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Breastfeeding/going away for 2 days from my 19 month old

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Expert: - 5/28/2007


Question
I usually breast feed my son morning and evening. In two weeks time I  am going away to work for 48 hours so will miss 4 or 5  feeds. I have started to cut the evening feed so that when I go away my breasts won't get so painful and so that he won't miss me so much. But I don't think I am ready to stop because I am feeling very sad about even reducing from two to one feed a day ( this is the fourth day not to feed him in the evening). If I pump when I'm away, will I be able to carry on feeding him when I come back? What can you tell me about sadness and flu like symptoms that seem to come with weaning or reducing feeds? Also I am interested to know whether breast feeding can affect sex drive. Sorry for so many questions. Thanks in advance.  

Answer
Dear Rachel,

First, congratulations for giving your son the best start in life by breastfeeding him!

You should be able to resume breastfeeding after missing the nursing sessions for 48 hours, as long as you pump your breasts while you are away.

As far as your other questions are concerned, I can give you brief answers, but I devoted an entire chapter to weaning in my book (see below) and another entire chapter to sexuality. So I would suggest you take a look at my book or some other book so you can get more complete answers. Here's a start:

With the sadness around weaning, it is one of many times in life when you realize that your child is embarking upon a new stage -- and you learn to adjust.

There is no reason why you need to develop flulike symptoms from weaning or reducing feeds.

And women react sexually to breast feeding very differently: some become more sensuous; some, feeling "touched out," don't want to be sexually intimate.

But as I said, these answers just skim the surface of these important topics.

Good luck!

Sally

Sally Wendkos Olds
Author, THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING: Eiger & Olds, 3rd edition 1999, published by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books, and available in most public libraries, bookstores & La Leche League chapters.  

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Sally Wendkos Olds

Expertise

What do you want to know about breastfeeding? I can tell you what`s good for the baby, what`s good for the mother -- and the father, how it`s related to a woman`s sexuality, how working moms can nurse, how to overcome obstacles, and lots more. As the author of THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING and author or coauthor of 8 other books and more than 200 articles about child and adult development, I can offer sound, sensible advice on breastfeeding, child care and family issues.

Experience

I nursed my 3 daughters and am the grandmother of 5 breastfed children. My book THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING (written in consultation with pediatrician Marvin S. Eiger, M.D.) was first published in 1972, and in 1999 came out in an updated 3rd Edition by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books. It is now a classic, with over 2 million copies in print. I am now revising this book for a fourth edition, consulting with pediatrician Laura M. Marks, M.D. This new edition will be published September 2009. I welcome any and all suggestions for the new edition. I coauthored college textbooks A CHILD'S WORLD: INFANCY THROUGH ADOLESCENCE, and HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; both are leading texts in their fields and have been read by 2 million students. I am the coauthor of HELPING YOUR CHILD FIND VALUES TO LIVE BY and RAISING A HYPERACTIVE CHILD, and author of THE WORKING PARENTS' SURVIVAL GUIDE & THE ETERNAL GARDEN: SEASONS OF OUR SEXUALITY. My newest book, A BALCONY IN NEPAL: GLIMPSES OF A HIMALAYAN VILLAGE, published in 2002, tells the story of the way of life in a remote village in Nepal, where all the women breastfeed! My book, SUPER GRANNY: COOL PROJECTS, ACTIVITIES, AND OTHER GREAT STUFF TO DO WITH YOUR GRANDKIDS, will be published March 2009. I speak often to professional, parent and general audiences and make many radio and TV appearances.

Credentials I received my B.A. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where I minored in Psychology, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude.

Other points of interest I have received national awards for my writing, and am a former president of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. I am listed in the World Who's Who of Women, International Authors & Writers Who's Who, and Contemporary Authors, and am a member of several professional and civic organizations. I believe: that all parents are working parents; that parents employed outside the home need special support; that mothers' well-being is crucial to their children's welfare; and that the family is the best institution in the world and the one for which we are least prepared. My thrills come when parents or kids tell me they were helped by my writing or speaking or just understanding. To find out more about me, go to

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