Extended Breastfeeding Check-in, 10/27

[vvvvvfee]

For the purposes of this check-in, we will define extended breastfeeding as breastfeeding beyond 1 year. Questions are repeated and suggestions are appreciated!

1. How old is your LO?
2. How many times per day does your LO nurse?
3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now?
4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)?

Pregnant & BFing Moms: How are you doing this week? Any issues with supply, pain, aversion? Questions for other moms?

Tandem Nursing Moms: How are you doing this week? Any current challenges? Questions for other moms?

Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume?

[vvvvvfee]

1. How old is your LO? 15 months
2. How many times per day does your LO nurse? 5
3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now? Nope!
4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)? DS2 is having a not-very-hungry phase these days. He likes ground turkey in any form- meatloaf, etc.- pasta, bananas.. and he is obsessed with chocolate. The other day he was going through the garbage can by DH's desk, took out a chocolate wrapper, inspected it for crumbs, then held it up to DH and said, "DIS."

Tandem Nursing Moms: How are you doing this week? Any current challenges? Questions for other moms? DS1 is still asking to nurse a couple of times a week, I haven't let him, and he doesn't make a fuss. I do feel guilty that he is still asking and I'm telling him now, but I feel like if I let him nurse now it would undo all the progress that we've made.

Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume? DS2 can barely tolerate socks, shoes, hoodies, or hats, so no costume for him. DS1 is going to be a ninja turtle-- even though he has never seen the show, he "knows who they are."

[lilyelayne]

1. How old is your LO? - 19.5 mo

2. How many times per day does your LO nurse? - 3-4/day, 0-1/night

3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now? - nope!

4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)? - he loves food. Tacos, apples, spaghetti & meatsauce are always hits. He's on a big satsuma kick right now since they're in season.

AW- when DS latches sloppily, I tell him "better latch, please" and he lets go and tries again. Or holds his mouth open really wide til I pick up my boob and help him. It cracks me up (and is really helpful!)

Also thank goodness for nursing that helped us through 4 airplane rides last week.

Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume? - he says he wants to be a robot. I haven't actually made the costume yet but I've got a box set aside to cover in tinfoil.

[BabyStandish]

1. How old is your LO? 21 months
2. How many times per day does your LO nurse? all day
3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now? just exhausted lol
4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)? yogurt, goldfish, cheese

Pregnant & BFing Moms: How are you doing this week? Any issues with supply, pain, aversion? Questions for other moms? latch is painful once in awhile, but nothing too bad/consistent. I know my supply has dropped a bit, but LO is nursing just as much if not more.

Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume? yep, he's going to be Ace Ventura Pet Detective.

[bluefairy5]

1. How old is your LO?
I go here now as of yesterday! She is 1 year and 1 day

2. How many times per day does your LO nurse?
Mostly it’s a.m., before nap(s), p.m., overnight (co-sleeper). But if there’s a bad head bonk or something, or if she’s just feeling cuddly, it’s more.

3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now?
Trying to work down to one pump at work (will continue until ) and hoping it doesn’t tank my supply for NOD. Also, suddenly girlfriend is too grown up for anything resembling cradle hold, which makes for some interesting knees to the bladder now and again, since she starts in cradle and then realizes, “Oh! I don’t like this anymore!”

4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)?
Raspberries! Also, this Israeli couscous + grilled vegetables dish from a grocery store near us. She’s obsessed.

QOTW: A little honeybee. If she doesn’t cry until we take the costume off again, at least.

[billyhorrible]

1. How old is your LO? 16 months

2. How many times per day does your LO nurse? 2-5

3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now? not really. I'd really love it if he'd fall asleep after his MOTN nursing sessions. But that's more a sleep challenge than a BFing challenge.

4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)? fruit!

Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume? So my oldest is dressing up as Kion from The Lion Guard. He wanted the whole family to dress up as other members. Since my youngest loves birds, he's going to be Ono the egret.

[aves0708]

1. She just turned 1 last week!

2. 4-5, but she's a big comfort nurser if she's hurt

3. She has a bad head cold for the first time and today she really struggled nursing. I'm doing everything I can to help but she's just so stuffy. I haven't pumped in 6-7 months, but I dug the thing out today and pumped a pathetic amount and put it in her straw cup. She sucked it down in approximately 15 seconds. I'm hoping tomorrow the cold starts to let up a little.

4. Yogurt, grapes ( any fruit really), peanut butter

Non-BFing Q: Yes! She's going as an owl!

