Photo Credit: Robin DeNoma Photography www.robindenoma.com
Last week, I was really sick and ended up on an antibiotic. While I was sick, I didn’t allow my son to kiss me at all because I didn’t want him to catch what I had. After almost a whole week with no kisses, he told me “I am going to put 100 kisses all over your face” and he did – as soon as my antibiotic was finished.
What are some of the little things that your kids have done recently to put a smile on your face? Please leave a comment and share your special moments!
Please help! I suspect my son is preferring the flow of a bottle over the breast. I’d really like some advice. He goes to day care 3-5 days a week so bottles are unavoidable. On the weekends, I’d prefer to nurse him and anything extra I pump goes to the stockpile in the freezer. However, other than the early morning feeding, he fusses instead of nurses. I can swaddle him and calm him down and usually he will nurse, at least for a few minutes, but sometimes after a few sucks he just cries. It may also be that he is impatient for the milk let down. I’ll try anything moms suggest. Getting him to nurse is a constant battle but I don’t want to give up.
Hi Kate,
I’m so sorry you are going through this – but don’t worry – there is help! First thing I will recommend is that you talk with a local lactation consultant – because they can see you and your son and make better recommendations than I can. In the meantime, here are some things that will help you:
1. Make sure your daycare is using the slowest flow nipple possible. They may not like this – because his feedings will take longer – but you need to insist on it. You also need to teach them about “paced bottlefeeding” – that is what my next blog post is going to be about – but since I haven’t written it yet, I will refer you to Kellymom.com for some great info: http://kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html
2. Feed him before he gets really hungry – that way he won’t be so desperate to eat and will be more likely to take your breast
3. Determine if it is the feel of the bottle or the flow of the bottle that he likes. If it is the feel, then a nipple shield may help with the transition – if it is the flow – you can do the above – but also, pump for 2 minutes or so (or hand-express) just before you nurse so that he doesn’t have to wait for your let down. This should be a short-term intervention just until you get him used to nursing again.
4. Make sure you keep up your supply – whenever you are giving him bottles on the weekend, make sure you are pumping so that your supply doesn’t dip. If you catch him at the earliest signs of hunger and feed him when he is calm and not super-hungry – you should have better luck getting him to latch on too.
Let me know how it works out. I will try to get the paced bottlefeeding article soon – so that you can read that too. It will be important for you to train your daycare as they likely do not know about it.
Judy