Breastfeeding Check-in

[puffandstuff]

Since we are so close to everyone being at the 6 month milestone, I was wondering how everyone was doing.

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?

When are you planning on weaning?

Any challenges?

Any other questions?

[puffandstuff]

Breastfeeding, added solids on Feb 2. She is not interested at all.

I have about 300 ounces. I've started to use it for solids and sippy cup practice.

18 months at the latest

Some soreness from teething. She's waking at 2 times a night again.

[yogini kiki]

Feb 9, 2015 13:43:18 GMT -5 puffandstuff said:

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?


I am BF/Pumping since I have gone back to work.  We have introduced solids and now I am having the issue that he wants the solids and not the breast.  Wayyyy more into solids than boobie.


How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?
 

We depleted our freezer stash because I was too nervous to NIP


When are you planning on weaning?


I am aiming to make it to one year, but I can already tell that he is not going to want to BF that long.  Ill give him pumped milk instead of cows milk though for at least a year.


Any challenges?


Dieting/losing weight has not been possible without my supply dipping. And the current preference for solid food.


Any other questions?

How is everyone feeling?

[daisylola11]

EBF and literally just started pumping today to include BM to solids/sippy cups.

Have started giving tastes of foods, he's interested but then just makes faces so I'm gonna try runny oatmeal w BM.

No freezer stash... Yet.

I'm planning on BF until a year then reevaluating.

No challenges, but he has no teeth so we'll see

Questions: I'm a pumping virgin but realized I probably don't want to freeze all pumped milk in one bag, so does one separate into smaller amounts for when u need a couple oz it's easy to do? Just seems weird looking since I got lansinoh bags and they're big

[Courtniko]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?
BF, but pumping twice a day at work. She gets 2 to 3 bottles while I am at work (I nurse her at lunch).
She has put solids in her mouth (BLW) but not actually swallowed any. Started a few days after 6 months.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?
The freezer stash is great, maybe 500oz or so. I have done some cycling in of the freezer stash, but have not had to dip into it at all.


When are you planning on weaning?
Probably 1 year, but I am not stuck on that, so maybe a bit longer. I will definitely stop pumping at a year.

Any challenges?
She still wakes up a lot to nurse at night.

Any other questions?
Nope

[puffandstuff]

yogini kiki,I'm feeling pretty good.

daisylola11, I freeze based on needs. I'm cycling through my freezer stash and giving 2 thawed breastmilk bottles a week. I usually freeze 4 oz at time.

[bobloblaw]

Feb 9, 2015 13:43:18 GMT -5 puffandstuff said:

Since we are so close to everyone being at the 6 month milestone, I was wondering how everyone was doing.

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?

When are you planning on weaning?

Any challenges?

Any other questions?

We are mostly BF with random pumped bottles. He is eating 3 small solid meals a day. 


It was diminishing after the holiday party season but I've built it back up recently. I have a little over 50oz because we are mostly BF and LO get so few bottles. I did not pump much prior to my supply regulating because I had issues with engorgement after pumping and LO's reflux. It was a vicious cycle.


Weaning... LO will likely just wean as time goes on. But when we start thinking about #2, we may have to wean since we had TTTC the first time around.


Challenges?  I struggle with whether or not to pump or wait when LO refuses to nurse. 

yogini kiki I feel great for the most part, though BFing takes so much out of me. Energy-wise, ability to fight off illness, etc. But I'm not ready to stop because I love it. I'm able to BF during the day and I so look forward to those breaks from work. It helps me to relax and just feel like all is right in the world before returning to utter chaos. BF really gives me and extra boost of emotional feel good.

[gahorseygal]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?
BF with just random pumping here and there when I need to be away from her. She eats solids once a day and starting to add in a second "meal". She gets little bits (as shown by her poo) especially sweet potato and avocado. Those are the favorites. Hasn't changed her nursing sessions though.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?
Only 4 ounces in the freezer ATM. I started a huge stash before we found out she was allergic to dairy and I just never had the motivation to replenish it.

When are you planning on weaning?
1 year. I don't think she will want to, LO loves the boobs and refuses bottles most of the time (another reason not to have a stash). So if she doesn't show any signs I will probably start weaning her after a year. Unless I don't want to. I'm really open to whatever.

Any challenges?
She hates bottles. But that doesn't really affect breast feeding. I feed her once at night but if these teeth will pop out I'm going to wean her off it. It doesn't really bother me though so I'm not in a hurry to get rid of it. Pedi says she will start forming habits now so I really should try to cut it out soon if that's what I want.

Any other questions?
No?

yogini kiki I love it but sometimes get really frustrated that she won't take a bottle. My husband can usually get her to take 2 or 3 ounces when I go to the barn but she won't take more than that. I went to a musical a few weekends ago and She only ate 3 ounces the whole time I was gone. I left at 11 and got home around 5ish. It made me feel so guilty.

