Good eating day

According to my last post I was going to be tackling nighttime nursings. Hmmm. Nothing new to report there. I need to form a plan, I suppose. Last night she fed about as frequently as she normally does (every 2 hours), but she didn't wake up as much in apparant discomfort. It was just more whiney, like, where is the boob, sort of fussiness. So that's good.

I'm not sure what will happen tonight because she's already asleep in the carseat (nice long drive will do that) but we haven't given her her Zantac yet. Will be interesting to see if she's more fussy tonight.

But, she did eat lots of food today. My husband got up with her this morning and fed her some carrots mixed with rice cereal. Then he brought her back to bed to me to nurse because she was still fussy. But I thouht he said that she wouldn't eat. So, when she woke up (she fell asleep nursing) I fed her more carrots and cereal. Then at dinner she ate avocado smooshed up with cereal and gulped the whole thing down. This is only the second time she's finished what we prepared for her. (And I have no idea how much that was. I'll have to start measuring.) Then we gave her some Earth's Best 2 carrots not mixed with anything. I think she likes them the best on their own, but I want to make sure she's getting iron from the cereal.

Then she had some healthy swigs of formula. Tomorrow I think I'll work more on getting her to drink more formula. Maybe I'll even try a bottle again. She doesn't last too long on the sippy cup before she pushes it away. Not sure why. And holding the cup up to her mouth is so messy and I have no idea how much she really gets becuase so much runs down her chin.

As for the nightime plan, I'll see how it goes tonight and come up with a plan tomorrow.

Naps and carrots

Non-nursing bed naps are continuing to happen, which is great. Generally we get about one in per day. The exciting news is that my husband got her down for a nap this weekend in the futon. (She's fallen asleep for him in the bjorn, car seat, and swing, but never just putting her to bed. That's historically been because he doesn't have the magic nursing power. And that's, of course, what we're trying to change.) The even better news is that he really didn't have to do all that much - she basically put herself to sleep, which is awesome.

On the food front, we introduced carrots yesterday and she appears to love them. However, I have to keep a watch on her becuase last night she seemed to be having more reflux issues. Perhaps it's the carrots, or perhaps we just fed her too late.

We also got some Earth's Best rice cereal (instead of the multi-grain) and she seems to like that as well. The texture is nicer than the multi-grain, I think. (nicer= smoother) I've fed her some with water, formula and recently with the carrots mixed in. She digs it.

So, I guess we need to start tackling the nighttime nursings. They continue to happen every 2 hours at least (I think partially becuase of the reflux) and I suppose the first step is to get them to happen less frequently before we cut them out all together. Perhaps we'll try putting her to bed in her own room tonight and see how long she sleeps before waking. I don't really think it's going to work all that well, but we have to start somewhere.

Botox mouth

I had the unfortunate pleasure of watching Christmas with the Kranks with my in-laws this past holiday season. It was clearly a kid movie; however, there was an amusing scene where Mr Krank (Tim Allen) is trying to eat lunch but he has just been for a Botox treatment. All the food and wine just pours out of his mouth. It was kinda funny.That's what Baby J looked like yesterday when I was giving her some formula.

At some point in the evening I realized that I hand't tried the sippy cup all day. So, I prepared 2 oz of formula in her sippy cup. I sat her down on the sofa, face forward, and she began to suck on the sippy spout. She was sucking a little and chewing a lot, so I decided to remove the plastic insert that slows the flow of the milk. So the formula started flowing pretty nicely into her mouth and she looked pleased. A few seconds later, however, and it just poured out of her mouth. I tilted the cup way up to slow the flow more and she got less formula. I thought it was going pretty well, but apparantly she had just been saving up the formula in the back of her mouth, becuase it in a few seconds it came flowing out again. The funny thing is that she didn't mind all the formula pouring down her chest, and she really wanted to keep at the cup. So we just kept on till the cup was almost done. She was happy and totally soaked.

