I am so sorry I did not see this earlier!  The mother has contacted me through the FB page for Breastfeeding in Combat Boots, but I will answer on this forum for any other LC's/LLLL's/HCP's that might have need for the information as well.

It sounds like she is doing the right things already: boosting her milk supply ahead of time, stockpiling the milk for her time away and planning a nursing vacation when she gets back.  I would suggest she try to quit worrying about her baby not latching upon her return and her milk drying up ahead of time, lest it become a self-fulfilling prophecy!  Seriously, have her be confident that she can do this and visualize her baby relatching when she gets back.

I have worked with a number of mothers in this situation and many of them have been very successful at keeping their supply up for the time period they will be separated and most of them have had no problems with their babies relatching once home.  8 days is not that long in the scheme of things (it will feel like forever to her though...) and more importantly not too long for a 6 month old to 'forget' how to latch upon moms return.

In answer to your questions Lisa, yes...she should be ramping up her production ahead of leaving as this will cushion the inevitable drop in her supply since she has already stated that she will NOT be able to pump as much due to her flight schedule.   As a helicopter pilot she will have shorter, but more frequent flights and there is little to no space in the aircraft for her to stow a pump, nor is there any way to pump as piloting a helo requires all four limbs, nor is there privacy.  If she can, I would suggest putting her pump in her flight/helmet bag and if possible when the helo comes in for refueling she could grab a quick 5 minute pumping session.  Otherwise she really will have to coordinate pumping between flights as best she can.

I cannot stress highly enough the need for her to pump DURING the night since as well all know her milk making hormones are at their peak at that time.  That really seems to be the key for so many mothers who are sent on TDY/Training exercises...if they pump at night, even if they cant pump much during the day, it really helps to keep their supply up.

Since I am sure that she has already introduced a bottle I wont go over that any further.  Her baby is already used to using it and mom is not weaning so she can just continue to nurse as usual until she leaves.  Baby will not know the difference when she leaves on the training exercise that morning, it will seem like any other day that Mom leaves to go to work.  What will be harder is when mom doesn't come home and Dad or the caregiver has to comfort the baby.  I do NOT recommend that mom cut back on nursing and increase the bottles.  That serves no purpose in this situation.  Continue to nurse and enjoy each others company (and get those milk making hormones flowing!).  I would however tell the caregiver that remains behind to be sure to give a lot of extra attention and cuddles to the baby while Mom is gone.  Of course practicing "paced bottle-feeding" techniques is always appropriate and will help to ensure that baby WILL go back to the breast when mom returns.

When mom gets back it is important that along with the nursing vacation that she also practice skin-2-skin, co-bathing, and/or co-sleeping with the baby to help "woo" her back to the breast and boost her supply back up.  These techniques have also been found to work very well for the military mothers I have worked with in the past. 

I hope this helps.  Please feel free to contact me off-list if you have further questions!!  

Robyn Roche-Paull
BS, IBCLC, LLLL
Author ~ Breastfeeding in Combat Boots
www.breastfeedingincombatboots.com
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On May 24, 2012, at 4:47 PM, LACTNET automatic digest system wrote:

> Date:    Thu, 24 May 2012 13:29:55 -0400
> From:    Lisa Paul <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: long-term absence supply concerns
> 
> I am working with a mom who is getting ready for a 1 week separation from her baby.  She gave me permission to post.
> 
> "I have to leave my 6 month old daughter on June 2nd for 8 days of training. I could use any advice/suggestions. I keep running worse case scenarios of my milk drying up or her not relatching when I return home. It's about to drive me crazy. Please tell me my milk won't dry up! I'm hoping to pump as frequently as possible, but I am a helicopter pilot doing aerial gunnery during this week, so pumping every few hours won't be a possibility during some of it"
> 
> The mom has enough frozen milk to take care of her time away. She plans to take a nursing vacation upon her return to reestablish that nursing relationship.
> 
> What else should she be aware of?  She has an ample supply of milk currently, and has been pumping each morning for months to prepare for this absence.  Would it be a good idea to ramp up her supply prior to her absence, or reduce it by cutting out extra pumping sessions?  Is there anything she can do the week prior to make this week of separation easier (like bottle feed during the day and pump/nurse at night?)  
> 
> What should she do to prevent mastitis in the event that she is not able to pump/express when she needs to?
> 
> She knows that this kind of absence will be hard on her but I am not even sure what should be her top concern.
> 
> Thanks for your wisdom!
> Lisa

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