[hurricanerek]

1. How old is your LO?
2y2m

2. How many times per day does your LO nurse?
2-4, more if she had it her way

3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now?
Every time she sees her sister nursing she asks for milk. I love her but I refuse to feed her at the same frequency as a newborn.

4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)?
Pasta, yogurt, smoothies, strawberries, juice, candy

Tandem Nursing Moms: How are you doing this week? Any current challenges? Questions for other moms?
Like I mentioned above, dd1 wants to nurse every time the baby does. When do you say yes to your older nursling? I feel like she would do better if I had set times during the day for mama's milk.

Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume?
She is a unicorn.

[seamonster]

1. How old is your LO? 20 months

2. How many times per day does your LO nurse? 1-2. I thought e night weaned, but he's been waking up inconsolable.

3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now? Working on weaning. Bedtime is it for the most part. May just end to go cold turkey

4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)? Raisins, berries, cheese

Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume? He's Yoda

[bluefairy5]

aves0708, high five, friend, hello Hope her cold improves today.

[aves0708]

Oct 28, 2016 8:09:06 GMT -5 bluefairy5 said:

aves0708, high five, friend, hello Hope her cold improves today.

🙋 Is this a waving emoji or maybe a hi five emoji? Either way it seems appropriate....anyway, Hia friend! Her cold is a little better. Nursing has been easier for the most part today with the exception of a couple really stuffy times. Unfortunately it seems I now have the cold....sigh.

[heartofglass]

1. How old is your LO?
16mo

2. How many times per day does your LO nurse?
3-5

3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now?
Thankfully my milk bleb is finally gone! That was awful and took forever to heal. Now I guess the problem is his distraction. He signs for milk and nurses for about a minute at the time, pulls off and then asks again a minute later.

4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)? Bacon, my monster cookies, goldfish, veggie straws.

Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume? He's not dressing up this year. We've not really found a social niche since we've moved and it's cold, like in the 10-20's.

[radiantly]

bluefairy5, excited to see you here!!

1. How old is your LO?
13.5 months

2. How many times per day does your LO nurse?
When I'm at work (8-6) I've gone down to one pump in early/mid afternoon. I'm trying to reduce to match what she has been drinking at daycare, 4-6 oz.
when I'm at home she nurses 2-4 times but only one of those times is a meal-size the others are snacks.

Evening bedtime and MOTN are still happening since we cosleep.

3. Are you dealing with any BFing-related challenges right now?
Just that I don't want to pump much at work but I also sort of like the mental break (I catch up on my phone on personal stuff) and I really enjoy not having my period yet. I've only been doing the pumping once for a couple weeks.

4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)?
She loves everything except bananas. Tomatoes in season, avocado, black beans, chicken soup...

Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume?
She was a pumpkin fairy yesterday and a monkey today!

[packmomma]

1. How old is your LO? 14 months
2. How many times per day does your LO nurse? 8+ (0-1 motn)
3. The usual intensity but he's sick still so we're pushing through.

4. What are your LO's favorite foods (besides mommy's milk)? He loves fruit; pineapple and applesauce are his favorite. He also likes anything with garlic and onion in it. I usually make him eggs in the morning and he'll gobble them up if they have garlic in them.


Non-BFing question of the week: Is your LO dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is their costume?
He's going to be a dragon if it's cold and a skeleton if it's too hot. I may pip once I get them.

[packmomma]

radiantly so cute!

[packmomma]

[vvvvvfee]

bluefairy5, have you tried sitting LO on your lap, facing you, for nursing? IME that's the easiest position to BF a toddler.

hurricanerek, so pick set times! morning, mid-day (before nap?), and before bed... or less, if you want. i never liked to nurse both kids at once, so for me it kind of depended on how much more nursing i could stand. like if DS2 was nursing a ton, i'd say no to DS1 more often. as time went on i did limit DS2 to a certain number of times per day (2, then 1, then only once every couple of times he asked). DS1 always seems to want my attention (still!), while DS2 is nursing-- usually i use that time to read to him.

[bluefairy5]

Nov 1, 2016 11:55:10 GMT -5 vvvvvfee said:

bluefairy5, have you tried sitting LO on your lap, facing you, for nursing? IME that's the easiest position to BF a toddler.

hurricanerek, so pick set times! morning, mid-day (before nap?), and before bed... or less, if you want. i never liked to nurse both kids at once, so for me it kind of depended on how much more nursing i could stand. like if DS2 was nursing a ton, i'd say no to DS1 more often. as time went on i did limit DS2 to a certain number of times per day (2, then 1, then only once every couple of times he asked). DS1 always seems to want my attention (still!), while DS2 is nursing-- usually i use that time to read to him.

