Kasey writes:

: I'm beginning to think that this was a crazy idea. We're leaving on
: Wednesday for a 10+ hour road trip with our 4 week old, exclusively
: breastfed son. He only sleeps for a maximum of 2 - 2.5 hours at a time, so
: this could make for a very long trip! We're going to break the drive up over
: two days, but stopping every couple of hours to nurse could make this trip
: take double the time it should.

That's only 5 hours driving a day. That should make it quite doable.

: Family have been encouraging me to get a
: breast pump and introduce our son to a bottle over the next few days so I
: can feed him EBM during the trip so we don't have to stop as often. I'm
: really torn about this...Is 4 weeks too early to introduce a bottle? Will
: this have any affect on his nursing ability? I don't plan on giving him
: bottles after this trip - it would only be an extreme rarity. I feel like we
: just got nursing established and he's doing really great, so I'm scared to
: tamper with a good thing!

I think your are right. I would NOT recommend introducing a 4 week old
to a bottle. Expecially when is is going to be stressed more by a car
trip, There could be a untoward bottle preference reactions. I would
suggest stopping and nursing more often. One good piece of news is that
giving the motion and rhythmic sound of the care, babies often sleep
longer. You might also consider sitting in the back seat with him and
leaning over the car seat. Just dont unbuckle either you or him.

: Also, I have been adamant about not wanting to give him a pacifier, but am
: beginning to wonder if maybe for this trip only it might be a good idea as
: he does like to comfort nurse after his feedings. Making this trip with a
: baby crying in agony will not only break my heart, but will make for an
: excruiciating journey. Anything I can do to make the trip as comfortable as
: possible for all of us!

I don't have good advice here except to say that I am not fond of pacifiers.
Again you might consider sitting with him, whether you lean over his seat
or not.

: Any advice is appreciated! Thanks so much!

Did the best I could, :-)
Larry