As a new mom my goal was to TRY to nurse my baby. Man oh man did we have some difficulties... Allie had a poor latch ( more of a chewer really) and I have sensitivity issues. After a few days we were using a nipple shield, and I was pumping more than nursing- It was incredibly PAINFUL! I dreaded feeding my baby, which was bad- because if you know anything about newborns they eat about every 2-4 hours... So basically she would nurse for about an hour, and then want to eat an hour later... But we made it through!!!
My next hurdle was to get to 3 months. Which I did with an oversupply of "liquid gold"- so much in fact that I filled our freezer with about 1500 ounces (extra). Ok..3-6 months was my new goal- to be successful while going back to work. No biggie- I timed my mornings so I had time to nurse before rushing off to work, and used a plan period and lunch for pumping. But then around 6 months I grew tired of being attached to the pump all the time... At 9 months I dreaded it.... I'm sure you nursing/working mommas know exactly what I am talking about.
Right about 9 months Allie began walking, and she was NOT interested in nursing, it made it very difficult for her and me... She was hungry but too busy to slow down to nurse. I decided to slowly cut out 1 nursing session at a time (she was doing 4/day). Therefore I only needed to pump 1 time at work! YAY!!! And I had a HUGE freezer stash to help us get to a year. Right before a year I was only nursing before bed- and Allie had moved on through all 1500 oz of frozen and was drinking whole cows milk out of a sippy cup.
Then last week when Allie was 1 year, 1 week, and 1 day old I decided to switch up our bedtime routine and give her a sippy of milk, then a bath, then read books/clean teeth, and go to bed. We are only on day 3, but the last 2 nights were successful- and now daddy can be involved in the night time process!! It's almost like she doesn't miss it at all. I find it a little strange that I am a sad about being done nursing my baby, it is another sign of my baby girl becoming independent and growing up...
I met my long term goal of nursing for 1 year, and I never had to buy formula! I can only imagine how much $$ that saved us- however I did have to buy freezer bags for the milk, random pump parts, and nursing pads- but those probably cost me $100 for an entire years worth.
On another note...I can drink again!!! Bring on the caffeine and alcohol!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment