I don't know how, but somewhere between Thanksgiving and pumping this blog has gotten over 1,000 readers! Yay!
In other news: Bottles suck. I am totally seeing why some of the La Leche League people are seen as overzealous about nursing. I could easily be a breastfeeding fanatic in an in your face way. I will try not to be obnoxious though.
Here's the thing: Breastfeeding is best--totally proven and people don't argue that it isn't. However, most people have to go back to work after only 6 weeks of nursing. Do you know how hard that is? I'm starting to understand. There's no way I'd be prepared to go back to work and continue breastfeeding if I had to be back next week. I have been pumping for weeks and haven't managed to save enough up for that. Society isn't set up for breastfeeding...which is apparently not a compound word like I keep typing. In Poland they get 8 months maternity leave, then extra time off during the day to breast feed when they do return to work. That would be great!!
Also, Little C is not a fan of bottles. We are working on it--maybe we just need different nipples or something, but it is a pain to give this girl a bottle. Any bottle suggestions?? Brian is feeding her, so I feel bad for him having to deal with all of the stress. I am going explore nipples tomorrow to find something different. We currently have Breastflow bottles, slow flow nipples. Meh.
In more exciting news: My best friend just had her baby!!! A little boy!! So excited for her and her husband!
My heart aches reading this post! I remember how tough it was to get my babies to drink from a bottle. We gave up and just waited 4 years to go on a date. I can't imagine going back to work at 6 weeks...let alone trying to pump! You are a STRONG woman! I will say, although they got great reviews, I received a free "Breastflow" bottle in the mail as a sample and tucked it in my cabinet "just in case." Katie found it one day and we put some juice in it. Neither she or Ben could get anything to come out of it. They had to suck SOOOO hard. I've heard good things about using those silicone? nipples...the ones that are the flesh-colored ones that are softer than the clear plastic. DOes she take a "Soothie" brand pacifier? If so, they make a nipple just like it. There's also the Adiri bottles and Tommee Tippee bottles that are shaped like a breast. Good luck...Poland rocks.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you're having to deal with this! If you want to chat, I'd be happy to. I've been pumping for my 2 surviving triplets for 20 months now (they were micro-preemies) and Claire sent me this link to your blog. My little ones are just waking from a nap, but feel free to vent or ask questions - I'll help in any way I can!
ReplyDeleteHeather
leblanctriplets.blogspot.com
apologies - my direct email address is heatherbowe@gmail.com - I use Dr. Brown's bottles for the colic easing properties - but I really liked the Adiri nursers as the flow seemed a bit closer to that of breastfeeding. There are other brands similar to Adiri now - all are rather expensive - but in transition, purchasing 1 or 2 to see if they work might be worth the expense. Pumping is neither easy, nor convenient - so for me, the decision was just made very early on that (for our situation) I would get those babies the milk no. matter. what. They also took the Medela bottles quite well - the nipples were long, but soft. A stage one - or slower flowed nipple with be closest to the flow and require the jaw and sucking effort most similar to that of breastfeeding. Again, I don't want to be pushy - and wish you very much luck!!! But I'd be happy to help if I can!
ReplyDeleteHeather
leblanctriplets.blogspot.com
Breastflow is definitely out.
ReplyDeleteThank y'all so much for your super kind and encouraging words!! I have saved your email address Heather--and as soon as I have a good chunk of time I will write to you!
Luckily we found a nipple yesterday that seems to have worked really well for her. At least for last night it did. We're going to try it again tonight and see if it was a fluke or if we've struck gold! Then we'll stock up on this thing! It's the Playtex medium flow orthodonic latex nipple--it's a shorter nipple than any other bottle out there that I've seen, so it seems to make sense to me. Plus we used the drop in baggie for the milk, which is nice because you can push all of the air out...however, if we have to keep buying new bags FORGET IT! We'll find a regular bottle that the nipple can fit onto.
Thanks again ladies--you guys really are helping me out so much and are helping me stay on track!
ARGH! I just typed this big long response and the computer deleted it before posting. I HATE THAT!
ReplyDeleteBut in a nutshell, I think she'll get better and better with the bottle... there's got to be a learning curve for sucking a different way to get milk. But I hope that keeps working for you--we always like the Playtex drop-ins system.
As for work and breastfeeding, it really does suck. Society is NOT set up to support breastfeeding women in the workplace, and I've seen several moms give up because there was no way for them to keep leaving work to feed or no space / time provided to them to pump during working hours. It's a real shame.
At least with teaching, you will have an off hour to pump somewhere during the course of the day--and you might get really good at grading with one hand while pumping with the other! I definitely found lots of ways to still get some work done, because I definitely didn't want to stay late afterschool if I could help it!
And I'm sure you'll be able to pump much more when you're not pulling double-duty and feeding every couple of hours WHILE trying to pump!
Hey sounds like you found something that worked. I was going to suggest trying the medium flow on the Breastflow bottles instead of the slow flow sometimes the flow is the culprit. I think at some point I switched to Avent nipples which he really liked but at that point we were only doing pumped milk in a bottle and no breast anymore with all my problems. After a certain point, he did not want to switch back to my breast..I guess it was too much work to go back...it was a sad day. Every baby is different and selective about their nipples and pacifiers. Good Luck!! Mari
ReplyDelete