Breastfeeding both of my children had been positive experiences. Sure, I had my fair share of blocked ducts, sore nipples, baby nibbles turned into painful bites, and countless hours of feeling like a human pacifier over the course of 26 months total of breastfeeding. But also countless hours of staring into the tiny face of a baby that I was able to connect & bond with through this experience. I was not a mom who loved breastfeeding (I also didn’t hate it), it didn’t feel super magical to me like some moms talk about, but overall it felt natural, connected & powerful.
Nursing Experience
Reese was much less interested in nursing than Wyatt was. They both latched right away and were good at nursing, but with Reese I often had to keep her awake during feedings at the beginning, and then keep her focused on nursing once she became more aware of the world. As opposed to Wyatt who would get right down to business, eat fast & furiously, and then be done after a full feed. Reese wasn’t gaining as much weight as should have been the first few months and we had to troubleshoot with things like adding bottles after nursing sessions, and upping nursing frequency. Reese also had a dairy & soy intolerance which I have a whole other post about tomorrow. But, overall I had really easy and enjoyable nursing journeys both times.
Everyone’s nursing experience is different, but my one piece of advice for moms-to-be would be to give it a shot if you want to breastfeed because it is work, and go in knowing that the beginning WILL be hard, exhausting & frustrating, and it WILL get easier. After 26 months of nursing two children, I can say with confidence that the first few days are harder than the next few weeks, are harder than the next few months, and by the time I reached a year, nursing was hardly a thought and it was honestly easier to continue than to wean!
Nursing Gear
Linked below is the nursing & pumping gear I used. When looking for clothes that are nursing friendly, shoot for dresses & tops that have buttons in the front or that you can easily layer over a nursing tank and pull up. I literally wore nursing tanks to bed every single night for a year that I nursed.
Weaning
Bottle to Sippy Cup
When Reese turned 1 I started cutting nursing feedings and replacing them with whole milk one at a time for a month. Because we’ve been in quarantine, I haven’t been doing really any bottles with her for the past few months because I’m home with her, and so are my boobs. So I didn’t have to also wean her off of a bottle onto a sippy cup, which I would have done in conjunction with weaning her off the boob. We went straight for a sippy cup and tried a few different ones every day, we used this one, this one, and this one. Reese definitely prefers straws and has been practicing with water for months on the straw cups, and ultimately preferred this one, I’ve found I can get her to drink the most milk from it. Wyatt was a milk monster and would chug it, I have to really try to offer Reese milk multiple times per day both before and after naps, during meals and at bedtime & in the morning to get her at least 16 ounces of whole milk per day. In the month we’ve weaned I’ve noticed she is more and more willing to drink larger amounts of milk at a time, we’re not on to consolidating those times exclusively around meals yet, but we’re working on it!
Going from Breastmilk to Cow’s Milk
Reese wasn’t a huge fan of whole cow’s milk off the bat. A method I used when I weaned Wyatt was to mix cow’s milk with my pumped milk and over time gradually increase the ratio of cow’s milk until it’s all whole milk. That worked well with Wyatt, with Reese she wasn’t even really used to drinking my milk out of anything except my boobs for the past few months because of quarantine. I also didn’t have any pumped milk left and TBH was lazy, so instead I blended pieces of banana in the blended with her milk and she sucked it down…it made it a little sweeter and she was into it. Over two weeks I cut the amount of banana until it was just whole milk.
Cutting Feedings
I cut one feeding at a time and although I weaned for a whole month this time, it doesn’t need to take that long. I held onto the morning feeding because Reese is an early riser and pulling her into bed to nurse bought us a little extra time before we had to get up. I was nursing at 6:30am, 10am, 1 pm, 4pm, and 7pm. I cut the three middle daytime feedings over the first week one at a time. I didn’t have a problem with being super engorged or in pain, I took it slowly. Then I cut the evening feeding before bed, and then finally cut the morning feeding. There’s no right or wrong way to wean, that was just how I did it this round and felt right for us. It’s a physical & emotional change for both mom and baby, it helps to go at your own pace.
Weaning for me is always bittersweet. I love having my body back to myself, being able to wear normal bras and clothes without having to dress for easy access, and just not being on call to whip a boob out 5 times per day. However, nursing did provide a sweet, special bond for me and Reese. A space that connected us the minute she came out, that felt safe and comfortable for both of us for a whole year plus. We went through a lot in that space, at times I was a human pacifier, desperate for some space without a someone sucking on me, but at other times nursing was the link we both needed to slow down & connect, to make me take the time to memorize her tiny face and movements of her mouth. I was the sole food source for a tiny, growing body for months and that’s pretty powerful.
Aaaaand now it’s time to go bra shopping again because boy are these pancakes flat! ( . )( . )
What do you think?