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sleeping, night nursing, pumping, daycare (long)
My son is 15 weeks old (3 months and 2 weeks), and I went back to work
full time when he was 8 weeks old. Except for about 2oz of formula when he was in the NICU (given against my wishes) he's had nothing but breastmilk. His weight gain is good, averaging nearly 10oz/week, and he's grown a lot in length--he's 26 inches long from 20.5 at birth, and is already in 6-9 month clothes. No problems so far with breastfeeding itself. I'm pumping for him for daycare, and am able to keep up with him, but without a lot to spare. I get maybe an ounce or two more than he eats most days. I do 4 pumping sessions a day: one when I wake up at 5:30am (usually 4oz), one at work at about 8:30am (maybe 2oz--I nurse him just before I leave him) before starting work, then at about 1:00pm on my lunch hour (5.5-6oz), then again just before I leave at 5:00pm (3-4oz). I was pumping more often at work, with an extra session at 3:30pm, but then I'd have to make up that time at the end of the day, which would mean my son would have to have more milk at daycare, which meant that I'd have to stay later pumping...and so on. Tail wagging the dog, so I dropped that session and end up with about the same amount anyway. We still nurse pretty often at night--every hour and a half to two hours. We co-sleep and I can usually get back to sleep immediately. He's also become really efficient, and can "empty" a breast in five minutes. So I really don't mind nursing him at night, and it seems like the best strategy to not have to supplement with formula--if he eats a lot at night, maybe he'll be less hungry at daycare. I encourage this frequent nursing at night, though I might be able to cut out a feeding or two without any trauma for him. Whenever we do skip a night feeding I get engorged and uncomfortable. The thing is, I'm realizing that I'm stretched pretty thin. Last week Sprogly had a cold, and I just about fell apart. He's better now, but by the end of the week I was about to die. I was so close to the edge before he had the cold that I'd made some major mistakes just due to ongoing sleep deprivation (one of which I'd posted about in the 3 month roundup thread). The baby's father can't support us, and it would be catastrophic if I were to lose my job. I don't know if I just need encouragement (though I wouldn't turn it down), or what...I so don't want to have to give him formula, but I don't know if I'm making too big a deal out of the exclusive breastmilk thing-- *so* many people seem to be giving me this feedback--and running myself into the ground. I intend to breastfeed him for as long as I can, as long as he wants to, but I'm afraid if I don't keep encouraging the night feedings, I won't be able to keep up with the demand during the day (maybe won't be able to even if I do keep it up), and I'll have to give him formula (and then my supply will gradually diminish, etc.). Am I being fanatical? Should I keep going, or ease up? -- z e l d a b e e @ p a n i x . c o m http://NewsReader.Com/ |
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