Showing posts with label nursing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nursing. Show all posts

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Baby led weaning at 15 months. No more breastfeeding

When people ask me about breastfeeding I always say the same thing... it was sooo hard to start and soo hard to stop. Women need support, the only way I was able to push through and keep trying was from support from other moms. I wrote this blog post a while back. Weaning was soo hard  too. When I first tried weaning baby k he was about 9 months. I was forcing the weaning because I was going back to work..(to be clear baby k never took a bottle so pumping and giving a bottle was never an option) at 9 months he wasn't ready. We both weren't ready. It was really stressful on both of us. So I pushed my back to work date further out. Baby K at 9-10 months started the pincer grasp and feeding himself and was eating all his meals and less breast milk and onto the sippy cup. By 12 months he was daytime weaned. I still breastfed at night at first 2-3x then went to 2, then 1. Now last week to zero! Baby k is 15.5 months and with baby led weaning we are no longer breastfeeding. It was almost a surprise to me even though I was living it at seeing how much less he was needing it. When we were down to one time I was actually only offering one breast once a night for a couple weeks. Then that stopped too. We were not trying to wean, so I am happy that it was all baby k's choice. I just keep remembering the beginning when baby K was just born and trying to get to 3 months and at 15 months I wasn't looking for us to stop yet and little K was ready to move on.

Following my baby's queues and never forcing my ways on him has worked best for me and my parenting style. They eventually get it! They eventually learn how to sip the sippy cup, eventually learn to feed themselves, and eventually sleep through the night and eventually stop breastfeeding. At 15.5 month I actually feel that all the decisions I made so far worked best for our family and I'm not second guessing myself like I once was. I had some tough times and went against my initial instincts many times, parenthood is far from easy  and sometimes no decision is easy to make haha but if we can trust our decisions then that can take a load of stress off.

So moms do it your way, whatever way as long as you feel it's the best way and maybe it won't be at first but it will be eventually! Ha! I will need to come back and read my own words in future days I'm sure!

The Breastfeeding chapter of my life is now closed... for now :)



Thursday, August 09, 2012

My take on breastfeeding

There has been so much talk these days on Breastfeeding. Positive talk and negative. When I hear the negative I just think that people just aren't educated on the topic.

Breastfeeding is natural! Nutritious! The healthy choice! Easily digested for babies, full of antibodies to help protect against illnesses, builds a strong bond with your baby, moms burn calories too!  Just look up all the benefits!

I admit that I was I was not educated on breastfeeding. When I was younger I thought no way would I breastfeed... I just didn't understand it really. No one ever talked about the health benefits of it, and the amazing bonding experience with your child. They never taught us about it in school, our parents never educated us on it either. I'm glad I changed when I became pregnant and educated on the health of my baby and myself.

I'm also so glad to see Breastfeeding talk all over the media and social media sites. Positive and the negative. Getting everyone to understand and learn about it! It's a good thing! always was, always will be!

Breastfeeding isn't as easy as one might think, it is hard for some of us.

Put the baby to the breast and he will suck and milk will flow right!? Nope not that easy. So when mom's try and don't have a successful outcome it's stressful and some moms just can't get enough milk and have to resort to formula. Ok too! The most important thing is that our babies are eating, healthy and happy. Formula feeding isn't that easy either, it's expensive, lots of bottle washing, may make the baby gassy having to try many different brands.

My first couple weeks of Breastfeeding was tough. My baby wasn't latching that well, I wasn't sure if he was eating enough. He cried a lot, I topped up feedings with formula too. I was exhausted and felt like giving up. The great thing about where we live is that we have a free service, a hotline you can call for information about Breastfeeding and a trained nurse helps you. You can even go in and they will show you what to do. I did both. It really really helped. I also had so much support from blogger/twitter moms and RL friends. A support group is a must! (and you will, I repeat will have negative people telling you your baby is starving because you are breastfeeding haha, no he is not. He feeds more often because breastmilk is easily digested which is soo healthy for his little body, also teaching him healthy eating habbits)

Even though I read up on Breastfeeding before baby K came along there were sooo many things I didn't know!!

I didn't know what growth spurts were until I had a baby feeding every hour for 24 hours! ha!

I didn't know what a clogged duct was until I was in sooo much pain from it. Ouch!

I didn't know what over supply was until my breasts were in pain and my little guy wasn't eating that much haha. I had to pump and freeze supply which wasn't a bad thing.

I remember the best advice I had from a friend was to try it for 6 weeks and if by then it wasn't working out then decide what to do. By the 6th week it was all good! I had the hang of it. The toughest was the first 2 weeks. And of course still had little issues here and there but nothing to do with latching or supply.

I remember thinking I would only breastfeed for 3 months... Then it came and went, and thought 6 months I would wean, well we are at 9 months and still at it ;)

So if you feel down and think you may not be able to breastfeed for long, just take it day by day!

Dressing for Breastfeeding wasn't a big deal for me. I bought 5 Breastfeeding tops and tanks and button down shirts or easy to lift or pull down tops or dresses. It's easy really!
A must for me is a nursing bra, I love them.

If you are a little uncomfortable with breastfeeding in public, just get a cool looking nursing cover. Also great to hide distractions from the baby so he can eat in peace. I have a nursing cover so I breastfeed everywhere and anywhere. Depending on where I am, like home or family or friends house I don't use the cover of course.

I was shy at first but that quickly went away.


