2 Q's about trips with LOs

Mommysaurus123

1) What did you do about BM (if you BF)? We are going to a wedding in New York (state) this weekend, and MIL/FIL are coming along (the wedding is for my cousin) so they can babysit. We are going to be there all weekend for the rehearsal Friday, the wedding Saturday, and we are coming home Sunday. Our room will have a fridge, but I don't know about a freezer. It's a 4 hour drive, so I think I could keep frozen BM frozen in the car... but can you call hotels and request a freezer, too? I don't want to thaw more than I need (I don't even know if I'll need any, but I want to have it there just in case.)

2) DH and I want to go to Indy for a Colts game this year. I really don't want to leave DS with a sitter for the weekend (Sat/Sun/Mon), but DH says if we go, DS would not be at the game with us because it's too loud and we should be able to actually enjoy the game if we are spending crazy money on it. So we were going to ask my cousin and his soon-to-be-wife (L's godparents) if they wanted to go with us, all expenses paid, other than food, and just watch L during the game. It would be about 5 hours that they'd have to watch him by themselves, but I think it would give them the time to bond with him. Does this sound overboard? Should I just suck it up and leave the little guy in PA for a weekend with my parents or IL's? I don't want to be the crazy lady that can't be apart from her baby, but I also don't want to be away from my baby that long.

Thanks for your input!

Five Months to Plan

1. I stopped BF right before we started traveling for summer so no adivce. 2. I do not think that is excessive, but that is just me. I have not been apart from DD that long yet, and if they are willing then go for it. At the same time I know my DH is really starting to looked forward to a weekend alone with just us. I know that will be good for us, so I am trying to get myself mentally prepared for leaving DD soon. I am totally comfortable with her at my moms's but still tough.

jillybean800

1.  I'm sorry, no real advice, because I stopped BFing.  But my initial thought is to take it, let it all thaw, and pump while your there to make a new replacement stash to freeze when you get home.

2.  I think you should just leave him for the weekend. That plan seems like way more trouble than it's worth. That way he is not in a hotel, he is in a regular home, with access to all of his stuff if need be. PLUS, you have the bonus of being able to leave your LO with family, which not everyone has access to.  Count your blessings and kiss that baby goodbye for the weekend!

kat81again2

1) I think you should feed LO frozen milk sometime this week and pump some fresh stuff during those feedings so that you can take fresh milk with you. Or risk thawing too much. I think it's WAY too much hassle to try to keep some milk frozen for the entire trip. Fresh is so much easier to deal with.

2) I think it sounds overboard if "all expenses paid" is some exorbitant amount of money. But if it's affordable then why not? If these are L's godparents then it sounds like the perfect plan! I would still keep thinking about leaving LO, though. How would he do on this very long trip? Would it be easier on him to stay home? Though I realize the whole pumping thing is very annoying. So it could go either way. We are still considering whether to leave LO at home for a wedding we have at the end of this month. It's a long trip (well short total time, but long travel) so it might be rough on him (we're taking him to closer/easier weddings this year, though.) The only thing is we don't have a good option for a sitter. My parents have never babysat him, so I doubt they'd want to do an overnight! And I'm not sure how my nanny feels about overnights. We're deciding what we prefer before we ask her....

ETA: we did one long car ride trip with LO (4 hrs) about a month ago and it was annoying. We ended up leaving at his bedtime so that his sleep wouldn't be messed up by being in the car. And on the way back we had to stop twice and for long-ish periods to feed him, let him play, etc. So again, I'd think hard about taking LO on non-essential long car rides. Flying is actually easier (we've done that, too.)

EVM1216

1).  I'm not sure why you're messing with frozen BM.  I would just keep everything fresh and chilled so that it's easier to transport and you don't have to worry about it thawing.  Everytime we've gone on a trip I've just brought my pump and pump a bottle to leave with people baby sitting as needed.  I've always had a cow-like supply though.

2). I agree with pp.  I would be annoyed if my friends asked me on a trip to somewhere not so fun (Indy right?) so they can have a babysitter.  I know you're paying, but still they'll have to miss some work.   It sounds like a total pain, when you could just enjoy a baby-free weekend with hubby.

Mommysaurus123

The only reason I was thinking about the frozen BM is because I work tomorrow and Thursday and I'm not sure I will have enough pumped milk left over to supplement what I pump in NY. My ILs are famous for over-feeding L (every time he cries, he *must* be hungry), and I want to make sure they have enough milk to get them through the weekend. AF is on her way for me, so my supply will be dipping a little this weekend anyway.

I think I might just use frozen BM the next 2 days though, and leave the fresh stuff that's in my fridge alone until this weekend. Good thoughts!

And I guess leaving DS with family for the weekend would be OK... but then we run into the BM issues again (which I hate dealing with)... We were thinking that if the godparents go, we would stop at a hotel with an indoor water park on the way home. We would be driving them (the perks of a minivan) and paying for their hotel rooms. We would probably pay for meals too.