Stressing over upcoming trip away from baby...

[@llli*koux]

Next month my husband and I will be taking a weekend trip away from our kids (3 year old and 5 month old baby) to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. I'm stressing about it so bad! My biggest issue is that the baby will NOT take a bottle. I've tried SO many times, and she just chews on the nipple and pushes it out with her tongue. She won't suck at all. She gags on it if I try and put it back in. We've tried 7
different types of bottles, I've tried feeding her when she's full, hungry, night time and day time, nothing. She won't take it for daddy either. I haven't been separated from her for more than 3-4 hours at a time, so she's never really had motivation to take one from a sitter. She usually just makes up for it when I get back. I'm super nervous about leaving her for this long without knowing she'll take a bottle well. We'll be gone for about 3 days. We're leaving her with my mother-in-law who has NO experience with breastfed babies (she didn't breastfeed, and I'm the first in our family to do so for more than a few weeks), and I can tell she's nervous that she hasn't taken a bottle well. It's freaking me out.

Basically, I just don't know how to do this. I don't know what to tell MIL when I leave her - I'm just gonna have to drop her off and say, 'you're on your own!'. I feed her on demand, so I don't know how often she eats, and I have NO idea how much she eats in a feeding. I don't even know if she'll sleep well without being nursed. I also was wondering - how often do I need to pump while I'm gone? I have a manual I can throw in my purse and pump in the bathroom while we're out and about if I need to. I don't want my milk to dry up while I'm gone.

Half of this is me venting, but I would LOVE any insight about how to handle this. I love breastfeeding, but it sure makes it complicated and stressful to leave baby! I'm having major separation anxiety with her. I really want to enjoy this trip - it's the first time hubby and I have gone away just the two of us since our honeymoon! I don't want to ruin it by worrying the whole time if my baby is starving. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

You're going to have to pump 8 to 10 times a day.

Can you postpone the trip another 6 months? I understand wanting to do it for the anniversary, but can you postpone it to your 5 1/2 yr anniversary?

It sounds like this is going to be stressful for everyone involved. Did you leave your 3 year old when he/she was a baby? I am not the best person to give advice on this, because the only time I've been away from my older daughter overnight was when my second daughter was born - but I can't imagine being away from a 7 month old for a weekend. I can't really imagine being away from my 22 month old for an entire weekend.

My mother-in-law also did not nurse and she and my FIL went on a weekend trip when my DH was 9 months old. She saw people with babies everywhere and she cried the whole weekend. They ended up leaving early. It's hard for mamas and babies to be separated.

[@llli*sassypants]

Can you make plans to bring her with you? I would keep trying to introduce the bottle but if she never takes it, or you are ultimately still uncomfortable leaving her, then you have a back up plan to take her along.

Why spend the time and money on a trip if you are going to be miserable worrying most of the time?

When I left my son for a weekend trip at 10mo I had to pump around 6 times a day, but I was one of those moms that could pump enough milk for a 9 hour work day in only 2 sessions, and he was eating a fair bit of solids, so you will probably have to pump more for your 6-7mo.

[@llli*manitobamommy]

Wow, that sounds really frustrating and stressful.

I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I agree with the previous posts that if I were in your shoes, I would seriously consider postponing (not cancelling!) the trip (if that's an option). Your LO is only this young once, and if you're going to spend the whole trip stressing about it, you're not going to have a very good time anyway.

What I will say is if you decide to go forward, your mom and LO will find a way to muddle through. It's likely that if you leave for a longer stretch, she will eventually "give in" and accept the bottle. But it's not likely to be very fun for either your mom or the baby.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[@llli*manitobamommy]

Another possibility - bring your mom with you as a nanny? Then you could have some quality anniversary time but not have to worry about the bottle issue.