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I have four children and each have had their own unique feeding experience. With my first I was very unsure about nursing but did it because everything I read talked about how important it was and because my husband was pretty hardcore about it. It was SO HARD. I had every issue imaginable. Bleeding nipples, mastitis multiple times, constant yeast issues, hyper lactation, pain every session, clogged ducts, inverted nipples, etc, etc. I would literally be crying out in pain while I nursed my baby. I didn't enjoy it. It didn't come natural. It was HARD and I would dread when it was time to nurse him again. I made small goals for my nursing timeline and made it 9 months before weaning to formula while also using up the major stash of breastmilk I had saved up as well. My second baby I went into it knowing it'd be hard. And it was. She took ages to eat and was a biter and when she teethed her saliva caused me so many issues. I had all the same struggles as the first time...
Today is Babywise Friendly Blog Network Day! I'm guest posting over on A Mother Far From Home about our family traditions: how we create them and how we keep them going :) Claire is guest posting for me today and I asked her to help bring some insight into formula feeding mamas and baby wise. I get asked often about formula related questions and since I breastfeed...I don't know the answers! Hopefully this post helps those moms who are formula feeding to understand how Babywise can still work great for them!
In the Babywise Blog I follow she mentions her parenting motto quite often. Her's is: "start as you plan to go on." I like that one and I do think about that often. Should I start alloying Kye to play with the remote control now when later it may be something I have to take away? Asking myself such questions typically helps me decide how to handle a parenting situation. Recently I realized MY parenting motto it is: "what is my motive?" Anytime I'm faced with a parenting decision I ALWAYS think about the motive I have for making that decision. Does the decision benefit Kye? Or is it something that benefits me? Why am I doing what I'm doing? Why am I allowing Kye to do what he's doing? If you ask yourself that question a LOT of the times we do things b/c it makes OUR life easier. Not because it's what is best for the child. I know MANY parents who HATE the rear facing car seat. I do too! Don't get me wrong. My child is over 20 lb, he's...
Here's what all went down during Kye's 11th month! Two things in one hand: Kye worked very hard at being able to pick up two things in one hand. I don't really get why this was so important to him but he got very frustrated when he wasn't able to do it. I haven't noticed this as much recently, but in the beginning of the month this goal filled his every playtime! And whenever he'd get it he'd look at us and raise his little hand up so proud of his prize :) you can tell he's really concentrating on it! Clean Up: Since the beginning of time (or when Kye was first born, which feels like the beginning of time) we've always sang a "clean up song" (yes, the one from Barney) and cleaned up all of Kye's toys each time he finishes playing with them. Finally he's starting to help! It takes a little longer to clean up but I can hand him a toy and tell him to "put it in the basket" and he will! He actually started doing this wi...
Yesterday I got down to only 10 oz left of breast milk! I made it all in one bottle and Kye got the last breast milk he'll ever taste (at least from my breasts anyways!) I felt a little sad when I defrosted it and gave it to him. I think I didn't mind stopping when I stopped nursing because I knew he'd continue to benefit from having breast milk that I had in the freezer. Now he's just got formula! goodbye Lansinoh bags...hello freezer space! It is a lot easier just making formula bottles than dealing with defrosting the breast milk and it's going to be great to have so much free space in the freezer! But I'd much rather still have some to be feeding him. Part of me wonders if I should have just given it to him once a day instead of twice so it would have lasted longer? But I want him on whole milk at one year old so I would have hated spreading it out then having a bunch left over. It really worked out pretty well! He got breast milk everyday until he was 10 ...
I know everyone is dying for an update on my boobs haha! Well they are doing great, thanks! :) Really though, this whole weaning process is going so smoothly. Wayyyy easier than I thought it would for sure! Since he had issues with the formula at first (just didn't like it) I slowly got him adjusted to it by mixing 5 oz breast milk with 1 oz formula on day 1, then 4 and 2 then 3 and 3 etc. I would give him the bottle mixed with breastmilk I pumped the day before and I would then pump for the missed feeding in order to get milk for the next day. I did this for a week then he was able to drink an entire bottle of formula with no issues! So I quit pumping and my breasts adjusted fine. I really never felt any discomfort when I dropped the 3:00 nurse session. I knew it'd be the "easiest" to drop because it's a "snack" instead of a big feeding but I was still happy that it went so well. I nursed him for the other three feedings and did formula at the 3:00...
Warning: I am discussing my feelings in this post and am not trying to offend anyone. However, this is my blog and my opinions and I want to be honest about them! When I first was pregnant I wasn't sure about the whole nursing thing. I didn't really know if it'd be for me and thought it was kinda strange to think about my baby sucking on my boobs. As I got further and further along in my pregnancy I started reading every book under the sun and learned all the benefits of breast milk and how important it is for the baby and the mommy. I was still not a mother yet and my main reason for deciding to nurse was that I wanted it to help me lose weight. I thought it'd be a great diet plan for getting rid of the baby weight (so not true though sadly!)! I didn't decide to do it because I thought it was necessarily best for my baby, but because it'd be best for me. As all moms know, we put ourselves FIRST until the day that child is born then it's all about them :...
Anyone that has ever read my blog will know that I am a planner who does what I set out to do. There have been very few goals in my life that I haven't achieved. Have the wedding of my dreams: check. Be a stay at home mom: check. Have natural childbirth: check. Another goal that I hope to check off my list is to breastfeed for at least 6 months. No matter what anyone else says or thinks I am so proud of myself for how well I've done through all the obstacles of breastfeeding that I have faced. I had cracked, bleeding, painful-to-the-touch nipples and I kept going. I had mastits...with fever and red, painful breasts and I kept going. I have had yeast that burns my breasts 24/7 and makes my nipples pinched when he eats and through 2 different treatments that haven't worked I've kept going. I'm a lot tougher than I have ever given myself credit for that's for sure! I may not be very positive about my breastfeeding experience (pretty hard to be happy-go-lucky abou...
