BFing/pumping support thread, week of 1/26

[noethola]

When LO is nursing he has started reaching in the other side of my shirt and pinching me. Ouch kid! Leave it be. This will NOT become a new habit.

This week I had to go in a lot to work, so LO was with other people. It is good for him, but it makes me miss him. But, he was going 3-4 hr stretches between feedings. He will not stretch that long if I am home. We feed on demand, not a schedule, so I know my presence encourages him to eat more often. Just working out in my head what his new needs may be.

Also, is anyone switching to almond milk/coconut milk instead of dairy?

[shellbell]

So last week I was experiencing a lot of pain on the right side from lo's teeth/latch. I've been avoiding feeding on that side when possible. When I have had to, I've used kind of a football hold to get his top teeth away from the really tender spot. It's all working -- I fed him on that side this morning and, at most, experienced a couple seconds of mild discomfort. I'm happy it's gotten better. It was so painful last week.

[LBS2012]

DS has a GI bug so I'm trying to nurse every hour to keep him hydrated but I don't think its enough. I'm thankful I'm still breastfeeding since he's not a fan of water or Pedialyte. On the flip side I'm feeling some stress not knowing exactly how much he's getting from me. If we don't get a wet diaper when he wakes up I'm calling our doc again.

[LBS2012]

Jan 26, 2015 7:54:35 GMT -5 shellbell said:

So last week I was experiencing a lot of pain on the right side from lo's teeth/latch. I've been avoiding feeding on that side when possible. When I have had to, I've used kind of a football hold to get his top teeth away from the really tender spot. It's all working -- I fed him on that side this morning and, at most, experienced a couple seconds of mild discomfort. I'm happy it's gotten better. It was so painful last week.

We seem to go through this occasionally now too. I'll have to try the football hold next time it happens. 

[shellbell]

Jan 26, 2015 8:00:07 GMT -5 LBS2012 said:

Jan 26, 2015 7:54:35 GMT -5 shellbell said:

So last week I was experiencing a lot of pain on the right side from lo's teeth/latch. I've been avoiding feeding on that side when possible. When I have had to, I've used kind of a football hold to get his top teeth away from the really tender spot. It's all working -- I fed him on that side this morning and, at most, experienced a couple seconds of mild discomfort. I'm happy it's gotten better. It was so painful last week.

We seem to go through this occasionally now too. I'll have to try the football hold next time it happens. 

My main problem was his top teeth. They were always rubbing on the same place, and it even bled a little. I needed no teeth on that spot for a few days!!

[noethola]

mamosey Yeah, I am at a loss. He is tolerating dairy more now when I eat it sparingly, but I can't eat a cheese pizza or anything yet. So I know WCM would be a disaster. Just not very sure what our ext option would be. Let me know the advice you get. I will be asking at our 12m as well in a few weeks.

[babybunnysmama]

I know I should start weaning, but I don't know where to begin. Our go to method of comforting (including putting him to sleep) is bfing. I really wouldn't mind going a little longer, but I am definitely ready to stop pumping at work.

[shellbell]

Jan 26, 2015 8:49:46 GMT -5 babybunnysmama said:

I know I should start weaning, but I don't know where to begin. Our go to method of comforting (including putting him to sleep) is bfing. I really wouldn't mind going a little longer, but I am definitely ready to stop pumping at work.

Are you planning to give wcm/another milk? Can you start out by transitioning the during the day feeds to a sippy but you can still nurse at bed and in the morning? This would allow you to drop the work pumps.

Fwiw, I think this week is my last week of pumping at work. I only work pt, but I have enough milk frozen to get through. I don't plan to wean yet though.

[babybunnysmama]

Jan 26, 2015 8:59:32 GMT -5 shellbell said:

Jan 26, 2015 8:49:46 GMT -5 babybunnysmama said:

I know I should start weaning, but I don't know where to begin. Our go to method of comforting (including putting him to sleep) is bfing. I really wouldn't mind going a little longer, but I am definitely ready to stop pumping at work.