[briarrose]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?
EBF with the occasional bottle one or two days when I have to go to work and leave him, but he mostly comes with me to work, which is good because I suck at pumping. I have given him tastes of things, but he is not really interested in solids at all.



How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?
I just reorganized it half an hour ago! I would say I have around 50 oz. Small, but there have been a few days where he has gotten bottles and I didn't pump to keep up, so that didn't help. I wish it was a little bigger, but my freezer is packed right now anyway, so not much room for more milk.



When are you planning on weaning?
Not planning on any particular time. I love breastfeeding and I will possibly go as long as he wants/until I am pregnant again, depending on how things go. I really haven't set any sort of time frame at all.



Any challenges?
He is waking up MOTN more times than I know he needs to right now. My story is in the EBF night weaning thread. I have no help at night, so its hard not to just give the boob and get it over with.



yogini kiki, I have been feeling great. I love BFing. I don't know how I would feel if I worked full time though, because pumping sucks. Kudos to those of you who pump every day and especially the EPers!

[sosayweall]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?

BF/pumping for daycare. We started a little rice cereal recently just in the evening.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?

I don't know how much I have my guess is about 80 oz. I have used some recently because my supply dipped due to an illness.

When are you planning on weaning?

I am hoping by one year because I really want to start TTC #2 and don't want to BF pregnant.

Any challenges?

I think DC overfeeds him because he is a crap napper so I am always right on the edge of not having enough. He also has been biting me and it's really not going to be fun when he has teeth.

Any other questions?

Has anyone had to switch to EP due to biting?

[weeklyplanner]

Don't have time to answer everything, but can someone explain to
Me why you have such large freezer stashes? Did I miss something i was supposed to be doing?

[greenmonkey1]

Feb 9, 2015 13:43:18 GMT -5 puffandstuff said:

Since we are so close to everyone being at the 6 month milestone, I was wondering how everyone was doing.

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?

When are you planning on weaning?

Any challenges?

Any other questions?

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?

Combo feeding, I suppose.  He takes bottles at daycare.  We added solids at 5-months (little guy just turned 6-months) and he gets something once a day.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?


Freezer stash is pretty good, have no idea how many ounces.  I freeze Friday milk and cycle in older stored bags to keep my stash fresher.

When are you planning on weaning?

One year

Any challenges?

Keeping it going.  Nursing is great and certainly saves money on formula.  But I do not love pumping at work and I do not like having to schedule my weekend/evening around nursing.  Everyone thinks it is just so easy for me to go somewhere since the little guy takes a bottle.  Except I still have to pump if I miss a nursing session.  I am not as paranoid about missing a pump as I was with my first, but I still don't want to jam up my supply by not nursing/pumping.  There are definitely days I want to just wean the little guy and switch to formula to get my boobs back.

[greenmonkey1]

Feb 9, 2015 15:18:55 GMT -5 weeklyplanner said:

Don't have time to answer everything, but can someone explain to
Me why you have such large freezer stashes? Did I miss something i was supposed to be doing?

weeklyplanner I have an oversupply so the stash just kind of grows on its own.  It is nice to know I have a stash in the event of serious illness and needing meds not suitable for breastfeeding.  It is also nice to know I have a stash if I have a lower pumping day, that I don't need to stress about trying to add pumping sessions to fill bottles for work the next day.  Based on my experience with my first I will burn through my stash closer to a year when I plan to wean and my supply is just naturally lower (due to little guy eating more solids) and I just decide to drop pumping sessions out of maintaining my sanity.

I am sure there are other reasons for having large freezer stashes, but that is mine in a nutshell.

[puffandstuff]

Feb 9, 2015 15:18:55 GMT -5 weeklyplanner said:

Don't have time to answer everything, but can someone explain to
Me why you have such large freezer stashes? Did I miss something i was supposed to be doing?

I have a large stash because most weeks, I pump more than what she eats at the sitters. I went back to work and had about 50 ounces, now it's much larger.  It's not necessary.  I wanted a small stash for when I went back to work.

[gingy]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?
EBF. She's had a few solids. We're trying BLW. I didn't think she was getting anything but I found a few carrot chunks in her diaper. Baby poop continues to amaze me.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?
I have maybe 30ish ounces. No real point because like gahorseygal I also have a bottle refuser. She literally will only take.5oz and I'm pretty sure most of it is dribbled out. It makes getting a break really hard, but at this point I'm thinking I'll just shoot for a sippy instead.

When are you planning on weaning?
No real plans. I want DD to decide, but if biting becomes an issue I may decide for us both.