I don't know if I should be concerned about this or not. Is she still just learning, or is there something physically wrong with her tongue/mouth situation where she is not able to take food and swallow? Surely the latter is not the case as she swallows breastmilk just fine. Guess I'll decide not to be concerned for now and just keep trying.

Nap report: One nap on futon, not nursed to sleep!

No food for baby

Yesterday Baby J would have nothing to do with any of her solid food. We continue to try giving her either rice or multi-grain cereal and strained pears everyday. She has *eaten* all of these foods in the past, but uniformly pushed them out of her mouth yesterday. I'm trying not to make a big deal of it. In the Super Baby Foods book I have it mentions not to get frustrated or upset if your baby refuses food - they can pick up on those signals. So, I'm trying.

She did, however, drink lots of milk at each nursing session. We didn't nurse more frequently than normal, but she spent more time on each boob. Traditionally she pulls off long before my milk supply is gone; yesterday was very different. Maybe she's going through a growth spurt, but is still not ready to eat solid food. I'll keep trying.

No formula yesterday. Naps were in the baby bjorn, and generally nursed to sleep.

Formula out and about

Yesterday, after Baby J woke up from the unexpectedly long nap in the bouncer, we went out to run some errands. When she got hungry we went to a nice coffee house that has yummy bubble tea, as well as a private little area, ideal for nursing. But, instead of nursing I decided to try some formula.

I had brought along her sippy cup and some formula in a baggie. I got some warm water from the barista and mixed up her formula. Then I sat Baby J down in my lap, facing out and helped her get the sippy cup to her mouth. And, to my surprise she really liked it at first. She got a few sips of formula and then enjoyed teething on the spout for a few more minutes.

Anyway, I was very happy with that discovery. Facing outwards seems to help, and I felt like being out in a new environment, instead of home, might have helped. So I'm going to bring her cup with us in my diaper bags on our outings and offer it to her first.

Oh, I did end up nursing her after her few sips of formula, but it's a start.

First steps

In order to begin the weaning process I realized that some steps would need to be taken that may not necessarily seem linked to weaning. Specifcally, getting Baby J to sleep without nursing.

The postpartum doula that I spoke with suggested that we start working on this with Baby J's first naps of the day, and then work our way up to nightime sleeping. So, for the past few days I've been trying to get Baby J down for her 10:00-ish am nap without nursing her to sleep. (We don't have a strict schedule, she just tends to get sleepy around 10:00.)

The first day it was pretty hard, but not all that bad. I fed Baby J in the living room sitting up on the sofa, and then we went into the guest room (where she likes to sleep) and I laid her on the bed. I put her giraffe blankie on her tummy and covered her legs in a warmer full size blanket. Then I told her that it was ok for her to sleep now and that she was safe. She smiled and played, and I think she assumed that I would now be curling up in bed with her to nurse some more.

Since it was the first time, I didn't just want to leave the room right away (and it wouldn't have worked anyway) so I lay down in bed with her. We played a new little game with the blanket (I held it up with my feet and made a little tent.) We discovered that she really likes the tassels on the end of the blanket to tickle her face. So I came up with a game that after I rub the tassels on her face three times she would get really sleepy. That didn't really work, but it did make her eyes kind of close each time.

So after a few minutes of that she curled up to me and wanted to nurse. I figured this would happen as this is what she's used to. But instead of lifting my shirt up, I just nuzzled my cheek to her cheek and rubbed her belly, bottom and back. She liked it at first and then start getting inpatient for the boob. She flailed around from side to side, as if looking for the boob on her other side, and started to fuss. But I kept putting my face close to hers and patted her body. Oh, I was also singing her favorite song, Ahrirang - a Korean folk song, and that really calmed her down.

She got really fussy and fully awake at some point so I decided to feed her again, but instead of feeding her lying down, I picked her up and fed her sitting up on the side of the bed. She fed for a few minutes and then pulled off, fully awake. Satisfied that she was not starving I put her back down in bed again and started singing to her and patting her again.