Are you planning to give wcm/another milk? Can you start out by transitioning the during the day feeds to a sippy but you can still nurse at bed and in the morning? This would allow you to drop the work pumps.

Fwiw, I think this week is my last week of pumping at work. I only work pt, but I have enough milk frozen to get through. I don't plan to wean yet though.

I've given him a little wcm here and there.  I generally pump on the way to work and then twice while at work.  I have decided to stop the first pump and spread the other 2 out.  I'll go from there.

[carissalynp]

Jan 26, 2015 7:47:38 GMT -5 tLex said:

We have started night weaning this week, cutting out the feed between midnight and 6 am. It's been a bumpy road but omg has it ever been good for my sanity and emotional well being. I am so much less resentful of breastfeeding now that I am getting a 4-6 hour stretch of sleep. All my feelings of wanting to wean completely and of hating breastfeeding are dissolving with this small change. It's been tough on DH, he spends much of that time letting her sleep on his chest, but he is a gem and is taking it in stride. And napping later in the morning (late being 6-9 am).

I'm so happy to have something positive to contribute here this week, normally it's my big angry vent.

I'm so glad to hear that! And good for your DH, he's a good guy.

We give WCM now, but at some point will probably see if he'll take almond milk instead, since that's what we drink. Pedi said it was fine since he doesn't have weight concerns as long as he gets dairy from other sources (so I imagine if you're doing no dairy at all it's things like fat and calcium they'd be concerned about getting other places?)

I'm only pumping once a day now!! I've actually been less uncomfortable now that I dropped the morning pump vs pumping in the morning for 10 minutes. LO is getting WCM during the day and BM at night now. I'm still pumping enough for that bottle plus a little extra, and have about 25 bags in the freezer, really my first freezer stash ever. 

So now my dilemma is... how long do I keep one pump, assuming I don't dry up? At least til the end of this week, but then should I try to go longer? I'm having a harder time actually deciding to stop than I expected.

[wildflowers]

tLex - I am happy to hear you are feeling better this week! I am night weaning as well, but it isn't going so well. I am having some luck as long as she is co- sleeping, but no luck at all of I am not in her immediate presence. Unfortunately, my H is not really hanging in there. To his credit he cares and wants to help, but in the MOTN when it comes down to it, he just doesn't follow through as planned. I am feeling very disappointing and overwhelmed by it. Last night she ate 3x which is tremendous progress, but still very rough on me.

@cara5565- I am sorry you feel anxiety about what to do next. It seems like with each new milestone just comes something new to worry about!

mamosey‌ - I am so so about your milk. I was so upset about that for you. That is just the pits.

[tessymessy]

It really is amazing how my body has adjusted and then readjusted over the past few months. I have not pumped in almost a month. I only nurse before bed, MOTN (if needed) and first thing in the morning. I was crazy paranoid about drying up and LO being angry at the breast. Especially with all the hormonal changes I have been through.. BUT I am happy to report my body has adjusted to this bed time/morning routine.
So.. If my dumb body can do it, yours can too!

[Lsquared]

I came out of lurkerdom recently so here's a little background on my BF journey:
DD has been EBF/gotten pumped BM from bottle since birth and probably around 6 weeks ago I had to start supplementing with formula. My supply took a huge hit for reasons unknown to me and I was just so exhausted from worrying about if she was going to have enough milk for the next day's bottles that I decided to just let it go. Now I BF about 3x/day (morning, midday, before bed) when I'm home with her and pump on the same schedule on days I have to work. She will take formula like a champ now and we are slowly transitioning to WCM.

She refuses anything but water out of a straw cup or sippy so I have no idea how to transition her off the bottle.

