6/16-6/30 First Year Check In & Chatter

[lily]

Welcome! Please join in!

—

How old is your LO?

Are you nursing, pumping, supplementing? How’s it going?


0-3 mo
Getting through growth spurts okay?


4-8 mo
How do nights look at your house?

If you’ve returned to work, how is that transition going?


9-12mo
Do you have plans to TTC that affect your BF plans?


Questions/AW?


GTKY: if you had $10 you had to spend on yourself, what would you do? What about $100?

[lily]

How old is your LO? - 2 days old

Are you nursing, pumping, supplementing? How’s it going? - nursing. Going well, just waiting on my milk to come in.


0-3 mo
Getting through growth spurts okay? - no growth spurts yet!


Questions/AW? - I forgot how tiny newborns are.


GTKY: if you had $10 you had to spend on yourself, what would you do? What about $100? - $10 I’d go to a restaurant and treat myself to chips & queso. $100 I’d get a manicure or two.

[lildiamondeyes]

lily, Congrats on the new squishy!

[lily]

Jun 16, 2018 12:54:51 GMT -6 lildiamondeyes said:

lily, Congrats on the new squishy!

Thanks!

[flippinchica]

Congrats lily!
DS2 is 5 months old. I am nursing and pumping.
Nights have been hit or miss. We moved the baby to his room and crib last week which seems to have helped.
I went back to work almost 3 months ago so I'm pretty settled in. Work is way easier than taking care of a toddler and infant all day. I still find drop offs and pick ups a struggle though.
$10 Starbucks coffee and a breakfast sandwich
$100 a pedicure and wax

[dorothy]

lily Congrats on the new little one!

I’m going to de-lurk and jump in this week.

How old is your LO? 2.5 months

Are you nursing, pumping, supplementing? How’s it going?
Just nursing and occasionally pumping to build a little stash. I only need to go into the office for work once a week and I can take baby with me, so I just like to have some milk in the freezer for date nights and such. Everything is going great though.

0-3 mo
Getting through growth spurts okay? No issues so far!


Questions/AW? Related to the pumping situation, baby will not take a bottle. DH has tried a couple different kinds at different temperatures, and DS2 just won’t have it. Since I can bring him to work the one day and I stay home the rest, I’m not super stressing over it yet. But I would like to have an evening out eventually. Any tips? What bottles worked best for you?


GTKY: if you had $10 you had to spend on yourself, what would you do? What about $100?
$10: coffee and lunch
$100: I do a lot of sewing so probably some new fabrics

[lily]

dorothy

Bottle strategies:
-cold milk or warm milk
-run the bottle nipple under hot water just before offering
-hold baby high and close just like he is nursing
-sit baby upright in lap (so totally different from nursing)
-give bottle while walking or bouncing on a yoga ball or rocking in a chair/glider
-have caregiver wear one of your shirts or put one of your shirts between them and baby for your scent

Dr Browns was the only bottle my son would take.

Baby can also be fed from an open cup, syringe, spoon. Open cup may use muscle movement most similar to nursing.

kellymom.com/ages/newborn/newborn-concerns/alternative-feeding/

[Speedy]

Hi there, I'm going to join in here.


How old is your LO?
5 days


Are you nursing, pumping, supplementing? How’s it going?
Nursing and pumping. He has a bit of jaundice which is making him really sleepy so he keeps falling asleep before he gets the good milk, which is affecting my supply. Going home to feed him and then going to get a better pump than the loaner I have.


0-3 mo
Getting through growth spurts okay?
Ish? He just started his first and between that and the tiredness he's cluster feeding like crazy


Questions/AW?
I'm still not sure how to tell the difference between him sucking and swallowing?


GTKY: if you had $10 you had to spend on yourself, what would you do? What about $100?
$10 would probably be breakfast out with my best friend.
$100 I'd probably buy some clothes or something

[dorothy]

lily

Thanks! We haven’t tried some of the things on your list (different positions, bouncing/walking, the shirt thing) so we’ll give it a go. We had to syringe feed DS1 for a few days in the hospital so I’m familiar with that and I was just watching cup feeding videos the other day.