I just needed my baby and a bag of diapers and wipes and me and we are ready to go out. No bottles no warmers no nothing. If you know me, I hate too many moving parts haha so Breastfeeding was great for me. We just came back from a trip, and Breastfeeding was soo convenient. I breastfed in the plane, the bus. Kept baby calm and happy.



We are now on month 9 and I'm soo happy I made it this far.

I have 2 months to wean as I'll be going back to work in October. Weaning is not easy! Especially when I love Breastfeeding my baby too!

Kristian is eating 3 meals a day and nursing in between. So I've been trying to cut back. I'll start with day time weaning. I do not want to go cold turkey. And I love the benefits my baby gets from my breast milk too. So I want to first start with the hours I will be at work. So weaning from 8am -6pm is my first goal I'll start with. And go from there! Again, getting support from other moms is a good thing... I go to twitter for this and I have an amazing group of moms that give me advice.

Many moms breastfeed well over 12 months. Like I said before, I thought I would breastfeed for only 3 months. So I can't say when we will officially be weaned and I'm totally happy with my decisions so far. Both baby and I love our time together when he nurses.

So that's my little take on Breastfeeding,  what's yours!?

Thursday, January 05, 2012

A coconut dream

I've been Breastfeeding baby boy for 2months! Breastfeeding does have its challenges and having a support group and other women to talk to helps so much! I always have a million questions.

Since Breastfeeding I noticed some foods that baby k was sensitive to. Milk/cheese (dairy), chocolate, spicy and I think coffee but I'm not too sure. I only drink a little these days and I don't see the same reaction that I do when I have an actual glass of milk.

I do miss my milk though!
My SIL suggested I try coconut dream milk. I tried it out with my cereal and loved it! It gives the cereal a soft coconutty taste. So coconut dream is my new milk!

Last week when Kristian was sick and not eating that much I decided to pump a lot and feed him with the bottle... Well to my surprise he refused the bottle! I love Breastfeeding but i have some occasions coming up and would like him to take a bottle so I don't have to nurse and can leave him for a couple hours too. So I bought the Medela calma bottle which says mimics Breastfeeding. So we will try it out!

Kristian is also becoming so aware of things, when I talk or he hears something loud, he'll stop nursing and look up at me. It's too cute, but wonder as he gets older he will want to be in the middle of it all instead of nursing with mama ;(

This week I wanted to start on some if the goals I made for myself... That didn't work out so well. Monday is my new start date ;)

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Im a Breastfeeding Mama and Baby Rules

Breastfeeding has been going really really well. Baby K eats every 2-3 hours and is always satisfied which is awesome! He is the perfect timer and when he is hungry boy does he let you know. Sunday while we were out we had to stop and I breastfed in the car so we could make it home in peace haha!

Somethings I do love about Breastfeeding: no washing bottles, and no preparing bottles on the way out.
Only downfall is my comfort level with Breastfeeding in public, but I'm getting better at it. ;) patience is key.
My family is really comfortable with it because my SIL breastfed her daughter. So with my family I breastfeed in front of them (covered ;)

I haven't been able too pump at all,
I don't really need to, and worry if I pump between feedings I will either take away from his next feed or produce more than he needs. Am I right or wrong moms? I'm going to speak to my lactation nurse about this as well.

I noticed some foods that give my baby terrible gas. So far the main ones are milk (dairy) and spicy! I also think chocolate and coffee are culprits. I'm totally missing all these!! But worth it, I hate seeing my baby cry with tummy pain ;(

Did you need to cut anything out from your diet while Breastfeeding?

My little guy has some red pimples around his eyes ;( I think it's from being overheated. We've been to a couple occasions where baby K has been held a lot and got very warm and sweaty.

It's funny when you have a newborn there is soo much more that bothers you that didn't before. I'm much more sensitive for one. I also get upset if I feel my baby is uncomfortable. When we are out, I don't like it when people have strong perfume (not just a little im talking showered in perfume) on while holding baby K, i also just read that it's not good for newborns to breathe it in. Oh and people kissing a newborn all over his face with big people germs, hellll no! Makes me crazy! One other pet peeve I have that actually gives me anxiety... When people hold the baby and leave to another room where he is out of my sight. Mama bear totally kicks in and I can't even think straight!

I think I'm pretty good when it comes to family and friends getting their time with baby K, but some rules need to be followed. And I think my rules are valid. I've known other moms with much stricter rules and I totally get it!

I want my little sweet boy to be safe and comfortable and free of germs. After all he is only a month old! I should have been much stricter from day one....

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Family Love- Adorable cousins

 I love this picture of the cousins together. Look how adorable they are.

Baby M is so sweet and has the most adorable goofy personality she calls Baby K, 'baby' haha she is too sweet.


My grandparents haven't seen baby k since he was just born, so they were soooooo happy to see him. My grandfather gets upset at anyone that pronounces the baby's name wrong haha.  He said he loves the name Kristian and doesn't want people to say it wrong, or in short... I'm guilty I call him Kris most the time ha!


 
I'm not the most comfortable with breastfeeding out of my home yet, I have my nursing cover that works great but I also bought a couple nursing tops, and I love them! I bought them from Momzelle.com and they are in Canada so they shipped in 1 day!

Friday the carrier I ordered from http://www.etsy.com/shop/SooShabbyChic came in too. 

  it's so cute and love keeping my little guy away from the cold and germs. 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Wordless Wednesday Wish List

http://www.milksmartmama.com nursing cover

http://www.milksmartmama.com nursing latch to any blanket
mariah carey perfume

mariah carey tweeted these. love them! neeed them for fall

Coach Baby Bag... Sigh

coach crossbody purse