Leaving babies for work travel?

[Anonymous]

I traveled when my daughter was under a year. It was actually easier then. For my longer international trip, my mil came and stayed with my husband and they had a nice time!

[Anonymous]

I stopped traveling for work once I had kids. It was too hard and stressful on our family, but I also breastfed for a while, had issues with oversupply and mastitis, and my kids have difficult temperaments. My DH travels for work as well and he scaled back a lot to reduce his work trips. Taking care of two little kids solo and working while one parent travels is a massive challenge for us, and it really takes it all out of me when he is gone.

Unpopular but I personally have had to scale back my professional life to accommodate the needs of my family. If I had more money, extended family support, and kids who weren’t so difficult and did not have special needs, I maybe would not have had to. But every family is different.

Personally my dad traveled a ton internationally when I was a small child (sometimes bringing my mom with him and leaving us with overnight sitters for multiple nights) and it was very hard on me, I missed him terribly and when they both traveled I was always worried about them dying in a plane crazy and car accident. I had separation anxiety and it was exacerbated by the work travel. So anyways, just saying that you have to adapt to what you are comfortable with and your family needs.

[Anonymous]

Hi all - thanks for your insight. I am OP and someone asked about reasons - I have never been away from the kids and the baby is currently exclusively breastfeeding. My oldest stopped around 14 months, unsure when the baby will be ready.

Because of distance, the minimum time away would probably be a week. My work travel is only international and has historically involved very long flights and far distances (eg asia).

I’ve also travelled a lot for many years, my life is so different now that the sense of wanderlust has dissipated and my focus/sense of joy is being around my kiddos

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all - thanks for your insight. I am OP and someone asked about reasons - I have never been away from the kids and the baby is currently exclusively breastfeeding. My oldest stopped around 14 months, unsure when the baby will be ready.

Because of distance, the minimum time away would probably be a week. My work travel is only international and has historically involved very long flights and far distances (eg asia).

I’ve also travelled a lot for many years, my life is so different now that the sense of wanderlust has dissipated and my focus/sense of joy is being around my kiddos

I totally get it! I traveled a ton pre-kids to far flung places and loved it. I traveled a little when my son was too young to notice, but then stopped and just took a position that doesn’t require travel. He’s 3 and I don’t want to be away from him for a week just to go be exhausted overseas and then come home exhausted. Work travel can be so draining!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all - thanks for your insight. I am OP and someone asked about reasons - I have never been away from the kids and the baby is currently exclusively breastfeeding. My oldest stopped around 14 months, unsure when the baby will be ready.

Because of distance, the minimum time away would probably be a week. My work travel is only international and has historically involved very long flights and far distances (eg asia).

I’ve also travelled a lot for many years, my life is so different now that the sense of wanderlust has dissipated and my focus/sense of joy is being around my kiddos

A long trip might be tough. I would try to keep it to 4-5 days max, at least the first trip, if you can do that. Remember baby will start solids. I would pump extra before leaving to have a stash to use while you’re gone (or just use formula), and pump and dump on the trip to maintain supply.

Traveling for work is actually really great as long as you’re not gone too long. A night alone in a hotel bed is heaven when you have little kids.

[Anonymous]

Eh, I don’t sleep well when I’m away from my kids. Ymmv.

[Anonymous]

3 months, international. Pumped in my pod on the plane and while in Thailand. No ideal, but worked just fine, outside my raging hormones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all - thanks for your insight. I am OP and someone asked about reasons - I have never been away from the kids and the baby is currently exclusively breastfeeding. My oldest stopped around 14 months, unsure when the baby will be ready.

Because of distance, the minimum time away would probably be a week. My work travel is only international and has historically involved very long flights and far distances (eg asia).

I’ve also travelled a lot for many years, my life is so different now that the sense of wanderlust has dissipated and my focus/sense of joy is being around my kiddos

The only problem I foresee is that a trip away for a week might wean a one year old. Even if you keep up supply while you’re gone, when you get back, baby might be like, “thanks, but I like this cup/bottle”. So be emotionally prepared for that, and enjoy the trip!

[Anonymous]

As soon as I was done breastfeeding - 14 months for kid 1 and 8 months for kid 2. Both of these were only two day trips.

[Anonymous]

When you say EBF, do you mean they only get breastmilk, or do you mean they've never gotten a bottle. That's an important clarification, because you'll definitely want to make sure your baby is used to someone else giving them a bottle.

At close to a year it may be tough to maintain your supply while away from your baby. Personally, I'd wean so I wouldn't have to deal with pumping while away. If you want to continue breast feeding, I'd get wearable pumps, like an Elvie or Willow, so it's easier to pump on the plane and while on the go.