Like I said, I’m not super stressed over it because I stay at home or take him with me to work. But DS1 took a bottle so easily that this is throwing me off.

[gingy]

DS is 9mo.

I'm nursing and pumping.

No TTC plans. Probably ever, lol.

Still having supply issues, so we talked to the LC yesterday. She told us that we could use this as an easy way to wean (if I wanted), or she could help us push through but it would likely be harder to wean later. I wasn't set on nursing past 1yr when we started, but I really love it now and wouldn't mind continuing. Any thoughts?

$10 I'd go out for a drink or two by myself.
$100 I'd get a massage or facial.

[lily]

Speedy you should be able to hear baby swallowing, bit of a “keh” sound, also see the jaw moving downward. YouTube has lots of videos.

“Listen for the “keh” sound for practice—you’ll hear it now and then—and you may notice that his lower jaw drops a little lower, maybe with a hesitation or pause when it drops. That drop-pause-close motion is also a swallow. Not every noise a nursing baby makes is a swallow, and some babies who nurse well are nearly silent.” - Womanly Art of Breastfeeding 8th ed, Chapter 5 (sorry I don’t have the page# right now, ebook app doesn’t show it)

dorothy eh if LO doesn’t figure the bottle out in a couple months you can try straw cups. I mean hopefully the bottle works cause it seems to be most familiar/reassuring to babysitters etc but glad you’re not stressed about it.

gingy I have never weaned a baby but letting DS self wean was super easy and stress free. IMO the first year is the hardest part of nursing. Toddler nursing was less stressful and more flexible and a great parenting tool. But many people choose to wean around the age of your LO because the distracted nursling phase lends itself to weaning.

[danvers]

How old is your LO? 8 months

Are you nursing, pumping, supplementing? It’s summer vacation for me (teacher) so only nursing right now!!!

4-8 mo: How do nights look at your house? Sleeping though the night more often than not. Since I don’t have to get up for work, I’ve been bringing LO into our bed when she wakes up. She nurses,we fall back asleep, and I love it. I don’t cosleep much but I love our 1-2 hour early morning snooze and cuddle. This babe isn’t a big cuddler so I want every minute of this.

Questions/AW? I feel like I worried about supply with DD1 around this point too but LO just doesn’t seem to nurse very long. She’s always been a good nursed but she nurse long and doesn’t fuss if it’s been a long time anyway. She’s so distracted too and pulls on and off all the time that this all makes me worried I’m not producing enough. I feel like that’s silly because she’s growing and content and all the other signs but She just doesn’t seem interested much. DD1 would have nursed all day every day if I had let her do this is strange to have a baby not really “care” (?) about it.

GTKY: if you had $10 you had to spend on yourself, what would you do? What about $100? $10 - A magazine, a drink, and some time in those special massage chairs. $100 - just set me loose in Target.

[itsmemeg]

How old is your LO? 8 weeks tomorrow

Are you nursing, pumping, supplementing? How’s it going?
Nursing with one pump a day

0-3 mo
Getting through growth spurts okay?
I think so. She had her lip and tongue tie revised today via laser so i am hoping we can sort out her latch problems now. Still some pain when nursing but we go back to lactation on Monday


Questions/AW?


GTKY: if you had $10 you had to spend on yourself, what would you do? What about $100?
$10 i would probably buy a cosmetic item
$100 clothes for sure

[itsmemeg]

dorothy we had bottle issues too. She finally took the comotomo bottle but still wasn’t great w it, same w Dr Browns. The one we’ve tried that she does the best w is Munchkin Latch bottle. We also tried Avent which was a no go.

[itsmemeg]

Jun 18, 2018 14:25:23 GMT -6 Speedy said:

Questions/AW?
I'm still not sure how to tell the difference between him sucking and swallowing?

You can also see their ears move a little which indicates swallowing

[grumpycat]

dorothy we use the comotomo bottles. He was iffy with the munchkin latch ones and refused Medela/nuk. He rarely gets a bottle but I did go away for a couple days and he was good with the comotomo. Expensive but if you aren't using it all that often you can just buy one on Amazon.