We finally night weaned last week after debating it for about a month. She would wake up, I would put her to the breast, she would take a few nibbles then fall right back to sleep so I knew she was mainly using it as a comfort measure/sleep crutch. I started by just reducing the amount of time I would keep her on the breast. Then I had food poisoning last week and literally could not get out of bed so that helped with the process of fully weaning. It was tough all around but now we are all sleeping pretty well! Good luck to those going through this now. I know you'll all make it through and get some much deserved rest.

[babybunnysmama]

This has probably been asked, but do I just replace breastmilk with the same amount of wcm to send to daycare? Do they provide him milk when needed? I guess I need to talk to DC.

[annie0714]

Hi!
We have had on ok week for breastfeeding. He seems to be nursing less overnight, which is nice. One night this week we even had only one wake up. This is huge for us. Our biggest thing is working on transitioning to sippys. We are just using BM in them for now in hopes that he would be more likely to drink it if it was familiar. However, my freezer stash will only last a week or two. Something to keep working on, I guess.

Do you think he might actually do better with WCM in the cup? I was thinking that it may be completely different. Wwhereas he expects breastmilk from nursing or a bottle, this would be milk for a sippy. Kind of like he only gets water from a sippy (thought he doesn't drink too much of this either).

[squirm]

Hi all! BFing has gone better this week. The pain I had on my left side turned into clogged ducts and a blister. It has since cleared though and feels much better. I'm still trying to get lo to drink milk from a straw cup and having problems like everyone else. It makes me so frustrated to waste that milk. I can't even imagine how you felt mamosey when you lost all that milk.

Lo has cut back a good bit on BFing which has upset me more than I thought it would. She doesn't eat much over night (just in the early am before wake up, if then) and she is eating more solids during the day. I'm worried that her weight gain is slowing though. She was pretty average weight before and has consistently worn her age size in clothing. Recently, she sort of back tracked in clothing and her 6-9 month stuff is fitting a little looser (she just turned 11 months). I'm hoping it is just bc she is walking a lot now so maybe her legs are slimming. Has anyone else had similar issues? I worry that she is filling up too much on water now that she drinks from the straw cup and she seems to prefer low cal foods. I think she was always chunking up before bc she nursed on demand so would have bm whenever she was thirsty. This is really scattered and I can only see 3 lines at a time so I hope this makes sense. Good luck to all the mamas working on transitioning. Such an emotional experience - I still feel so far from it!

[carissalynp]

squirm Our pedi told DH that it was normal for weight gain to level off or even lose some at this point- my nephew actually slimmed up considerably right before he as a year. I'd bring it up to your pedi if you're concerned but I wouldn't worry too much yet. Can you offer smaller amounts of water until after she'd had food or nursed? Or only give water after she's had milk in the cup first? Or someone mentioned adding olive oil to foods to up the calorie count too.

[squirm]

carissalynp that is reassuring. I feel sort of silly for worrying about her gain bc she is not low-weight so I'm not sure it even matters. Does that make sense? Like, maybe her gain will slow or stop and that could be a big issue for lower weight kids but maybe it's no big deal for her since she was at a healthy weight. I usually offer her water after meals or nursing but she'll eat a small amount of food and then drink a ton of water. I dont really know how to force her to eat more food. Ugh, I just feel like I really took for granted how "easy" it was to exclusively bf bc I didn't think about how much she was eating. She ate what she wanted and it was the right amount. I know a lot of you have worked so hard with feeding and have had to think about these things from day one so I hope I'm not annoying anyone with this.

[bmbrinson09]

I think my supply had dropped since my bfp. I was able to pump 5 ounces and lately it's down to three...I feel like this could be why she wakes up at night? I'm not really sure what to do about it. Pedi originally said to bring transitioning to wcm at 11.5 months but I might have tho call her and see if it's ok to move the transition up a few weeks...

[carissalynp]

squirm That totally makes sense. My nephew wasn't a huge eater with solids either and I know it freaked my sister out a lot when his clothes got a little baggy. I think it's part that and part they get so much more mobile that they burn more calories. I'd ask your pedi and see if they have ideas if they think you should try giving higher calorie foods.

