Hi sisterhood!
I have my friends wedding coming up in a couple if months. I'm one of a very small number of guests at what will be an intimate wedding due to COVID.
At the time of the wedding, my youngest will be 7 months old. She is breastfed. I have been trying to get her to take a bottle of expressed milk for several weeks and she has no interest, nor will she accept formula. My concern is that I will be unable to leave her with my brother and SIL while I attend the wedding like I will my eldest child (who's a happy toddler).
What is the etiquette here? I must prioritise the wellbeing of my baby. Though, no children have been invited to the wedding.
Any tips for navigating this? Thank you x
6 Replies
Hey! Don’t stress yourself, your Bub needs to be fed and that is that. I would offer a big feed prior to the ceremony and potentially have someone hold bubs outside so there isn’t any crying or noises during the ceremony (this honestly ruined my ceremony video with babies crying).
Whilst the couple are signing everything and exiting the ceremony, head off for a quick feed as then it’s photo time :) pretty much that’s the only etiquette! Any other time, feed when she needs to be fed!
Are you offering the bottle or someone else? If it’s you, she can smell you and knows you are her food source. Try leaving her with someone else for several hours over a feed time and see if she’ll take the bottle from them. Also, does she have water from a bottle or sipper cup at all? If she does, use the same type of bottle or cup for the breast milk, and see if she’ll drink it that way. If nothing works, then speak to your friend. As the other commenter has said, feed bub before the ceremony then have someone take her off somewhere, close enough you can go feed later as needed, but not so close so she disturbs the ceremony. Most people would understand as long as you aren’t interrupting proceedings when you slip away.
In a couple of months they'll be able to keep her happy with baby food
Start solids and sipper cups now!
By seven months they will be eating solids, sure it will be fine.
My bridesmaid was breastfeeding during my wedding. Her Mum was looking after the baby in a cottage at the wedding venue, and my bridesmaid just popped out to feed baby whenever they needed it, and came back again.