Do I Need to Pump at Night When I'm on a Business Trip?

I would if you want to continue to BF. I was only BFing my 7-month old at night too. Then she didn't wake up at night for a few nights and my production went way down to almost nothing. I have now stopped BFing completely.

Hi M.,
I would pump. It keeps everything on schedule. I don't know about you but I had a huge supply of milk in the freezer and then it suddenly dimished to nothing. I suggest if you have the opportunity to pump and able to store up some milk it's a good idea. It's good to have extra to mix with cereal also.

Although it is a pain, I would suggest pumping at the times you would regularly feed your baby. That way your milk supply will not be affected at all in your absence. I went away for a weekend when my son was five months and made it a point to pump every three hours during the day and once at night, like he eats, and there was no problems with my milk supply.

M.,
If you don't pump your milk will be reduced and when you are home you won't have enough to nurse your daughter for those 2 nightly feedings. I suggest pumping and dumping it down the drain until the last night and then if you are able, to freeze it and bring it home with you for later use.
Hugs,
T.

I would! Breastfeeding is demand determines the supply so to keep your milk levels up take the time to pump. A.

M.,
If you don't want your supply to diminish for your baby, yes, you need to pump.

M.

Like somebody else suggested, I would pump late at night before going to bed, then again early in the morning. At 7 months, babies usually wake out of habit, but shouldn't need to feed that frequently during the night for nutrition. So, even if your supply goes down slightly for those night time feedings it shouldn't be a problem for continueing breastfeeding overall. It might actually help here spread out or be weaned from some of those night feedings (if you are looking for that).

Good Luck!

You do need to pump, but you don't have to be rigid about the times. Maybe do a pump right before bed (11 or so?) And wake up once to do a short pump (10-15 minutes tops), and then just pump when you wake up.

You won't "lose" your milk, if you are pumping throughout the day. Your supply may go down a little, but it will build back up when you are home with her. This is the time where she may start to drop one or both of those sessions anyways! It's going to be hard enough on you, being away from your little girl that much. Don't stress and lose too much sleep over this.

unfortently you have to keep on a pumping scedual or you end up drying up. When i went back to work after i had my daughter i worked on a busey hospital floor and i didnt get a break to pump ,so when i got home i continued nursing and the next day when back to work tried to pump and a male nurse kept walking in on me and i felt really unconfortable and stop when i got home that night i nursed and the next day i started to dry up up no matter what i did (pumping all the time and nursing it didnt come back) and my daughter and i lossed out on all the bonding and the nutents she deserved and we never can get that time back so please pump so it doesnt happen to you .I regret letting that happen to us and nuresing is a wonderful experence i can no longer ever do.

Yes. And it's very important that you do. Every time you miss a BF, you lose it. Make sure you drink lots and lots of water. When you miss more and more, you'll notice it.

Good luck!

L.

Hi M. -

I am mother of a four month old baby boy. I believe that it is very important to keep pumping eventhough you will be away from your child.Just and FYI if you stop even for a couple of days your milk production will go down.
I had breast fed my son up until three months old and once I stopped it took about five days for my milk to decrease production and then stop completely.So if you plan on continuing to breast feed then I would for sure pump during your business trip.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely
Susan

Yes, to keep to your baby's schedule, upon your return, it very much "does make sense to pump during these times at night", keeping your milk supply going. Your boobs won't know if it's your baby or a pump, but they know 'supply and demand'. If you don't pump, your milk supply will start to diminish, and you don't want that to happen!

One more vote to keep pumping. But you don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to do it. Pump yourself dry right before bed and as soon as you wake up. Take some pictures or video of her to look at while you pump. And massage as much as you can to make sure you're empty or you'll wake up engorged. It really helps.

I left my little girl at 6 months for 3 days and was shocked when I pumped over 100 ounces. It was the peak of my production since we started solids the following week. Luckily I was close enough to drive and kept a cooler in my backseat so we were able to keep it all! Good luck!

I would skip the 2am one but pump before you go to bed and do the 5am, or when you first get up, if you want to take advantage of the opportunity to get some sleep :)

Are you flying? Flying dehydrates you, so drink water and/or juice every time they offer a drink on the plane (they'll usually give you water and another drink if you ask). You will be out of your normal routine when you travel, try to eat and drink throughout the day, as if you were at home.

Also, if your business trip will involve alcohol, while you can pump and dump, remember alcohol will dehydrate you as well.

I went back to work when my daughter was 4 months and immediately left on a business trip. For that first one I was FedExing frozen milk home, not to mention, the events I was part of were at a different hotel than the one we were staying in, there wasn't a room I could pump in during the day so I pumped in the minivan in the hotel parking lot under cover of my coat, hoping the security guard patroling the lot wasn't going to come over and ask what I was doing -LOL.

The early trips I had no trouble keeping my supply up and I don't remember getting up in the middle of the night to pump. The later ones, after my daughter was eating solid foods, I had more supply-loss, and then at 10 months, I came back from a trip and she weaned herself (I wasn't very successful pumping on that one, so I know I had supply loss, and she felt she could get more from a bottle than she could from me - I could have kept pumping at home to bring the supply back up, but I felt she had gotten a good breast feeding start, and I was comfortable with the idea of stopping then.)

Good luck!

You should absolutely pump. Once you begin to change your BF schedule even a little, the body will pick these changes up and stop producing as much. Because the body will begin to sense that you do not need to produce as much milk as it was producing before. I personally know that it might be a bit of a pain, but you definitely DO NOT want to throw your body off track. Because it will be a lot harder than you think to get it back to your current schedule. By the way, kudos for you. I believe that what you are doing is great. You don't know me from a hole in the wall, but I commend you greatly. BF for that amount of time takes a lot of time and work. Good for you. Great for your baby. :) Good Luck and Happy New Year!

Hi M.:
Yes, it does. Plan to pump and dump when you would normally feed your baby.

you will probably get engorged if you don't pump.

I had to go on 5 business trips while breastfeeding my second baby, starting when she was 3 months old. By 7 months, you can do exactly what other moms suggest: pump right before you go to bed, and right when you wake up. When I was away, I would religiously pump every 3 hours while awake, to keep my supply going. I actually saved all the milk I pumped and brought it back with me in coolers, every time. (Except when I would pump after having a few drinks, that got dumped!). Drink a ton of water too, and don't forget to eat regularly. This will help maintain your supply.

M.,
I breast fed 4 children and always had EXTRA milk, even so, if you don't use it you lose it...it is al about supply and demand so while it may be okay to skip for a day..2 three day trips would likely result in a decrease in production. I would likely pump at midnight and 6 AM (forget 2 and 5 if out - you should sleep!!! :)