My thoughts on nursing
So Jackson is almost 7 weeks old. This means I have spent almost two months sustaining him WITH MY OWN BODY. I know that I also sustained him with my body for nine months (plus 5 days, freeloader!), but that involved me shoveling peanut butter toast and cereal in my face and that was about it. Now I actually have to *do* stuff to keep his not-at-all-little body going.
Let me start by saying that we have had a pretty easy run so far with the whole breastfeeding thing. Once we worked out a few kinks in the beginning, it was smooth sailing - and, on the whole, still is smooth sailing. He doesn’t seem to have a very sensitive stomach (knock on wood) and he’s become extremely proficient at getting down to business and finishing up in 20-30 minutes (as opposed to the 45 minutes he was clocking to start out).
But Holy Lord, none of the information passed along to you in those baby classes or books on breastfeeding can prepare you for how hard and stressful the whole process can be. Because when it comes down to it, it’s you, your boobs, and your baby - that’s it. You’ve got to figure it out. Jackson’s eating has been the only thing that has stressed me out so far. Adding to it, his recent decision to drop his middle-of-the-night feeding while good news for our sleep has me completely paranoid that he’s not going to get enough to eat. And wishing that breasts had some kind of liquid volume gauge on them.
But then I remember that, believe it or not, babies are smart. Crazy smart. And not restricted by wanting to be politely quiet when they are still hungry. In the rational part of my brain I know he’s not going to let himself starve. It’s just that sometimes the crazy lady mom part of my brain is a bit louder.
I can’t say how long I’ll keep up with nursing. Honestly, the whole idea of continuing this once teeth come in makes me cringe a little bit. And really, while I love what nursing *does* for Jackson (and for me), I can’t say that I always love the act of nursing. But we’ll stick with it for now. These fat rolls seem to indicate that we’re doing just fine…
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You gotta do what is best for Jackson…and for YOU. But I will say that nursing through teething and after teeth are present is NOT bad at all. In fact, there really isn’t much difference from before the teeth. There is the random occasion when she chomps, but it hardly ever happens. I’m mostly aware of how sharp those teeth are when she chomps on my fingers!
You’re doing a great job!
Oh my goodness gracious. Those rolls just make me want to squeeze him and cuddle him. Baby rolls are the best. Why can’t they be that cute on grown-ups?
My 2 cents… not that you asked!
I didn’t actually ENJOY nursing Aiden until he was a little older… those early weeks were exhausting!
As for nursing once he has teeth. I worried about that too, but I have never had any trouble with biting, and Aiden’s 19 months old and still nursing before bedtime. I thought teeth = trouble, but that hasn’t been the case for us!
Just take it a day at a time, and enjoy him! He’s precious!!
oh he is so big! i can’t wait to see him again.
I was totally unprepared for the commitment that is breastfeeding. Every month I would set a new goal for myself (I’ll breastfeed to 8 week, to 3 months, to 6 months.) I ended up sticking with it for just under a full year. It’s a bit commitment and one I wasn’t always thrilled to make but I’m glad it worked for us. Because, it just worked!
If you never breastfed another day you would have done a great job. So just stick with it as long as it works for you!
We were never able to conquer breastfeeding, so I have been pumping every 2-3 hours as if she was feeding from me. At least this way she is still getting the breastmilk. However, it is just as tiring. I am beginning to wonder how long I will continue to pump. But, I have been setting goals for myself as well…make it to 2 months, 3 months, etc.
Just remember that any breastmilk he gets is a plus! And that you have done a fabulous job of providing for him.
My little guy is 9 wks today, and I can relate so much to your post! Nothing “stresses” me more than feeding, just knowing that every few hours we have to do it again. It is a bigger commitment than what I had realized. He hasn’t cut out his nighttime feeding yet, though — something to look forward to!
We struggled at first, but both of our doctors have commented on his weight gain — he went from 6 lbs 10 oz at birth to 12-14 at his check up today! I’m unsure of the whole teeth issue as well, and don’t know how long I’ll keep it up, but like the other posters said, whatever works for us is best! Good luck!