On 22 Apr 2006 04:46:12 -0700, "ktuerk" wrote:

Hi everyone,
I'm an occasional poster, frequent reader. I should thank you all in
advance for providing such an invaluable resource for nursing mothers.
DD and I share a wonderful nursing relationship. When we recently moved
to Panama, we successfully weaned DD out of the family bed, and cut the
nursing sessions down to 2x a day; before bedtime, and before naptime.
At bedtime she nurses for 5-10 minutes and DH puts her to sleep. I lay
down with her at naptime and let her nurse herself to sleep. She LOVES
nursing, and cutting her back was very challenging. She will still ask
to nurse on other occasions - often when she wakes up from nap or
bedtime, which leads to major temper tantrums when I refuse. I think
she would still nurse all day long if I let her.

Since January, I've known that I will be going to California, without
DD. I'm in a wedding, and the expense is too great to take the whole
family, and the travel time will be 10+ hours - just too much for her.
While DH is excited for his alone time with her, I'm so nervous and
feeling incredibly guilty. My trip is the reason why we started the
weaning process, but now I feel stuck with these last 2 sessions. I
don't think either DD or I are ready to stop nursing.

So finally, I get to the question. I will be in California for 4
nights/5 days. Do I wean her from these last sessions before I go?
Will it be harder for her if I just leave without weaning? Should I
anticipate that the Wednesday night before I leave will be our last
nurse together? Aside from weaning, does anyone have suggestions how
to prepare her for my absence? Thanks so much for any advice, I'm
really feeling conflicted.

Karen
Mama to Amelia 7/04

I was in a similar situation with my DS when he was 23 months. I had
to go away for 7 days/6 nights. My goal had been to nurse him for at
least two years so I was very worried about the prospect of him
weaning because of me being gone. At that point, he was nursing to
sleep for both naps and nighttime, and also asking to have a "quick
nurse" (his words) at random times during the day. Luckily, though,
he was also happy to go to sleep without nursing if I wasn't around
(e.g. out for the evening).

Long story short, it ended up being perfectly fine. He barely asked
about me while I was gone and had no problem going to sleep for naps
and at night (he slept with DH in our bed). I got a little bit full
the first couple of days and luckily I had taken my breast pump. I
pumped the first two nights and mornings and after that I was fine. I
was worried my supply would disappear but when I got back home a week
later, DS almost immediately asked to nurse and picked right up where
we'd left off.

Since then, I've gone away twice more (once for 4 nights, once for 6
nights) with no problems. DS is now 30 months and still nursing
strong. For both of those trips, DS stayed with DH, which I think
helped to ease the anxiety for him.

I also have to say that my last trip away was amazing. The first two
trips were not for pleasure (one for work, the other for a funeral) so
this last one was my first vacation without DS. I slept 12 hours
straight my first night away! As much as I missed him, I realized how
badly I needed the break.

Anyway, good look with your trip away. From the sounds of things, it
should be fine and don't worry about weaning. Like an earlier poster
suggested, just make sure to explain to DD ahead of time about your
trip.

Katie
DS - Nov 03