Yep, that works sometimes! Other times she pops off, goes "Heh!" grabs my boob, and giggles as she puts it back in her mouth with her hands, as if it were a sandwich. (This isn't a problem per se, just kind of distracting and not conducive to let down, LOL, but I'll take what I can get!)

[radiantly]

Just curious, how many of us are still sans-period? I never thought it would be more than a year but I'm happily avoiding the mess and uncomfortable symptoms that go along with periods.

[lilyelayne]

Nov 1, 2016 20:22:04 GMT -5 radiantly said:

Just curious, how many of us are still sans-period? I never thought it would be more than a year but I'm happily avoiding the mess and uncomfortable symptoms that go along with periods.

I got mine back at 14 months IIRC. Nothing changed in DS's nursing habits that I noted. And for what it's worth, my post partum periods haven't been terrible. I heard all these horror stories about the first pp period, and mine have been totally normal. Guess my body had plenty of time to recover from childbirth?

[hurricanerek]

Nov 1, 2016 20:22:04 GMT -5 radiantly said:

Just curious, how many of us are still sans-period? I never thought it would be more than a year but I'm happily avoiding the mess and uncomfortable symptoms that go along with periods.

Not me. I got mine at 9 weeks pp with dd1 and just got mine over the weekend with dd2 (she is 6 weeks). Despite ebf and tandem nursing. Ugh.

[BabyStandish]

Nov 1, 2016 20:22:04 GMT -5 radiantly said:

Just curious, how many of us are still sans-period? I never thought it would be more than a year but I'm happily avoiding the mess and uncomfortable symptoms that go along with periods.

I got mine back at 15 months pp. For us it was frustrating because we were ready to TFAS at 9-10 months pp. It was nice not buying pads/tampons for that long. Mine also wasn't bad when it came back. It was pretty much back to normal by then.

[billyhorrible]

Nov 1, 2016 21:43:30 GMT -5 lilyelayne said:

Nov 1, 2016 20:22:04 GMT -5 radiantly said:

Just curious, how many of us are still sans-period? I never thought it would be more than a year but I'm happily avoiding the mess and uncomfortable symptoms that go along with periods.

I got mine back at 14 months IIRC. Nothing changed in DS's nursing habits that I noted. And for what it's worth, my post partum periods haven't been terrible. I heard all these horror stories about the first pp period, and mine have been totally normal. Guess my body had plenty of time to recover from childbirth?

Same. 13 months with my first, 14 with my second. After my first id stopped having debilitating menstrual cramps. After my second it seems to have gotten shorter and lighter.

[packmomma]

Nov 1, 2016 20:22:04 GMT -5 radiantly said:

Just curious, how many of us are still sans-period? I never thought it would be more than a year but I'm happily avoiding the mess and uncomfortable symptoms that go along with periods.

We night weaned ds at 6 months so I figured I'd get it back around then. I didn't get it till 11 months pp but then I got 6 seperate periods in 60 days. The ob just thinks it's my hormones settling in. The actual periods haven't been bad (light and minimal cramping) but constantly either pmsing or menstruating is not what I call fun.
I'm now 14 months and on my period and it's super light.

[vvvvvfee]

Nov 1, 2016 20:22:04 GMT -5 radiantly said:

Just curious, how many of us are still sans-period? I never thought it would be more than a year but I'm happily avoiding the mess and uncomfortable symptoms that go along with periods.

i got mine back at 12 months with DS1 and 11 months with DS2. not sure what triggered it, as both of them were still nursing overnight at that point, and i was still pumping 1x a day at work. maybe moving from 2 pumps/day to 1 pump/day?

[bluefairy5]

Nov 1, 2016 20:22:04 GMT -5 radiantly said:

Just curious, how many of us are still sans-period? I never thought it would be more than a year but I'm happily avoiding the mess and uncomfortable symptoms that go along with periods.

I'm on the mini-pill (and don't seem to ovulate on my own anyway, soooo.) The almost-two-year break from bleeding has been lovely!

[seamonster]

Got it at a year when I dropped pumping. And then the mini pill caused bleeding every two weeks until I dropped that.

[bluefairy5]

Nov 4, 2016 5:57:23 GMT -5 seamonster said:

Got it at a year when I dropped pumping. And then the mini pill caused bleeding every two weeks until I dropped that.

Eep! I would love for this not to happen to me.