[bribbon]

Mine completely lost her pulkies (do folks know that word? Essentially thunder thighs) when she became mobile! And she's a BIG eater. It's normal!

[monkey1980]

Well, that's it! DD lost total interest in nursing, dropped all her feedings except her bedtime bottle that is now 1/4 formula and 3/4 WCM, and wants mostly solids. I guess we are done. I'm a little sad about this. But I took DD's lead on this. So I guess it's the right thing. She will be 1 next Friday.
Good luck and hugs to all of you who are continuing!

[blondemum]

X is still nursing on demand and frequently. He'll be one 2/17 and I don't plan to stop until he starts to self wean.

I do have a Q about pumping through. Once he turns one and we start doing WCM with the BM in his daycare bottles, I won't need to pump as much during the work day so I plan to go from 3 to 2 pumps. But then will my supply go down for the weekends when i'm with him and he wants to nurse during the day? This is all so confusing to me!

Also, I wasn't sure to post this in randoms or here or what, but i'll try here. I believe the law requiring my work to let me have time to pump says they only have to do so 'for one year' after the baby is born. So after he's one, could they technically tell me that I can't have the time or room anymore? A few people there have made comments about me "still pumping" already so i'm worried they may if this is the case.
Not sure if anyone would know this. I don't want to ask my HR dept. because my company is more gossipy than an 8th grade slumber party.

[blondemum]

thanks mamosey, I'd thought so. Since i'm planning to go down to twice a day, I could use my lunch hour for one and hope they're cool with me still going once on 'their' time.

[babybunnysmama]

Jan 27, 2015 19:18:39 GMT -5 blondemum said:

X is still nursing on demand and frequently. He'll be one 2/17 and I don't plan to stop until he starts to self wean.

I do have a Q about pumping through. Once he turns one and we start doing WCM with the BM in his daycare bottles, I won't need to pump as much during the work day so I plan to go from 3 to 2 pumps. But then will my supply go down for the weekends when i'm with him and he wants to nurse during the day? This is all so confusing to me!

Also, I wasn't sure to post this in randoms or here or what, but i'll try here. I believe the law requiring my work to let me have time to pump says they only have to do so 'for one year' after the baby is born. So after he's one, could they technically tell me that I can't have the time or room anymore? A few people there have made comments about me "still pumping" already so i'm worried they may if this is the case.
Not sure if anyone would know this. I don't want to ask my HR dept. because my company is more gossipy than an 8th grade slumber party.

My plan is to just not bring it up with work. No one really notices anyway...unless they need something out of the supply closet aka my pump room.

[rosie137]

I'm jealous of these self weaning babies. My first two self weaned before and this one is showing no signs of it. I wanted to be done by his birthday (2/16) so I guess that's what I get for trying to plan. Some success though, I just got him to go to sleep without being connected to my boob ?.

[rosie137]

Not the right emoji, lol

[starfisher]

blondemum Is your job required to give you two 15 min breaks? If so I would just use these for your pumping. I am going to transition to 2 pumps in another 2 weeks or so and that's what I plan on. I am going to slowly wean off the pump and will probably end up pumping a few weeks after she turns one. I just plan on using my breaks that they are required to give me by law - I don't think they can dictate how you use these breaks.

[boogerbear]

Jan 27, 2015 23:21:48 GMT -5 @thatgolfbitch said:

I just saw that amyg love titted in this thread. I am just going to leave that there.

Wow. That's.....interesting.

[boogerbear]

I'm sorry this is a quick post/run - but ladies struggling with quitting pumping at work: you can stop and still nurse nights/weekends. It's really the best part of nursing is past 12m when you get to quit pumping and worrying about every feeding and just nurse when/how often you and baby need or want.


AW - I got LO1 weaned to night/wake nursing only. Before bed is on the chopping block in the next week or so!!! I'm so excited. He gave up naptime nursing with almost no struggle.