[grumpycat]

How old is your LO? 8 months old

Are you nursing, pumping, supplementing? How’s it going? Nursing. Going well! He's a distracted disaster but we are working our way through it.

4-8 mo
How do nights look at your house? I give him a jar of baby food when we eat dinner, and then nurse him after he's all dressed for bed. I burp him then put him down around 7pm. He usually does 2 wake ups (midnight and 430am). Change, nurse, burp, back to bed.

If you’ve returned to work, how is that transition going? I SAH.


Questions/AW? More of a couple comments lol. He's gotten so much more efficient which I appreciate and I've gotten some comments about switching to formula from my mom because he's so distracted. She only nursed me for 6 weeks and my brother for a couple months so she never had this experience. I'm full steam ahead for the year mark and then beyond if we (ds2 and I) want that.


GTKY: if you had $10 you had to spend on yourself, what would you do? What about $100? $10 ... Probably a fancy drink at a bar or a yummy snack. $100 ... A nice new shirt like not one from Target lol.

[grumpycat]

danvers I'm in the same boat with my guy. I just nurse him whenever he seems like he's hungry. If he pulls off a couple times, I put my boob away. He catches up at MOTN nursing sessions and when he's sleepy. We also nurse in my bedroom with minimal distractions.

[piratecat]

gingy I’m not sure what you and your LC mean by weaning him. Do you mean you’ll stop breastfeeding and switch to formula until 12 months?

I have had low supply issues all along. We supplemented early on but then exclusively breastfed at home since around 2-3 months but supplemented at daycare on and off as needed. I think he is more efficient than my pump and has seemed plenty satisfied after nursing - he’s on the small side but has stayed on his growth curve and his pediatrician has never been concerned about his growth. Now right after his 12 month appt I stopped pumping and switched him to WCM at daycare but we continue to nurse at home and we are both really enjoying it. I’m sure that my supply has gone down quite a bit (and I hardly ever nurse him from my right side which had always been my slacker) but he doesn’t seem to mind. Sometimes he nurses for quite a bit and sometimes only for a few seconds but I’m just going with the flow.

All of that to say that I don’t think it has to be all or nothing if you would like to continue nursing. I have stressed a lot over my low supply but it has been so much easier and more enjoyable once I let myself take some pressure off.

[gingy]

piratecat yeah, move to formula if I couldn’t keep up. In the last week, though, he’s dropped his BM intake at school quite a bit, so we might end up falling in step with each other again. He’s also started nursing tons right after school, almost like cluster feeding again. So basically who knows lol.

I appreciate your input. That’s kind of what I’d hoped to do if pumping wasn’t giving us what we needed.

[piratecat]

Jun 22, 2018 18:56:39 GMT -6 gingy said:

piratecat yeah, move to formula if I couldn’t keep up. In the last week, though, he’s dropped his BM intake at school quite a bit, so we might end up falling in step with each other again. He’s also started nursing tons right after school, almost like cluster feeding again. So basically who knows lol.

I appreciate your input. That’s kind of what I’d hoped to do if pumping wasn’t giving us what we needed.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Breastfeeding for 9 months is awesome already!

[curmudgeon]

Hi! I haven’t lurked in months but thought I’d come see what’s going on.

How old is your LO? 8 months 1 week

Are you nursing, pumping, supplementing? How’s it going? nursing and pumping. Other than his new teeth and surprise bites, it’s going well!


4-8 mo
How do nights look at your house? he’s sleeping 12-13 hours straight and has been for awhile. I am counting my blessings that he is a great sleeper. He still hates to be rocked, though. When he’s tired he’s tired and wants to be in bed.

If you’ve returned to work, how is that transition going? so I work from home now and baby is in full time daycare. I hate pumping. I usually forget until I get an achy boob.


GTKY: if you had $10 you had to spend on yourself, what would you do? What about $100?$10? I’d probably go buy lunch. Put it towards some sushi. $100? A new dress since the last 2 years I have WFH and pregnant/nursing so I have no cute outfits that fit.