Stories about leaving a breastfed baby with a caregiver or taking them with you?

[wysiwyg]

Hope this is ok in here, info will be used to support breastfeeding so hope is right place.

I am co-running ABA meeting next week, talking about getting out and about so covering leaving BF baby with a caregiver and also about taking baby with you. So have ideas from my own experiences (DD would take a bottle of EBM, DS won't - so different strategies I have used for going to events and getting out and about) - but was wondering if anyone on here has advice to share that I could use for the discussion. Meeting is very informal, and any funny anecdotes would be great

So any inventive ways of dealing with events and a breastfed bub (that either involve leaving with someone or taking them with you)?

Any times you have left bub behind but wished you had taken them (or vice versa)?

Any out there ways that have worked when bubs doesn't want a bottle? (this is mainly for me - I have really given up with DS and the bottle (after minimal perseverance mind you) as at moment haven't got anything where I need him to have one coming up but might be good to have something up my sleeve. )

The overall message I suppose if there is one, is that if you do what feels right for you and your baby - you are likely to enjoy yourself wherever you are, sometimes expressing and leaving works well, sometimes working out a way to take the bub with you works well. (We seem to get a lot of questions about expressing and building up stash etc, and a lot of anxiety around this so part of it is about demonstrating pumping and your milk stash is not the be all and end all).

[*TripleJ*]

we actually use formula when i go out and leave the baby and we've never had any isssues because ive always had issues expressing but as soon as she sees me she wants booby

[sloane]

DS would happily take a bottle from DP's mum if we left him with her but wouldn't take one from DP. we used a cup a few times & that worked ok but if DS was in our house, then he wanted me (even if i wasn't home). we mostly used formula when i left him (it wasn't very often) & we had no problems with DS going back to the breast afterwards. i just didn't stick with expressing - i hated it. so i guess my point is that it's okay to have occasional FF if that works for you. i had grand plans to express & have a wonderful stash, but it just wasn't to be. my DS fed till he was 20 months so it didn't hamper our feeding journey in the slightest.

most of the time DS would come with us/me. i'm not a public feeder. this is nothing to do with the concept of feeding in public - i think that's great. i just have an issue with my boobs & having big boobs = the football hold = makes it difficult to feed without flashing! however, i still never had any problem finding somewhere (and no, never ever in a toilet!) private to feed DS. i say this because as wonderful as feeding in public is, it's not for everyone & i don't want people to think that they can't still manage to get out & about. i happily fed DS in the car & quickly worked out which shopping centres had nice parents rooms for feeding. if you are using the football hold, the fold down thingy in the middle of the back seat is useful for feeding (on whichever side the car seat isn't)

and while it all may seem overwhelming at the start, in hindsight those early months actually pass very quickly & soon enough they're eating solids & you don't need to time outings quite so carefully!

[HotI]

My LO never took ebm, although we tried. I worked at the election polls when she was 6 ? months. she wasn't taking solids yet, but would drink water. I left ebm with DH thinking she might drink it if tha t was all that was available. I fed her before i left. DH brought her up at lunchtime cos she wasn't interested at all in the ebm. i was also kinda glad cos i was pretty full by this time. He brought her up again just before the polls closed, so i could give her another feed. (when the polls close, the booth gets closed until after counting finished and no-one allowed in or out) . Each time she came up though, she was a bit wary of me at first and it took a little bit to get her to feed. I think she was pee-ed off that i had gone out without her. She survived the day though, and DH also got her to sleep without boob for the first time that night (i was wishing she was up though cos i was full as).

Soon after i started back at work one day a week and would be away from home for about 9 hours. DD was having some solids by now, and would drink water but not ebm. EIther my Mum or DH would look after DD. I would feed her before work, and for awhile, Mum was bringing her to me at lunchtime for a feed, and then DD would often sleep in the car on the way home. But, we found that it was too distracting and she wasn't really getting a good feed when she came to me, and so after awhile we stopped this. On work days, DD would feed in the morning, and then when i got home would have a big breastfeed session. On non-work days, she continued breastfeeding throughout the day as normal.

[MummyNaomi]

A BF giggle of mine was when we went to a Wedding and Mum had DS for about 12 hours. I had to pump between the ceremony and the reception as I was about to leak everywhere and had to sit in the car and do it in a busy city street, trying to do it discretely was hilarious, DH thought it was hilarious - so not only do you need to consider bubs (luckily I'd left enough EBM) but it was more taking care of myself that was the challenging part!!

[HotI]

I took DD to a wedding when she was 14 months old ish, and there was so much excitement going on that she wasn't keen to feed (the bridesmaid had the same problem with her younger daughter) and so by the end of the day we were both very buxom and full.

[wysiwyg]

Thanks for all the replies, will definitely use some of this stuff.

Naomi - yes I went to a wedding when DD was 6 months, and was away for about 12 hours, she was happy at home with EBM but I was in the toilets hand pumping it down the loo (I hadn't even considered I would need to express) for comfort. All the other guests on my table were wasted, whereas there were other mums with young bubs there and all I could think of was I wish I had brought DD.

HotI - Thanks your story about the election polls just the type of thing I was after too.

Sloane - Thanks for reminding me about feeding in the car, that is one of my favourite places to feed too - seat is nice and comfy, can listen to the radio etc. Also will make sure I mention that you don't have to feed in public if you don't want to, and there are lots of places you can use for privacy. I often feed in the parents room at the MCG during AFL games, it has a TV so can still watch the game, most people don't even realize it is there.

[Mrs P]

Took DD to my work Xmas party (I was still on maternity leave) when she was about 4 mths old. It was a BBQ lunch outdoors and I thought I would avoid potentially feeling uncomfortable by BFing in front of colleagues. So I took some EBM along. But she refused to drink it and I ended up having to take her to the car and BF with the air con on!

[sloane]

I often feed in the parents room at the MCG during AFL games, it has a TV so can still watch the game, most people don't even realize it is there.

i'd totally forgotten about this one too - and etihad stadium has a decent parents room as well, although last time i used it they were playing a different game on the tv grrrr! the footy is something DP & i go to every week so it was nice to be able to still keep that bit of normality once we had DS