Bring Baby?

I have 3. I would bring the baby. Life is easier for everyone. Now he may not adjust to sleeping but I remember just putting the child in bed with me. They actually NEVER sleep in my bed. They were fine afterwards. If you want to wean, then make this the goal.

I was told to let someone other than mommy give baby the bottle first. You should also be as far away as possible; babies can smell their mother's milk from quite some distance. Good luck!

Chances are in three months, he'll have the hang of a sippy cup. I would give it some more time and make the official decision once it is closer to that particular weekend. Neither one of my children would take a bottle either, so I can understand your predicament. Just be consistent and practice a lot. Have Daddy work with him too, especially since he'll be the caretaker while your gone. You'll miss your son like crazy, but you'll also thoroughly enjoy a day or two off mama duty. In our house those days are rare and few...I'd do everything I could to join my friend without the my child. Have fun!

I bet he'll be able to manage just fine by then if you keep working on it. If you plan to introduce solids before then, it'll be even easier. Either way, I'm sure they'll work it out. Bring the pump, leave the baby, and enjoy your time!

As a breastfeeding mother to another.
You should not be away from your little one.
Your girl time will have to wait until after you are done with breastfeeding.
If you leave him with your husband you will cause your husband and son a LARGE amount of stress while you are away on your girl weekend.
Sometimes little ones just need mommy to smell and snuggle with to feel better and to rest well.
I highly recommend not leaving your son.

If you do leave your son with your husband, he will be calling you soon to come home. And then you will get upset at him thinking why can't he help me by taking care of the baby for a little while ~ but in true reality it's your child that needs you and won't stop crying because he needs mommy and her milk and her smell and her loving touch.

This is tough! Its so hard to leave the babies!! I agree within 3 months, I bet you can get him used to the bottle or sippy. As for feeling guilty, you just have to let it go, or try anyways. Hes not going to remember but you will make great memories with your friend you never see, plus some major you time. Shopping, beach, sounds like a plan to me!

I personally would take him with. Why stress yourself along with him? If anyone gets upset about it then they aren't a real friend. You're family comes first.

I would bring my baby. No question about it. Unless you actually *want* to wean your baby, I wouldn't change what you do now. It would be too stressful. Your baby is used to you feeding him all the time. Imagine his grief if you were all of a sudden gone for days from him. I was still nursing my just turned 1 year old when I had a horse riding accident. I was immediately gone from her and in the hospital (I had left home for my lesson and never came back). My husband brought her to me at day 3 because it was impossible for her to see me before that (I almost died). She burst into tears when she saw me. She had been grieving for me up to that point. She didn't understand why I wasn't there because I had always been there. Of course, I started crying, the nurse started crying... I would take my baby. I wouldn't put him through the trama.

No, you should not bring the baby. If you continue to offer a sippy cup or bottle (many breast fed babies skip the bottle stage), within 2 months he should get the hang of it. Go and enjoy yourself. 3 hours is not that long, you can always go home in there's a problem.

October is still a few months away, he will be older, so that will help. You need to start pumping now to get him and you used to it. You probably won't be able to get him to take the bottle, because he knows he can have your breast when you are there. You need to let your husband or someone else feed him the bottle without you in the room. When he gets better with that, let someone else, family or friend, take him for the whole day a few times. Once he is better drinking from the bottle and being away from you for a day, he should be fine without you for the weekend. This is a good time to start because babies still get over their separation anxiety pretty quickly at this age, if they have it at all. Good luck!

Are children allowed at the wedding/reception? Would your friend welcome the opportunity to meet your little one? If you're planning on going out with your friend, does she know someone trustworthy to watch your baby while you're out? Is he sleeping through the night yet? Does he go to others willingly or does he have stranger anxiety? With my oldest, I had a wedding when he was 9 months old. He was allowed at the ceremony (I sat at the end of a row near the back in case I needed a quick escape or needed to stand/pace with him), but not at the reception, so the bride took the time to talk to me prior to the reception. When my youngest (now 13 month) was 4 months I had an "all girls" weekend at the beach, everyone enjoyed taking turns with my baby, which gave me a welcome break. I only missed 1 "outing" because she had already gone down for the night. Another option is checking out a website like sittercity.com or care.com in the area you will be. They do background checks and you can do a telephone interview. If you arrive at your location with enough time, you can also schedule a face-to-face interview before leaving your precious little one with a "stranger".

As a past breastfeeding mama I can tell you your son will be fine if your gone for a couple days. Someone else (your hubby or mom) can give him a bottle or cup and he will drink from it. Go have some fun. Pump while your gone so that you are still producing milk. But don't let yourself be tied to the house because your 10 month old will miss nursing a few times. He will be fine. He will refuse a bottle from you but if he is hungry he will take one from someone else. Have a ball. I would go.

If you're able to pump, then you have time over the next few months to pump a good supply and teach him to take a bottle occasionally. He may not take one when you're around. In fact, it's unlikely if he's unwilling to wean at all, but it's very possible that your husband and other caregivers like Grandma or an aunt that he sees regularly can help teach him to take breastmilk from a bottle or sippy cup.

This would give you some freedom and also allow your husband to participate and take more responsibilities in feedings. If I had been able to pump while I was breastfeeding, I would have taken advantage of it as early as possible. You can still keep him EBF. You would just be teaching him to take BM from another source besides straight from you. You have time. It's not unreasonable for you to attend this wedding and expect your husband to stay with the baby and the baby to be perfectly fine.

This would also be the time to start taking some time away from the baby for short periods. During those times when you're "away" for an afternoon, Daddy or Grandma can offer him pumped breastmilk. Your scent and sounds won't be around to interfere. Yes he may resist at first, but that's expected and normal, but he may not. It won't be traumatizing as long as you don't wait until the last minute to spring all of the changes on him.

I would bring the baby. I'm always feel more relaxed when I know exactly what my baby is doing.

I would either bring him with me or stay home.

I'd lean towards taking him with you, though you have to be prepared to leave whatever event if he gets fussy or find a babysitter if it's not appropriate for him to be there at all. I missed most of a friend's wedding ceremony because our nursing son was fussing--it just goes with the territory. Even though my kids both took a good bit of formula, during the time when they were nursing and I had an annual professional conference to attend, I took them along, and conference meetings are less infant-welcoming than a social gathering such as a wedding. I would think that your friend should be delighted to see your youngster! At the conferences, I went to almost nothing except the presentations and meetings I had to attend (and my colleagues were actually much more receptive than I expected when I had to bring the kid along because there was no childcare), however leaving a nursing kid home was not an option I considered. Good luck with your decision!