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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

trade off

I think Jonathan's nursing days have come to an end. Ever since he has been sleeping better his eating schedule has shifted, my milk supply has plummeted and he hasn't had the patience to actually nurse in the afternoons. I don't really blame him- bottles are a way more efficient way to get milk and who wants to take more time away from chasing the ball than absolutely necessary? He loves the bottle (some variation of "bottle" is already in his vocabulary where as nothing close to "Mommy" ever comes out of his mouth)

For a few weeks after he started sleeping through the night, pumping went OK and he was still getting mostly milk instead of formula even at preschool, but with him refusing to nurse in the afternoons and me not wanting to drag the pump back and forth to work to pump in the evenings, my milk supply is getting less and less.

It makes me really sad to see this come to an end. I loved the connection I felt like it gave me with him to know that he had my milk even when I was at work. And though I LOVE sleeping at night again, I miss seeing him every few hours. But we've given this a good go and almost 11 months isn't so bad. Sleeping well is a huge accomplishment and life is always a trade-off. I guess I'm just not sure how to end this on my terms so I don't feel like I've failed since I don't think we'll make it to a year.

5 comments:

  1. Daniel went on a nursing strike at 11 months due to teething pain and it totally broke my heart. He went from all to nothing over a couple days. I did eventually get him back to it, but not without a lot of tears and pouring my heart out to a Kroger employee. Hang in there and know that your momma-baby bond will still be there when the nursing ends, and can even improve once that stress is gone. Sorry you are sad :(

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  2. oh honey!! you haven't failed at all!! 11 months in really something in this day and age! penelope only got about 4 months in before it came to an end but then, she was able to feed herself from a bottle, and that was great! you're doing a great job, and that baby is perfect! be proud!

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  3. You did make it to a year, crazy lady. Congrats on nursing so long and getting your baby to sleep through the night.

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  4. P.S. I lost the rest of my baby weight after nursing ends, so you can look forward to that!

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  5. Oh and one more thing. I got a "nursing necklace" with lots of beads on it for Liam to play with while he nursed, which helped him focus long enough to get a full feeding. Very helpful for when they are so wiggly and have so much to do!

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