Jokerette's 2nd BFing journal ("Breastfeeding Bailey" to 18 months)

[RaspberryK]

That's really positive xx

 

[Jokerette]

Another night of Bailey rejecting bedtime feeding so weird. Wednesday rejected nursing at bed, Thursday rejected bottle (until finally Jeremy got her to take it, tonight rejected nursing.

I want her to bulk up on breastmilk before bed so she will sleep longer. She nurses awesome all day and awesome in her middle of the night feedings (around 1am and 4:30am).

Isn't that odd?! I've tried feeding her tired, feeding her rested, nursing in the dark, nursing in the light, nursing with noise, nursing without, nursing stationary, nursing walking... She takes one suck then is pissed and just wants her pacifier to go to bed.

I pumped tonight immediately after getting rejected and got 6 ounces, so it's not a supply issue.

 

[Jokerette]

Well she made it to 6:30pm-1:15am.... So I guess not eating didn't effect her middle of the night feedings. Weird

 

[RaspberryK]

It can be frustrating but some Babies don't eat as often as they say is normal in a breastfed baby so you just have to go with the flow.
My ds went through a phase of nothing for 12 hours over night, huge feed on waking and then nothing til 5/6 hours later where he'd have another huge feed and nap but then feed every 1.5 hours in the afternoon til bedtime. It worried me sick for ages.
Xx

 

[Jokerette]

Bailey is 3 months old and seems to be doing better with her bedtime feeding. I don't know why she was rejecting it, but it lasted about a week, and now shes back to nursing as usual before bed.

She is having a tiny sleep regression, doing a 6-7 hour stretch instead of a 8-9 hour stretch, but I certainly can't complain since thats still a significant stretch of time!

She is always easy to put to sleep, and she prefers to go to bed early. She is usually in her crib by 6:15pm (She is fussy otherwise, and she settles right into bed so I know that she prefers the early bedtime). It work out well though because then I can do her bedtime routine, and still have time to start Kenny's bedtime routine just for him. Then she wakes to nurse around 1:00am and 4:00am, and she sleeps in her crib until about 7:00am when her big brother usually wakes her for the day!

 

[readyORnot]

wow, that's an awesome routine! Glad bedtime feed is back on.

I'm still lucky to get an occasional 3-hour stretch between feeds at night! You guys are doing great.

 

[Jokerette]

I havent check in in so long but we are doing great nursing... its so second nature by this point. She is 7 months old and tends to get a bit distracted while nursing, but if I go into a quiet room she focuses and does better. She nurses 5 times a day including night feedings. Usually once in the early hours around 4:00am, then 8:00am, 11:00am, 2:00pm, 6:00pm-ish. All those times are flexible... but those are the averages.

She is in day care two days per week now and I have been sending frozen breastmilk bottles and she does well with those

 

[Bevziibubble]

Glad things are going so well!

 

[readyORnot]

 

[Guppy051708]

Keep up the great work!

 

[Jokerette]

I feel like I'm experiencing deja vu! Bailey has started rejecting her daytime bottles on the days she is at daycare, and is waking up an extra time at night.... just like Kenny did. It got so bad with Kenny that he totally reverse cycled and didn't do bottles at all at daycare and waited for me then nursed several times all night long!

She hasn't been feeling well lately (back to back double ear infections) so I'm hoping its just that, and not an actual bottle rejection!

When she nurses she's pretty distracted unless we are in a quiet dark room. But shes also very efficient so I know she gets a lot of milk quickly.

 

[Guppy051708]

poor girl
Hope her little ears have recovered

Hopefully this reaction is just temporary.

 

[Jokerette]

We're still battling recurrent ear infections over her. Poor Bailey had her 5th ear infection in 10 weeks... so I am pushing for tubes.

As for nursing, its going well! She's a bit distracted (Kenny loves to dance and distract her!), but overall she still nurses great! I think if it werent for the ear infections shed be sleeping 12 hours straight. Thats what she does when she feels good, but right now shes up 1-2 times per night. I love nursing and I'm so glad I took the year off to be with her and not have to worry about pumping at work!

 

[Jokerette]

18 months - Weaning from Breastfeeding

Well I havent updated this journal in ages, but I thought I' post one final update. Bailey will be 18 months old tomorrow and I think we are officially done breastfeeding. It's been an amazing journey with both of my children and I cherished every snuggle.

Bailey has been asking less and less and was pretty much just nursing morning and night, but on the night I have an evening meeting or class she did fine with a cup of milk. So, I waited for a morning that she did not ask to nurse, and I took that as my cue that maybe I would gently coax her toward weaning. That was yesterday morning. She got up, and wanted to play right away and never asked to nurse. Then last night, I brought in a cup of milk with me when I rocked her to sleep and she gladly took the cup and didnt even ask to nurse!

Now, here's the silly part. As a backup, I had drawn two sleeping cats on my breasts. The idea being that if she asked to nurse I would show her the drawings and say "the kitties are sleeping". Well, she didnt ask last night, but she did ask this morning. Luckily the marker drawings were still visible so I showed her the "kitties" and she got this confuse look on her face, then giggled and ran away! haha Total success and no tears at all!! Talk about gentle weaning!! Lets hope it continues to go so smoothly!