Seven months of spit and vinegar!! Our current challenge: feeding. I have nursed my other two children to a year and beyond, and I've had one baby who struggled from day one and one baby who was easy cheesy and never had a sip of formula. But I'm struggling here, at 7 months, with nursing. He's biting, arching, will never nurse for more than 30 seconds during the day, and even then he'll only do it in a completely quiet and dark nursery. As IF! I've been trying to pump. But pumping, washing pump parts, feeding a bottle, and then washing bottles is quite demanding. Not to mention that I also have to strip him naked to feed him solids twice a day.
So he's getting some formula, and I'm starting to wonder if this is going to naturally lead to weaning. The only time he is nursing well right now, of course, is in the middle of the night. Several times in the middle of the night, in fact.
Maybe I need to perservere. Maybe this is the result of having 3 kids under 5. Maybe he's just really a stinker. I don't know, but I'm tired. Keeping him fed is a demanding job at the moment.
2 comments:
Wait, how is Luke SEVEN months old? That really got me! As someone who did not have luck with 2 tries at nursing, maybe I can ease some potential guilt? My kids have all done great on formula. It is more expensive for sure but it is so, so true that pumping AND bottle feeding is a heck of alot of work. He has already gotten so much good stuff from you which is fantastic. And oddly, the baby who got the most breastmilk (liam) is the one who has been on antibiotics the most. And it won't be long before you can intro whole milk. I think you will know what the right answer is very soon :) My only advice is to try to keep any guilt feelings at bay b/c that growing baby boy will do great either way :)
See if you can talk to a lactation consultant. She would probably have some suggestions for you to try if you want to nurse longer. I let all of our kids self-wean. 2 did it at 19 months and 1 went until 26 months. You've given him a good start, so don't stress if he needs a little formula now and then.
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