Breastfeeding and attending wedding less than 3 weeks after birth

scharle3 · May 2015

So, I'm supposed to be attending my cousins wedding which is 3 weeks from now...Baby is due next Wednesday. If I attend wedding, husband will keep baby, but I think I will have a problem with breastfeeding. I wasn't planning on starting to pump until about 4-5 weeks after baby is born. Wedding venue is about 30 mins from my house and the wedding is late in the evening, but I'm sure I will have to pump or something, bc baby will be without milk.....No sure what I should do, go or not go, but this will be the second wedding I'll miss this month. If I go, that means I would have to start pumping sometime during the week, so baby can milk while I'm gone, but I still want to do skin time with baby mostly,., would that effect him if I started that early?

MrsWhiteToBe · May 2015

I'm not sure but I hope someone knows... I'm the matron of honor at my sister's wedding which is 2 weeks after my due date and I didn't even think of this!

cassietegtmeier · May 2015

I have my sons first Drs appointment today and intend on asking her when it's best to start introducing bottles. I can let you all know what she says.

scharle3 · May 2015

@MrsWhiteToBe.....are you planning on exclusively breastfeeding? If so, when did you plan on pumping and using bottles?

sunnyday016 · May 2015

Ththe main issue for you will be finding time & a place to pump while you are gone for he wedding.

jerseymommatobe · May 2015

Can you go for the ceremony and cocktail hour and then leave? That way she won't have to pay for your place setting and you can feel like you went but also be home within 3 hours to feed the baby? That's probably what I would do if I were in your shoes.

scharle3 · May 2015

If I go I would probably need to go for the entire wedding. My parents and aunt will probably be riding with me to the venue. I will have time to pump if I needed too and place...they have nice restrooms or dressing room that my cousin would let me use. I guess my main concern would that be too early introducing bottle to baby, because he will probably need to have had bottle some that week just to see how it goes.

kristaelaine86 · May 2015

You will need to pump anyway because you will be engorged and leaking everywhere otherwise, you can just pump and dump while you're there. Also you want to do this on the same schedule roughly that baby would be feeding as to maintain your milk supply as it will still be in the stages of getting regulated. You can start bottles whenever you are personally comfortable. Every baby takes to nursing differently. With my third, my milk supply took quite a bit to come in due to blood loss, so we had started giving her a bottle with formula to keep her sugars up right away. I also nursed her to encourage my milk supply to come in and so she could get what little amount of colostrum that I was producing. She had no problems at all doing both right from the get go. Then I stopped giving her bottles because it was just way easier to nurse strictly and a month later when I tried to leave her with dad she refused bottles!! I tried every nipple under the sun and she never took one again. So, our choice for this baby is we're giving a bottle within the first few days ( just one a day or every second day). I'll probably pump for it, but to me it's no big deal to supplement with formula the odd time. Some people feel differently about this but it's whatever works for you and your baby.

MrsWhiteToBe · May 2015

@scharle3 I would like to primarily breastfeed, but I'm ok with introducing bottles at any time. Since I'm the MOH and my LO will probably be with my MIL that day (an hour away from the wedding) I'll probably be gone for too long and have to have my MIL bottle feed her.

a316b · May 2015

I've been doing bottle and breast since day 1. Baby is almost 3 weeks old, anyone can feed her, she eats both like a champ, and I have 100+ oz of breast milk frozen for the future already. I'm not going back to work until end of August, but no time like the present to start, IMO. She's been getting 100% breast milk since she's 4 days old. I did supplement a bit with formula before then as she's super tiny (still not yet 6 lbs!).

Starting that the day you leave will likely be stressful for you and baby. I'd practice at least a full week beforehand.

I'd make sure you have a car adapter for the pump, I've found in the past that not many wedding venues are pumping friendly and have retreated to my car on many occasions. (This is my third baby).

jc0n15 · May 2015

I did the wedding thing (a little later though). I would pump after every feeding the week before or so (had to do it anyway to get my supply better) and then freeze everything. I left my mother with whatever frozen breast milk and bought formula just in case. not going to lie going to a wedding while bf sucks, like someone else said I pumped everytime she was set to eat, pretty much every 2 to 3 hours so I missed most of the wedding. But giving formula for one night isn't going to hurt and in my opinion baby's aren't going to get nipple confusion in one night. Might need a little extra time bf the next day but it will come back quickly.

Tabbi8486 · May 2015

I personally wouldn't go. That's just to soon for me to be comfortable leaving my baby but that's just me. Another thing you should also consider is that your baby probably won't arrive on your due date. I'm 40 weeks and 2 days already and I still have no sign of labor. If your due date isn't until next Wednesday then the baby may not even be here yet depending on if the baby is late or not.

kbenfield36 · May 2015

I just had my baby 5 days ago and I have my sisters wedding this Saturday, I talked to the doctor today about it and he said that it would be okay to take him with me as long as no one touches him except for immediate family (mom, dad, sister, etc.) and as long as he didn't get too hot from being outside. He also suggested wearing baby in a wrap like a k'tan to keep unwanted hands touching baby! (: I'm exclusively breastfeeding and I plan on going into another room occasionally to take care of him.

TBsquared · May 2015

I would bring the baby with me or I wouldn't go. You could be overdue and then baby would be VERY new and most likely feeding sooner than every 3 hours and potentially cluster feeding.

scharle3 · May 2015

I think it would really depend on when the baby gets here I feel about going....I would def like to go to my 1st cousin's wedding, but I also know that I would be a new mom and probably wouldn't want to leave my baby that soon....although he will be in good hands with his dad...So think I'll make that call once baby gets here and to see how he's doing breastfeeding.

melissa050180 · May 2015

My brother got married three weeks after my daughter was born. I was Breastfeeding, but also pumping in
Order to build supply for when I went back to work. I occasionally would let someone else give her a bottle of pumped milk of I had to go to a doctors appt or something. A friend watched my daughter in a room upstairs at the hotel during the wedding. I brought one pumped bottle for her to have. It did not affect her ability to breastfeed because it was so rarely that I have her a bottle. Also I used the wide bottles that were supposed to be more similar to breastfeeding.

jessicazimmer · May 2015

I've been nursing and pumping/bottle feeding my baby since she was about three days old. She would only finish one side so I had to pump and wanted her to get all the colostrum. She has no issue at all going back and forth so I'd start pumping! My insurance covers a brand new breast pump for free and I think a lot do now. Good luck!

djhudson9107 · May 2015

Why cant you take baby with you

scharle3 · May 2015

I don't want to take my baby out and be around hundreds of people at less than 3 weeks old....Just not going to happen

JenGrl8503 · May 2015

I took my 2nd to a wedding at about 3 1/2 weeks. She was either in her car seat or being worn by me so excessive touching/germs really weren't a concern. At the ceremony I sat in the back row just in case and made sure to nurse just before the ceremony so she would be as content as possible.

In regard to when to introduce a bottle...with my first 2 I started pumping for supply around 2 weeks and introduced the bottle around 3 1/2-4 weeks. Both handled the back and forth of boob vs bottle with no issues.

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