Any challenges?
Still dealing with a distractable nurser. She's slowly getting better, but I'm getting worried these little snacks are starting to effect my supply. Or maybe it's regulating, although I feel like this already happened.

Any other questions?
How do you know if your supply is dwindling?

[Deleted]

Great thread!

I am BF when with LO, pumping 1x per day. I just had to start supplementing with half formula for daycare bottles last week. LO eats solids 2x per day, about 2 oz. I will probably add a third time next week.

Freezer stash is around 80 oz I would guess. It was more but I supplemented from there for a couple weeks before formula.

Plan on weaning around 1 year, but probably TTC in June or July so that may change

Challenges: I don't seem to be responding as well to the pump, even with new parts. LO only gets two bottles a day as I work part time.

[navyblues2114]

We are still EBF, but starting to introduce solids which I just find to be a pain.  With my first I loved doing solids, now it is just more work and I sometimes forget to give him any.  MOTY over here.

I think I have 3 bags in my freezer so not much of a stash but I don't need one since I sah.

I will bf until he's one year, then I'm done.  Forever!!!  I will start introducing cows milk at 11 months so that he can be totally weaned 2 weeks after he turns one like I did with dd.  

[sjshark]

daisylola11, I freeze mine in 2-3 oz increments because I had a 5 oz bag leak on me once, I cried. Now if it leaks the most I lose is 3 oz, still sad, but at least its not a full bottle.

[sjshark]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?

Its a combo, during the week is pretty much EP due to my work schedule, she nurses only if she wakes up at night or if I get home to nurse her before her last feed. We always do a bottle for the last feed of the day bc she's a snacker when she gets it from the boob and then will for sure wake in the middle of the night to nurse, a bottle lowers the chances of that happening.
We did introduce solids about a month ago. Shes still iffy on it. Most days are misses but sometimes she is down with it.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?
freezer is at about 100 oz. Use it occaisionally if something has happend that makes it so we dont have enough for the day (eg. I had the week of xmas off so i couldnt use the milk I had pumped at work bc it would not have lasted the 7+ days between pumping and feeding so I froze that and then pumped some new closer to my first day back at work and thawed some)

When are you planning on weaning?

Seeing as though she is not interested in solids, I think we will make it the full year. I would like to build up my freezer stash to be able to offer her bm longer and if she is still interested in nursing after the year I would like to continue as long as my supply keeps up, but I do want to at least cut down on pumping at work.

Any challenges?
It drives me nuts that she will only eat a few oz when shes nursing, means I have to feed her every 1.5-2 hrs versus the bottle which is anywhere from 3-5 hrs.

Any other questions?
Nope.

[mrsnorris]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids? I EBF with extremely rare bottles. Her last bottle was in December. We stared cereal last week because pedi suggested we do so. I am mixing with BM when I can pump enough (like an once or an ounce and a half) because I want her to get the nutrition. It's hard to pump even that much. It's ridiculous. We will add more solids in the next couple of weeks and start BLW at 6 mo.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it? I have used about half of my freezer stash. It lasted about four hours. I am a terrible pumper. I make just enough for LO it seems and my pump is waaaay less effective than she is at getting it out. She can get six oz out of a boob when I can pump like 1.5.

When are you planning on weaning? A year? I want to continue to a year. I'm flexible past that point, as of now. My kid wants allll the food and loves boob so I think she'll want to continue.

Any challenges? I wish I could pump better. Also, LO does this thing where she clamps down on my boob and gets really red in the face and thrashes around. It's like a scene from the exorcist. Sometimes it's painful but sometimes not, I guess depending on her grip? But it scares the crap out of me for when she gets teeth. None of the normal ways to dissuade biting seem to be connecting for her.

Any other questions? Not that i can think of.

Feeling good about it overall. It's MUCH easier than the earlier months and I like the bonding. Plus, it's super easy and no bottles to make MOTN or anything. So I'm glad we've stuck with it.

[minervamae]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?
EBF. She hasn't been offered a bottle. The first two wouldn't take them, so I haven't bothered offering her one. She hasn't acted interested in solids, so I haven't offered any.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?
I have maybe 20 oz. I haven't checked. I haven't used any. It's just milk I expressed by hand to relieve engorgement when she has refused nursing sessions.

When are you planning on weaning?
When she's ready. Probably around 2 years.

Any challenges?
Teething has made things hard. She's also recently weaned herself from her pacifier...so the new comfort nursing is a bummer.

Any other questions?
Nope.

[robinbird]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids? He BF when he's with me, but I pump and he takes bottles when I'm working. We just started solids last week. (He turned 6 months on 2/1) So far, he's not digging it, but that's ok.


How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it? I really don't know how many oz we have, but I like to think I have a decent sized stash. We've been rotating the stash, but I don't think we've really put much of a dent in it since I'm still adding to it.


