Breastfeeding and bridesmaid duties

Hi all,

Currently I am not sure if I will be BF the next bubba but if I do decide then I have a bit of a dilemma which I am hoping some lovely ladies can help me with.
So the situation is bubba no.2 is due late June 2010 and I am a bridesmaid in my brother in laws wedding come January 2011. By then bub should be around 6mths old and if things are really well then I don't want to have to wean just because i'm part of a wedding. Has anyone been in this sort of predicament and who did you go about arranging the feeds?
I also would like to try and lose a little weight to be able to fit into the bridesmaid dress I feel that i'm kinda letting her down by having this baby and not knowing what size i'll be.
I don't even know who will be looking after our kids yet as we don't have much babysitters on hand and the wedding will be up in the Dandenong's.
(another side note my DS started to teeth at 4mths and got his first two teeth at 6mths and would constantly be biting furniture and all sots of stuff so that could also have an impact into the whole BF thing.)

Thanks

First of all, maybe start giving a bottle of EBM on occasion, maybe once every day or 2, a few months before the wedding, so baby doesn't straight out refuse it if thats what ends up happening. He/she will be used to a bottle. But wait til BFing is well established :)
2nd, don't rely on your others age for teething. My DD1 was 7 months when she got her first tooth, DD2 was 5 months. DS closer to 8 months. They are all different :)
Good luck & if your dress is too big you can have it taken in. If its too small, its harder to take it out :)

I have exactly same dilema in march!! DS2 will be 2 and 1/2 months and BF (DS1 still BF also but he will be fine) I dont get much when I express so cant really have a bottle of EBM for him also not sure how I will mange in the dress.

I have issue of needing to have dress fitting when hoping to loose weight before then, and also the timing of feeds so that bub will be settled when he needs to be eh ceremony and pics.

Its my brothers wedding and he has invited my best friend so that she can look after DS2 for me as I dint want my parents to risk missing anything due to him being upset (DH and DS1 are also in bridal party)

Depending on where wedding is in dandenongs there may be a room for you to feed in as we got married at lyrebird falls and my best friend/matron of honour was BF and she sat in there to feed as she had to half strip due to dress.

feeb OMG i got married at lyrebird falls too!

and i agree with feeb, if the bride is able to tell some one/people you are still bfing and want to do it maybe in the brideal room (if thats what its called lol) they should be able to arrange it. a friend of mine baught her 4 week old bubba to my wedding and i told them that she could go in/out of the room as much as needed as she was feeding and they where very good about the whole thing. as for the dress it depends on the style as to how much room there is to play with. my wedding dress was a size 20 - and fited me when i was 32wks pg. so if its a flowing kind of dress you may be able to get away with some good knickers to make things 'sit' right. KWIM? hope it all pans out for you :)

Dansta its such a gorgeous place!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When did you get married there?? Ours was 20th may 2006. Loved it stayed at Brisarinia gardens night before and horse and carriage picked me up there and took me to the wedding!! and then spent night at Lochiel tree top cottages!!!!

I have been a bridesmaid twice and been bf both times. It was hard to know what size you are and by the time 6 months the baby may be on solids which could help a little when its time for photo's. The first time ds1 was only 6weeks old, it was my sil wedding and i just asked if my mum could come so she could look after bubs while i was busy!! As for feeding it worked out great i fed him before the ceremony then he slept the entire time then i fed him before photos then he slept throught the photo's and at the reception i just had a chair and his pram in the back cornor and covered myself with a blanket so i did not miss any of the reception!!! Hope all works out for you!!!

As far as I know they have tentatively booked in at Chatau Wyuna? I'm not sure of the spelling but they did go look at the Lyrebird Falls and some other places but they loved this venue.
I don't really want to have to bring the baby with us up to the wedding it will be a hassle and we will also have a nearly 2 year old by then as well so I'd rather they be both looked after by a close friend at home.
How would I go expressing milk during the wedding to ease discomfort? how much milk do you think I would need to have saved up? not sure how much mls they would be taking. I BF my son for about 6 weeks so my knowledge in that department is pretty much nothing!

My DS is 6.5 months and still bf. I find he CAN go longer between feeds if I need him too and can have water or solids to "tide him over" when I'm not available. My supply has settled down heaps too - so I don't seem to get engorged if I miss a feed. I think it would be doable to be a BM and have a bf bub.

Juliette was 10 months old when I was bridesmaid for my friend. Essentially I fed her in the morning, expressed before I got into my dress & held out as long as I could to express at the reception, it was around dinner time. I then got home & gave her a biiiig loooong feed LOL!

I had lots of EBM ready for her as well, though she wasn't too impressed with that even though she'd been having it once a week from when she was 9wks old & I was at work.

*LovemyKids* ohh you may be able to help did you find a strapless BF bra???? if so where and who makes.

mummaofchaz ahh ok fair enough we will have 2 and 1/2 month old and 20 month old so will be full on!!!
As for expressing at wedding you would need to express when normally you would be feeding, its hard to know how much he would be drinking but I would suggest starting a few months before so you have a good stock pile in freezer and also baby used to bottle.

I've went through the exact same thing at Chateau Wyuna (gorgeous place!). Except that my DS was only 4 weeks old when I was bridesmaid. Luckily he didn't need to be fed during the ceremony but I had EBM in case he did. I asked my mum to come along to the ceremony to look after DS and DD.

I got him used to having EBM from a bottle from birth and mum gave him that while we were off having photos. Straight after photos I bf'd him and did so as well during the reception. The staff were lovely and I used the bridal suite to feed as I had to literally pull half my dress down to feed.

DS is 5 months old now and he would have about 200ml of EBM.

Oh and I was not able to find a strapless bf bra :(
Because it was only 4 weeks after giving birth I ordered my dress in 2 sizes bigger than I would normally wear and got it taken in the week of the wedding.

Hope that helps!

Yes i did find a good convertable maternity bra so then i could use it for the wedding strapless and then i could wear it afterwards so it was not a waste!! It was not cheap and it was about 5 years ago hehe but i got it from bra's and things!!!

HTH

I was a bridesmaid for my Sister in law when DD was 6mths too, i expressed milk the morning of the wedding and my mum took care of her with the milk. she didnt really take the bottle but she didnt really need it either, she had a good feed before it all started then i fed her as soon as i got into the reception.

oh but dont forget breastpads! lol i kinda leaked at the very end, i think a tight dress didnt help lol

ohh on the dress part, i just wore a normal strapless bra, and when i fed in a room out the back of the reception i just unzipped the dress a little bit and pulled the bra down.

My nephew got married at Christmas and his sister has a now 3 month old baby. They asked me to look after the baby for the day which was great fun. I got him when they arrived at the church she fed her in between and then I had her again during the reception which she slept through in the corner near us.
You might find an aunt who would love the job of looking after your baby for the day. Until the day I hadn't seen her as they live interstate and that wasn't a problem.

My cousin was bridesmaid for her close friend when she was bfing her baby. She organised for a room nearby (I think they hired a motel/hotel room for the day) and her mother came and stayed there with the baby. She was able to leave at one point to go and feed the baby before the reception, and the rest of the time her mum used EBM.

Not sure if that helps, but it worked for them!