April's Breastfeeding Story.
My Mom didn't breastfeed me or my sisters. Well, she tried for 6 weeks
to breastfeed my younger sister, but my sister wasn't thriving, so she
switched to formula. The only person I saw breastfeed as a child, was an
aunt that I didn't care for. She was not discreet at all, and breastfed
in front of men and women with no blanket and her breast exposed for all
to see. I was far from impressed, I was shocked and disgusted.
When I was engaged to my husband, another aunt was breastfeeding her
infant, and she was discreet (without using a blanket) but she breastfed
in church, at my parent's house, everywhere and in front of everybody. I
didn't know what to think about it. She loved the ease of breastfeeding
and would never use formula, she told me.
When I became pregnant with my first baby, I was unsure what to do.
Breastfeeding did not appeal to me, but I knew that it would be best for
my baby, and would be free. My husband liked the free part. I decided
to breastfeed for a couple months. When my daughter was born, I tried to
nurse her right away. I struggled to get my daughter to latch on
correctly. The nurse gave me a nipple shield to wear to ease my
daughter's latching on. Even with the shield every nursing was a
struggle.
I went home from the hospital, and the real problems began. Without a
nurse to force my breast into my daughter's mouth, I couldn't get her to
latch on. Every feeding took ten minutes of struggling, attempting to
latch on, and both of us crying before my daughter could eat. A nurse
came to do a home visit and told me I had flat nipples and if I didn't
drop the shield she'd never nurse without it and I'd get blisters. I
already had blisters that would bleed, so I dropped the shield. She
still couldn't nurse, and I was in great pain. I was ready to quit, but
was too stubborn to just give up. I wanted her to have the benefits of
breastfeeding.
I decided to pump bottles for my daughter. So, at every feeding, I gave
my daughter a bottle, and then pumped another one for the next feeding.
After two weeks of pumping about 8 times a day, I decided to see how my
daughter did at nursing again. She latched on perfectly right away. I
was so relieved. From then on, nursing went smoothly for my daughter and
me. At 8 weeks she began to sleep throught the night, and nursed 6 times
each day. Sometimes I would pump bottles if we were going out, sometimes
I gave her formula. I never nursed in public. At parents/in-laws homes,
I went to the bedroom. When we had company, I went to the bedroom. At
church, I went to the nursery. Once, at the mall, I nursed in a restroom
that had a couch.
At four months, our agreed upon weaning time, my husband and I decided to
wean her. I was tired of nursing bras, breast pads, leaking, and always
having to disappear to nurse. We mixed 4 oz. of expressed milk with 2
oz. of formula four times a day, and I continued to nurse in the morning
and at bedtime. Slowly, we decreased the breast milk and increased the
formula. Then I dropped the a.m. feeding, and lastly the p.m. feeding.
I took a month, but she was weaned. After she was weaned, at 5 months,
we introduced baby food. I kind of missed nursing, and hated washing
bottles by hand. She switched easily to the cup around 10 months, and
began to drink cow's milk after her first birthday. She is now a healthy
and very active two year old.
When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I wore breast shells, the
last four-five weeks of the pregnancy for about 7 hours each day, to draw
out my nipples. I decided to nurse her longer than her older sister, but
wasn't sure how long. I thought about nursing her until she was one.
Moments after her birth, she latched on and nursed contentedly. We had
no problems, as far as the mechanics of nursing. I still got sore,
blistered, cracked and bleeding nipples, even without the latching
problems. Around 2 weeks post-partum, I noticed a red, hot tender area
on both breasts and a slight fever. I called my ob/gyn and he said to
take tylenol and continue to nurse, so I did. It cleared up in a couple
days.
The second time, the problems lay with my daughter's digestion. She
would spit up a lot, but so did her older sister. The real problems were
the projectile vomiting, which started around 2 weeks of age, and the
colic after every feeding. A home visit nurse thought the vomiting might
mean she had either pyloric stenosis, which would require surgery, or a
dairy sensitivity. So, when the vomiting continued, once or twice a day,
we took her to the doctor. The dr. felt that pyloric stenosis was
unlikely since that usually doesn't occur until 6 weeks of age, usually
in boys, usually vomiting occurs after every feeding, and the baby loses
weight. I also cut dairy products out of my diet. The colicky behavior
continued, but to a lesser degree, after each feeding and the vomiting
continued. I reintroduced dairy foods after a week, without an increase
in her symptoms. So, I tried different formulas, including soy,
wondering if she had a lactose intolerance, or was somehow allergic to
me. These didn't seem to make a difference, so I finally just relegated
myself to the fact that she had a sensitive digestive system which needed
to mature. By two months, she was mostly over her sensitivities, just a
few bouts of colic left to contend with.
She began to sleep through the night around 10 weeks, and nursed anywhere
from 4-6 times each day. She didn't like bottles very well, and would
rather go hungry than drink from one. Since I was finding it difficult
to express milk this time, I quit using them and was forced to nurse in
public. I continued to nurse in the nursery at church, of course. With
this daughter, though, I would use a light-weight blanket to nurse around
family, rather than finding a bedroom. Eventually, I dropped the
blanket. I was always discreet, however. Soon, I found myself nursing
at restaurants and concerts. Eventually, I did find a bottle type that
she liked, and sometimes gave her formula when she went to Grandma's. At
5 1/2 months, we introduced baby foods, and continued to nurse 4-6 times
a day.
She is now 6 1/2 months old, and has never gone to the doctor because of
a virus or other illness. She eats 3 baby food meals each day, and
nurses after them. Sometimes she also nurses as a snack mid-morning and
mid-afternoon. She always nurses before bed, although she does not fall
asleep at the breast. She is beginning to drink diluted apple juice, and
can drink from a cup. She is also beginning to feed herself crackers.
I am not sure when I will wean my daughter. She is biting me with her
two little sharp teeth, and I am planning to start a family daycare soon,
so I am pondering doing so soon. I know that nursing a toddler is not
something that appeals to me, so it will most likely be within the next 5
1/2 months, if not sooner.
I did not use nursing as a pacifier for my children. Neither of them
want to be at the breast when they are not hungry. I have offered it to
them when they are upset before, only to have it rejected as soon as the
milk began to flow. So, I have used Gerber NUK orthodontic pacifiers
with each child. They use it when they are upset, or falling asleep. I
do not rock my babies until they fall asleep, either. I do rock them and
cuddle them, but they never fall asleep this way. I have tried.
Instead, I spend time with them and read them a story, then lay them in
their beds to go to sleep. That's just the way my babies are, I guess.
