So, the latest news is that James has weaned himself. He simply just refused the breast, which has caused my milk supply to plummet, and thus he is now a formula-fed baby. I am only a tiny bit disappointed, but honestly, I'm quite content. I now feel a lot more freedom, and we have been out and about a lot more. I am happier, James is happier, and daddy can help with the night feedings - so it's actually pretty great. He seems to like the Similac Advanced formula with Omega 3 & 6 - which I am using because I had a free sample of it, and 3 coupons worth $5 each. The last two cans I bought came with 2 free cans of the premade stuff, so that was a bonus.James is now usually up for the day at about 7:30 or 8:00. He is awake a lot during the day, and is amiably described as a "spirited c hild". He likes activity - but is only entertained for a few minutes by each toy. This is fun, and yet exhausting. He isn't happy to just sit and watch me - he needs to be moving. This makes housework, cooking and baking and all those other things basically take a back-burner right now. He naps for about an hour from 11:30-12:30 and then is up until about 2:00 or 3:00 when he goes down for a 2-3 hour afternoon nap. He is then up until his bedtime, which sort of varies from day-to-day. Most days it ends up being around 8:30. He usually sleeps until about 12:30-1:30am, and then eats. He is then up consistantly every 3 hours to eat after that. Thankfully he usually goes down to sleep again without a fuss, so this schedule isn't TOO bad. We seem to be managing, and it's nice that daddy can take one of the nighttime feeding shifts.
Interesting fact: Since James has been on formula, the eczema seems to be clearing up! I usually try to give him a bit of my stockpile of breastmilk every-other-day as a sort of laxative, and on those days he seems to flare up. It will be interesting to see if he completely clears up after the breastmilk is all gone. He gets a little fruit now too, also to help keep him from getting constipated. He loves pears. He also gets a little rice or oat cereal which he also loves. None of the solids seem to help him sleep any longer though. We also upped his formula intake to 6 ounces, which he doesn't always finish, but it doesn't help him sleep any longer either. I guess he just likes to eat, and have our company in the night!
9 comments :
Glad its going well. Taites on Similac Advanced as well. He does great on it.
Hi! I'm a fellow mom and just found your blog. I had the same trouble with my son- he would get all stopped up on formula. We tried a bunch of different kinds (oh the samples!) but settled on the Walmart Parent's Choice brand. They also have the DHA/ARA stuff but that didn't seem to sit as well with him as the regular stuff with iron. (We would 1/2 and 1/2 between the two.) I've talked to other moms and they also seem to like it. It seems cheap I know, and we want the best for our babies, but it really did make life a WHOLE lot easier! (And it doesn't stink like fish so you can actually stomach making a bottle!)
I hear you on the solids not making a difference in how long they sleep. I've heard with some babies it just doesn't. That being said when we started feeding Palmer bread that seemed to make a difference. Just 1/2 a slice with him dinner and he started sleeping the night - so here's hoping that is something that might work and for you to look forward to once James is a little bit older :)
So glad you're doing better and that the schedule seems more manageable now. You should harbor no guilt for using formula - James is in the driver's seat and knows what he wants and you have been such a phenomenal mom being able to figure him out so quickly (even though somedays it may not seem like it - 4 months out of his whole lifetime are some good odds!)
See Heather the same thing happened with me while i nursed Amber there was skin issues I stopped breastfeeding her and bye bye skin problems!! I'm not surprised at all.
wow! I'm so glad you have found peace and rest in your decision, and I'm so glad James is finding peace in this new phase as well. : )
Many hugs to you!!!!!!!!!
Glad to hear things are going well! Equally glad you found a formula that works! F. fed babies don't go as much in general... its completely common for them to go every 2nd or 3rd day only! So long as its about the consistency of peanut butter... could be the iron content if he is getting plugged. But he sounds like he's doing just fine! And what a bonus that his skin is clearing, hey?
Glad things are going well! Too bad James wasn't interested in breastfeeding longer, BUT I'm glad you're happy with his decision :) They definitely run the show, these little ones. LOL! Interesting on the switch from BF to FF with excema. I would have thought if it was a food-based thing, it would be milk and he's not on soy, right? I'm not familiar with Similac since we used something else that I can't remember. LOL!
I LOVED formula feeding my two kids. It was annoying at times since I had to have the bottle and stuff, but it was nice to go out and if my baby was hungry, just feed and not worry about my boobs. LOL! But that was just me. My very favourite part was Neil feeding the kiddos at night!
As for sleeping more at night. I think he's just not into it yet. My friends 9 month old gets 3 meals a day and still gets up at night.
Anyway, I'll stop blathering! Have a great weekend!
Oh, did you go back on meds for PPD? Maybe you won't be as stressed out now that you can see how much James is eating? Also, watch the nipple size - we always had sifferent sizes for different ages and that might make a difference at some point :)
Heather, thanks for looking after my fish this weekend. After i am done my paper I look forward to coming over for a visit.
So are you pumping your breast milk or just trying to let it dry up now? I am so worried about how my baby will feed seeing as how I couldn't take breast milk and the only formula I could take was the most expensive one out there. I do hope I don't need to fiddle with cereal or formula till september once we are home from all our travels.
Glad you are doing well and having more freedom.
Solids and sleeping longer are a myth - I'm now convinced! I fed Keziah cereal two nights in a row and then decided to skip Sat. night. Wouldn't you know she actually slept BETTER that night? Proves my theory that she's waking out of habit and not hunger. It's particularly frustrating to have 2 kids who don't sleep well right now since there have been many occasions this past week when one will wake up and within a couple of minutes the other has woken up as well! I wish we could put their rooms on separate ends of the house :)
Anyway, I'm glad you're figuring out what works for you and James. I hope that you can be totally at peace with the decision to wean and not feel bad about it. James loves you and you're doing great!
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