Traveling, Growing Pains, and a dose of Honesty

The above comment said it best… You know your family and what would work best for you! With that being said, I couldn’t make the trip. I am all about making things as easy on myself and my family as possible, and for me a trip would add unnecessary stress! But everyone is different… You may need a break to relieve some stress!

I would have a hard time, myself, leaving a baby that little if I was nursing – I nursed all 4 exclusively and it just presents some challenges if you are not with them for a lengthy period of time. Is there anyone that could go with you and help you with him? If not, you CAN do it – you just need to do a couple of things. First, you need to be sure you’ve pumped enough ahead of time to leave him with breast milk bottles, AND that he’ll willingly take the bottle. When you’re away from him, you need to be sure to pump at regular intervals, similar to the intervals that he’s currently nursing. This will help keep your supply up while you’re gone. You can either “pump and dump”, or store the milk – if you have access to a refrigerator or freezer while you are in NYC. You’ll have to transport it back on the plane, so you’ll need frozen ice packs and a cooler. Your supply may drop slightly over the two days, but it will pick right back up once you’re home and nursing. Because you won’t be with him for 2 days, it could also impact fertility/NFP tracking. Just an FYI on that one!

If you do decide to go, I think 48 hours of pumping is doable, as long as your body really does respond well to a pump (and you have a double-electric pump because otherwise you will have such a terrible hand cramp at the end that you won’t be able to carry your bags). I just had a quick 24-hour getaway from my 8mo twins and had to pump the whole time and was REALLY ready for them to nurse when I got back home! Just be prepared for possible plugged ducts/mastitis if you’re prone – pumps are nowhere near as efficient at milk removal than a baby 🙂

Thought: perhaps a (quick) weekend away for Fashion week will recharge you a bit and give you a moment to be YOU without kids and such? I know whenever I get a chance to get away I come back missing them like crazy, but ready to be a good mom and better rested. Just a thought:) P.S. If you had a travel size pump, could you duck into rest rooms and such? I know breast milk can go awhile without refrigeration.

Oh, that’s a tough call. Only you and your family can really weigh the advantages vs the stress. My little one didn’t take well to the bottle, so pumping and leaving weren’t an option – we were, well, glued together! Honestly, when I can’t make up my mind, I pray for the right decision to just sort of happen 🙂 Best of luck!

If it’s something that’s truly important to you, I would say yes. Babies can always benefit from some good quality snuggle time with Daddy. My son, Finn, is 18 months and we are still nursing strong! I recently was away from him for a quick overnight for Alt Summit and expressed in the shower that evening. My supply is nowhere near that of what it was when Finny was a newborn, so I could get away with just expressing at night and first thing in the AM. On a side note, I really hate feeling like pumping is something that has to be relegated to a bathroom stall. There’s this post that’s a bit old but a lot of the info still holds true: http://mommypoppins.com/newyorkcitykids/where-to-nurse-in-nyc and Medela even made an iPhone app called iBreastfeed that a friend of mine told me there are nursing friendly lounges listed. Good luck, Anna!

i can’t speak to some of the baby pieces, but i do understand the fiction world of pinterest and love how you touched upon that! i am with you – i love to dive into that “i wish it was reality” but it isn’t world.
kw ladies in navy