and he began to breastfeed. It was a wonderful feeling.
Months back I asked if anyone had ever gone away on business for 3-3.5 weeks and had to leave their breastfed baby behind and asked for advise. I got some good advise and promised that I'd come back and write about how everything went. I hope this thread will help any of you who might have to do the same thing that I did.
All in all - it went very well. I was able to keep up my milk supply while away, and continue to breastfeed my 16 month old when I came back. I was nervous that he was going to be weaned and not want to breastfeed, but after a half a day, he wanted to again.
I recieved a lot of suggestions to take my baby with, but since I was going to multiple countries with tons of flights and I wouldn't have much freetime, I thought it best if my baby stayed with my mother and continued to visit the daycare he is used to during the day. My mom said that nights were a little difficult, but in general he stayed very happy during my absence.
Here is what I did, that I believe helped:
I created a little picture book showing mom and dad away on travel (we work together and both had to be on this trip), the plane, while our baby was sleeping, mom and dad sleeping while our baby was with his grandma or at day care. At the end of the story we are all back together again at the airport. Hopefully he understood some of it.
I already had a freezer supply of breastmilk and was trying to add additional milk to my supply before leaving. I was paranoid about my son not having enough milk while I was gone. It turned out that I really didn't need to do this, because most of the time, he refused to drink it and most of the milk ended up being dumped. The result of me trying to up the supply in the freezer made it more difficult for me to regulate my supply during my trip, so in hindsight, I shouldn't have done this.
I ordered a medela battery pack, battery charger and batteries for pumping. I have an older pump and style that I took with on the plane. I'm fortunate that I was able to fly business class to Manila, so I had a bit more room on the plane. I pumped about every 4-5 hours on the plane when I wasn't sleeping using the battery back, and dumped the milk out in the bathroom sink. Even though I was carrying little bottles around on the plane, I don't think anyone really noticed what I was doing, except for possibly some flight attendants. I had a stop over in Tokyo, and asked at the lounge where I could pump, and they opened up a separate lounge for me. Unfortunately they couldn't keep it private and others came in as well, but they pretty much let me be in my corner.
This is how every one of my flights went.. I pumped on the plane and asked for privacy in the lounges, or at least where there was a corner with fewer people. For the most part, I was accomodated. There was one airport transfer, where I ended up pumping in the back of the taxi cab, but with all of the noise, none of my colleagues noticed what I was doing, let alone the cab driver.
During the days I pumped 4 times - when I woke up, Lunch, after work, and before bed. The first days in Manila were terrible.. I missed my baby terribly, and was already having a hard time dealing with the separation - this was my first time being separated, but I also got engorged and then plugged ducts. I could not pump out the plugs, so I increased my pumping to try and try to unplug them. I massaged by breasts, used compresses, pumped in all different positions, used every method I could think of to get out the plugs. I developed mastisis in Manila, and was just about ready to see a doctor there when I had to fly on to Bangkok. Fortunately I was finally able to pump out the blocked milk in Bangkok, and it got better from that point on.
The Medela battery pack worked great. I had to change batteries after around 6-7 pumping sessions, and the pump worked the same as it always has with the batteries. The batteries also made it quicker to begin and end a pumping session, because I didn't have to worry about where to plug it in. This was a big help, when I had to locate a discrete place to pump. In the evenings I would recharge my second set of batteries.
At each location I worked at I either found a spare room, empty hotel lounge or even a quiet corner, or empty cubical and pumped there. I suppose after pumping in an airplane, you don't get so picky about privacy! I found that if I asked, for the most part, hotel/building staff were very helpful. In Vietnam, they let me into their business lounge to pump, even though I didn't qualify.
Another helpful hint was to purchase skype time. I got to talk with my mother and son every day over the computer to find out how everything was going for only a few cents. If the internet connection was good, we also used our webcams, so that my son could see his mom and dad over the internet and we could see him.
Knowing that I did as much for my son as possible during my absence, helped me accomplish the work I had to do, and enjoy my freetime abroad with my husband. It was also a very nice feeling being out and about with just my husband for awhile, even though we both missed our son so much.
When I first came home and offered my son my breast, he didn't want it and acted upset with me. I was really worried that this was it, considering he also refused to drink my milk when I was gone. Then later in the day, when we were alone, I offered it to him again, and he began to breastfeed. It was a wonderful feeling.
