So last week Olivia got her first tooth and she also went on a partial nursing strike. She just would not nurse and let me tell you who knew an eight month old baby could hurt my feelings so much. I felt regected and replacable by a bottle of formula. Livvy has always been a good nurser and this was just so weird and hurtful and most of all annoying. I would get frustrated with her fidgety little body and when I tried to make her do it anyway she would bite me with that new little tooth, like she thought it was some sort of game. I was not into this new game at all.
So anyways she nursed less and less and now I feel like a barren wasteland. I mean you never really know what is happening with the milk supply because you can't see how much is coming out but it just feels like something is off. I should have tried to pump more but that is like a lost art...you have to get it on just right or it doesn't work that well. Urghhh I don't know. But I feel very uneasy about it all. I am not ready to have her be fully bottle fed. It just makes me so sad that I am unwittingly might be done because my body just has adjusted to her not nursing and not needing milk.
And I also feel very confused about how often she should be nursing or having a bottle now that she is eating three solid food meals a day. I mean I don't want to stuff the kid...but I don't want her to get dehydrated either. I had a breastfeeding book that I know outlined all this but of course I can't find it.
So I don't know what I am going to do...I feel so sad about it all. Any suggestions fellow moms. Should I keep at it? Is there some sort of pill I can take to boost the milk up? Some way to get Livvy's attention on my nipples instead of the bottles or pacifiers? How often should she have fluids now? HELP!!!!
Go to Babycenter.com, they have a guideline thing for how much/often babies should have fluid at the different ages (it's what I used for Jane). I seem to recall giving her 4 6-ounce bottles at that age and my peditrician said it was more than enough (code: a little much), but she was also on the upper part of the weight scale. I have no tips on the nursing. Sorry. It's really hard when the baby is done nursing. Maybe Olivia isn't done yet, but I know when Jane was, I forced her to go another month. During that month, more for me than her, I cut nursings to morning and night. That helped ween us (aka me) off the nursing. Not that that's what you should do. Keep going if you can. I admire that you've gone this long.
ReplyDeleteThat is hard, Em. I would just keep trying to nurse, but if it just gets too frustrating, don't bother. She made it past 6 months, which is great! She can probably just have a bottle as often as she used to nurse. I'm not certain though. Rachel had some great ideas. Your body will keep producing milk as long as it's demanded. You can pump bottles until she has a break in teething. Kind of a pain, but it will work. Good luck!
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