It was sad because she would get so close to sleep, and then realize she wasn't feeding and wake herself up again in a cry. At some point I moved to the other side of her to see if that was better. It wasn't really. After about 15 minutes of tossing around, with my cheek on hers, singing in her ear and patting her body, she finally went to sleep. Yay! It felt so good to have made this first step!!

The next day it took a little less time. I sang a different song, just to mix things up, and all in all spent less time patting her down. The next day something happened (I can't remember what - doctor's appt maybe?) and we didn't end up doing it. The following day I did it for all 3 of her naps!

Also, we finally got her her own futon bed in the nursery so she has a safer (in that there is less risk of her falling off and hurting herself) place to sleep. It's a 5" futon directly on the floor (we have to get a slat foundation, though to prevent mold). The day that she went down for all 3 of her naps was the first day on this bed, although I think each of her naps was shorter.

We had some house guests over the weekend, and she was not going down quite as easily so I ended up nursing her to sleep many times so that things would go a little smoother. But I'm back on target today. Actually, this morning I fed Baby J a little (very little) Earth's Best organic multi grain cereal mixed with Horizon organic cow's millk formula, followed by a nursing and decided to put her in the bouncer seat while I got some coffee and grabbed the newspaper. I turned on the vibration and back massager option, hooked up her toys, and watched her play for a little bit. She seemed happy so I left her there while I read the paper. About 15 minutes later she was asleep! This doesn't normally happen in the bouncer (actually, she's practically outgrown it and hasn't been in the bouncer in many months) but I kind of think she's learning how to put herself to sleep a little better. Or it could just be the vibrations. Either way, she fell asleep without nursing, and in a way that didn't require me to be involved. I'm thinking this would be a good way for my husband to get her to sleep in the future. We'll see how the rest of the day goes!

The way it is

Baby J is a wonderful baby girl. She was born in July 2005 (which makes her currently 7 months old). Her dad and I have raised her more or less according to the Attachment Parenting style of parenting and we are very happy about that.

However, some things didn't go according to plan, namely, Baby J will not take a bottle. This means that I, as the breastfeeding momma, can't leave her for more than 1 or 2 hours at a time (and 2 is pushing it.) I won't go into all the varieties of bottles, nipples, positions, and people used to feed her - suffice it to say she won't take a bottle.

I think that if Baby J could take a bottle, I would not be as eager to wean her. But, as it stands, she doesn't, and I need a little break. So, I've decided to start down the road of weaning.

Originally, back when I didn't know a thing about being a mom, I decided that I would stop breastfeeding at 6 months. After Baby J was born, that seemed like a loooong way away. By day 6 I thought that 6 weeks would be damn near impossible. But, each day got easier. By 4 months I loved breastfeeding. By 5 months I started to worry about how in the heck I was ever going to wean her. She loved to breastfeed, and it was a miracle cure for all her aches, worries and cries. I realized that cutting her off would require lots of maneuvering and love. At 6 months I called in a professional doula to offer some advice. (her advice to follow)

Baby J not only frequently nurses to sleep for naps, she also beds with us. This means that she has all night access to her food. (note: If I had it to do over, I don't think I would do anything differently as far as sleeping or feeding her. I love to sleep and feed her in bed; it's convenient and really helps us feel attached. )

So, to sum up, Baby J has been exclusively breastfeed for 7 months, frequently nurses to sleep for naps (when she doesn't fall asleep in her baby bjorn or car seat) and nurses many times during the night in bed with us. And now, I need a break.

That's the way it is.

The way it will be: Baby J will be completely weaned and exclusively on formula and solid food.

That's what I hope, anyway. I have no specific date in mind as a goal, but I hope it will be before her 1st birthday. (I guess that's a specific date.) Obviously there will be no harsh methods used to wean. Her dad and I are all about having a loving, thoughtful connection to Baby J. It would not be fair to her to raise her with near constant access to the breast and then abruptly take it away.

My attempt here is to chronicle my experiences with weaning so that I will always remember how to do it, since I will be having more children. I know, I know, each baby is different. Yes, that's true, I'm sure. But right now this just seems like such an impossible feat (weaning, that is) that I really want to remember exactly how we did it.