Philadelphia Nesties
Amerbutt81
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Breastfeeding and Weddings
I have three weddings to attend this year-- one in March, June and July. The wedding in June I will be gone for a weekend and the wedding in July I am a member of the bridal party.
Any Momma's out there have to attend weddings while breastfeeding? The monster will not be attending any of them, so should I bring a hand pump and pump in the bathroom? How would I store it? I am not concerned with the amount of alcohol I would be drinking, but more about my general comfort during the wedding.
Re: Breastfeeding and Weddings
One wedding is at Fisher's Tudor house, another at a winery and the final wedding is at the Adventure Aquarium-- I don't think a hotel room is a luxury I will have :-/
I was afraid you were going to say dump it. That kills me to do that as I have no stash at all.
Lots of it depends on your supply. By six months, I could have pumped before I left then pumped when I got home and it didn't really impact my supply, nor did I feel uncomfortable. But that is not everyone.
You will probably have an idea what feels right when the time comes, and it could very well be different for each wedding. But just ask someone where ever you are. I nursed in an office in a North Jersey catering hall.
DItto Amy. I didn't go to weddings, but spent many hours tailgating at football games while nursing. There were only a few occasions after Sam was born that I had to "relieve myself" in the bathroom
Also, I know that the aquarium has a nursing room
DS 3.12.08
DD 7.11.09
DD 8.01.13
I found that the medela swing was a fantastic portable option for me-I used it on a plane, train and in the women's lounge of a restroom while covered up with a swaddle cloth. You could actually keep the milk if you have a cooler. I had a soft cooler that kept milk cold for something like 9 hours.
But ditto those who said you may be ok at 6 months.
Bring a hand pump in a purse. At 6 months I don't think I could have gone all day bc I was still feeding 5 times a day and pumping 3. I'd just dump it. It hurts to see it go down the drain but it's a pita to have to transport and store, you'd just worry about it the whole tIme.
Glad to hear nursing is working out for you!
I went to a wedding when DD was around 9 months and had practically no stash so I didnt want to dump anything. I timed my 1-2 glasses of wine to avoid any milk contamination and used my electric pump and a cooler with an ice pack for the milk. I kept it all in the car until I needed it (I pumped twice bc we had an hour of travel time to the wedding as well). A hand pump would have been nice, but it might also take longer than an electric so you'll miss more of the festivities that way.Id personally only bring a manual pump if you have no where to store the electric and really need something small and discreet.
I called ahead about a week before the wedding and explained my need for a private room and they set me up with an empty guest room, which was great. Id suggest calling ahead instead of springing it on them the day of the event when they might have less time and creativity to accommodate you. Im sure even non-hotel locations have some kind of office, bridal suite etc that you can use.
totally doable. definitely call ahead and see what is available to help you at the venue. what kind of pump are you using now?
i have pumped in the ladies room with the battery pack for my pisa at a wedding. i asked the catering manager to put a chair in the handicap stall for me and they were able to. this way i was at least not sitting on a toilet.
you can bring a soft cooler, like an insulated lunch bag with some ice packs. since it will be summertime and likely hot, i would leave it at coat check and not in the car.
the wedding where you are in the bridal party would be the most involved since you will likely be gone the longest amount of time. i would try to get a session in while you are getting ready, one between ceremony and reception if you can fit it around pictures, and one immediately after dinner. that way you should be around for the majority of your maid duties.
the other thing i would say is that my friends were super supportive (even though i was pretty much the first one to have a kid and definitely the first one to bf) and it wasn't nearly as awkward/conspicuous as i had made it out to be in my head.
I had a wedding to attend when DS1 was 4 mos old. I pumped in the car between ceremony and reception. Stored it in the ice container thing that came with the pump. When I got home I fed DS right away.
I'm going away for 3 nights/4 days in about 3 weeks for a work conference and I'm panicing/getting more and more anxious as the time approaches.
I plan on getting a mini fridge for the room to store my milk and having to duck out to pump.
I bet you could always store it in the caterer's fridge. Just bring your own soft cooler so it's not bags/bottles of milk out in the open.