I have started the weaning process with Ben. I'm proud I have made it this far in the breastfeeding process and have given my little guy a great start in life.While in Omaha, we began giving Ben two bottles a day. I'm to the point I'm only pumping once a day at work.
I told myself months ago that after the Omaha trip, I'd stop breastfeeding. As my Aunt Nancy said, it has been the best way to bond with my baby. I thought I wouldn't have a problem with letting go but I am. Maybe I'm not ready for my baby to grow up? Right now, he's only nursing before bed and in the morning. The other issue I'm having is
how to bottle feed a baby. It just doesn't feel comfortable to me sometimes and sometimes I am not fast enough and Ben is screaming his
head off.
Oh the joys of breastfeeding.
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Letting go
I am going to admit -- I wasn't going to breastfeed. I was a little weirded out by the whole thing and no one in my family really had done it or talk about it. It seemed taboo to me. Then my friends started having kids and they breast fed their kids. I starting reading up on it and since it's the best thing for the baby, why the heck would I not breastfeed? So, I gave myself a time limit -- my goal was I'd breastfeed until I went back to work. I've surpassed that goal and my new goal is six months.
Somewhere around 4 months, your milk supply naturally dips. I can only pump 12 oz at work and our daycare provider figured out that Lil B really needs around 15 oz to get him through the day so she started supplementing with one 4 ounce bottle a day. I have meet this choice with criticism from some. I feel in my heart OK with this decision. I have about 8 cans of formula samples so I haven't had to buy anything yet. Ben's weight is on the small side and if he's hungry and really needs the extra 4 oz I'm not producing then so be it.
Ben has started eating 2 tablespoons of rice cereal a day. One feeding before we head to daycare and the other after he eats when he gets home from daycare. We have started to notice he sleeps longer at night with rice cereal in his tummy. Then last week I went out and Brian put Ben to bed. Brian quite enjoyed feeding him and putting him to bed so then we started a habit of Brian bottle feeding him.
I have started to feel sad about dropping this one feeding but on the flipside, Brian can't breastfeed and he really feels connected to Benjamin during the bedtime routine now. Our compromise, we're going to switch off feeding the baby each night. That way, I don't feel so sad and Brian gets to connect to him.
I can already tell letting go of breastfeeding is going to be hard for me. I never knew I'd enjoy it this much.
Somewhere around 4 months, your milk supply naturally dips. I can only pump 12 oz at work and our daycare provider figured out that Lil B really needs around 15 oz to get him through the day so she started supplementing with one 4 ounce bottle a day. I have meet this choice with criticism from some. I feel in my heart OK with this decision. I have about 8 cans of formula samples so I haven't had to buy anything yet. Ben's weight is on the small side and if he's hungry and really needs the extra 4 oz I'm not producing then so be it.
Ben has started eating 2 tablespoons of rice cereal a day. One feeding before we head to daycare and the other after he eats when he gets home from daycare. We have started to notice he sleeps longer at night with rice cereal in his tummy. Then last week I went out and Brian put Ben to bed. Brian quite enjoyed feeding him and putting him to bed so then we started a habit of Brian bottle feeding him.
I have started to feel sad about dropping this one feeding but on the flipside, Brian can't breastfeed and he really feels connected to Benjamin during the bedtime routine now. Our compromise, we're going to switch off feeding the baby each night. That way, I don't feel so sad and Brian gets to connect to him.
I can already tell letting go of breastfeeding is going to be hard for me. I never knew I'd enjoy it this much.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Breastfeeding and working
I'm less than a month from going back to work and well, I'm not looking forward to it. It's not because I don't like my job -- in fact, I love my job. I'm going back to a new manager and new staff and less work meaning I can concentrate more on projects instead of trying to do everything. It's all I've wanted for the past year is to concentrate on doing a better job.
Why am I not looking forward to it? Well, why do you think? I love my kid. I will miss him. I don't want to miss out on his life and things he discovers. I cried when he went to bed at 7 p.m. the other night because the reality is that his bedtime is more and more looking like 7 p.m. He is smiling more and more. He knows me when I go in to feed him at night. He will be crying over the monitor and when he sees me, he is quiet and smiles. I like to think he's thinking "yea, you can hear me!"
I was talking to the daycare provider about his sleep schedule and eating. As much as I would like to run over and feed him, it's not going to happen and I'm afraid he will start to wean himself off breastfeeding as it's happened to friends of mine. That would be really sad. I know 3 a.m. feedings sound like a pain but generally after I shake off the sleep, I enjoy our cuddly time.
So, I'm going to use the power of positive thoughts. I hope he can handle the bottle and the boob until he's at least 6 months old.
Why am I not looking forward to it? Well, why do you think? I love my kid. I will miss him. I don't want to miss out on his life and things he discovers. I cried when he went to bed at 7 p.m. the other night because the reality is that his bedtime is more and more looking like 7 p.m. He is smiling more and more. He knows me when I go in to feed him at night. He will be crying over the monitor and when he sees me, he is quiet and smiles. I like to think he's thinking "yea, you can hear me!"
I was talking to the daycare provider about his sleep schedule and eating. As much as I would like to run over and feed him, it's not going to happen and I'm afraid he will start to wean himself off breastfeeding as it's happened to friends of mine. That would be really sad. I know 3 a.m. feedings sound like a pain but generally after I shake off the sleep, I enjoy our cuddly time.
So, I'm going to use the power of positive thoughts. I hope he can handle the bottle and the boob until he's at least 6 months old.
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