When are you planning on weaning? I would like to BF for at least a year and then see what happens after that.


Any challenges? Not so much recently, but pumping at work is always a pain since I'm a community (retail) pharmacist. He's also started getting pretty wiggly at times and does chomp down every once in awhile. Thank goodness he doesn't have any teeth! He still wakes up a couple of times a night to nurse, too. I can deal with once or twice, but when he wakes more than that it starts to drive us batty...but that might not completely be a BF issue.


Any other questions?

[caybeh]

I'm bf and we have started solids. She's interested in solids, but makes faces. I don't have much of a freezer stash. I think like 3 or 4 bottles worth. I'll wean sometime after she is one.

[mislogis]

Feb 9, 2015 13:56:56 GMT -5 daisylola11 said:

EBF and literally just started pumping today to include BM to solids/sippy cups.

Have started giving tastes of foods, he's interested but then just makes faces so I'm gonna try runny oatmeal w BM.

No freezer stash... Yet.

I'm planning on BF until a year then reevaluating.

No challenges, but he has no teeth so we'll see

Questions: I'm a pumping virgin but realized I probably don't want to freeze all pumped milk in one bag, so does one separate into smaller amounts for when u need a couple oz it's easy to do? Just seems weird looking since I got lansinoh bags and they're big

Check out slim lines milk trays Amazon.

[sweetpies]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?

I nurse in the evening, MOTN and am,and pump 2x while at work. He takes three 4.5oz bottles duting the day. No solids just yet. LO will be 6mos at the end of the month.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?


We have about 250oz in the freezer. We use frozen milk every Monday, and I have to work really hard to replace.

When are you planning on weaning?
Maybe at 18 mos. I enjoy the snuggles while nursing.


Any challenges?
YES! How do you guys schedule 3 pumping sessions in during the day? I know I should pump every time he takes a bottle, but I just can't seem to fit it in during the busy work day. Sometimes I try to email or write policis during my sessions, but I think work stresses me too much, and I don't get as much milk.I can get 8 oz in a 30 min session.

[annapunkalunka]

Are you BF, EP or combo feeding? Have you added solids?
We EBF with bottles when I'm working. We just started solids last week. She's not overly interested at this point.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it?
It was pretty huge. Then my friends sister had a baby in the NICU and they needed milk so I donated 150oz to her. I seem to be pumping a couple of extra bags a week now.

When are you planning on weaning?
My goal is to make it to a year. Then ill probably stop pumping at work and we'll go from there.

Any challenges?
The night wakings. I can't get her to go back down without nursing. She wants nothing to do with her dad or the pacifier MOTN. It's rough since she's up 3-4 times. We got her in her crib, but I broke down and now she's in our bed after her first wake up (11pm).

Any other questions?

[mislogis]

1- exclusively BF with solids. Both pumping and boob.

Stash: Not sure! Lol I was just away for 3 days, but will be replenishing it with all I pumped while gone.

No plans to wean. I will nurse hopefully to 1 year

Challenges: my supply took a tank the past few weeks. I don't think it's bc of solids bc I nurse her first. But baby girl loves her some solid food.

No questions. Not my first rodeo.

[merry]

Combo since I work full time. Started solids a few weeks ago. Pretty relaxed with it. Somedays he gets them somedays he doesn't. Depends on what I have time for and what his eating schedule is like for that day.

I've got about 3-3.5 weeks with in the freezer. I take out 3bags per day to use while at work then freeze what I pump. I don't want much more then that though since BM is always changing to meet babies needs.

No plans to wean specifically. My goal is 1year just as it was with DD. She self weaned about 13.5 months, we'll see what he chooses.

Only challenge is those days he chooses to not eat well or sleeps longer then usual and throws me off.

[silvermelody]

You ladies with your huge freezer stashes! Bah. Stupid low supply boobs.

We are doing a combo. He BFs once in the early AM, I pump 3x at work which is bottles for the next day, and I BF two or three times before he goes to bed. Have not started solids yet, planning to ask the ped on Friday.

How's the freezer stash looking? How have you used it? The most I ever had stashed was 16 oz. We used all but 3 oz of that the first day I went back to work.

When are you planning on weaning? Planning on one year but might go longer.

Any challenges? I have enough supply to BF when I'm home but I don't make enough to build up a stash. I can only pump 3 times a day at work. So if he needs more than 3 bottles while I'm at work he's SOL or we'll have to give formula again *sigh*

[roccobabyk]

Breastfeeding. We added solids at 4.5 months and she took to them very quickly!

My freeze stash is very low. I use it when I have to sub.

I am thinking I'll wean around a year to 18months.

Everything is smooth sailing now that we have lost the shield and my supply is good.