Breastfeeding Update

I've had a couple questions about what it is like to breastfeed an older baby, so here's my story as of late.

Breastfeeding has been going fine for me all along, but as Daniel got older, I never really had an over abundance of milk. Sometime in November, I noticed a drop in my milk supply, so I started pumping extra and drinking the Mother's Milk Tea. That seemed to work fairly well for about a month. After Christmas I realized that I just wasn't producing enough. We decided to try to introduce formula. Daniel really hated it at first. We had to mix it with breastmilk for the first few weeks, so we started with 1/4 formula, moved to 1/2 formula, and so on. A week or so after he was taking to the formula, I started tapering off on the pumping. Let me tell you being home with the baby, making him bottles, and still pumping is a lot of work. I was scared that if all the sudden he started getting 100% breastmilk, he would stop liking the formula. I probably shouldn't have worried about that. One interesting thing was that I started producing more just when I had resigned myself that we were going to start tapering off. I suspect that most of this was caused by hormones because my period returned in the midst of all this. I'm still nursing Daniel twice a day once in the morning and once in the evening, and he gets bottles of formula and frozen breastmilk during the day.

He eats tons of solid food now, three big meals each day, and lots of finger foods. I've also been trying to introduce the cup. So far he only likes the beginner sippy cup with the soft nipple (nuk brand).

I'm fine with this whole weaning thing now, but at first it was very stressful. I've worked so hard to keep up with him, and I just wasn't cutting it. I feel like I'm and expert at pumping in handicap stalls and makeshift private locations. I must say that the construction trailer at a wastewater plant was the worst. Talk about a time where it would be nice to be able to levitate things. Thankfully it was not one of my clumsier days.

Yesterday I actually left my pump in my car while I was at work. It was so nice to not have to carry it around. I would say that it was all worth it. It was great to have so much quiet time with Daniel although he was quite the squirmer and would do windmill arms sometimes. Nothing like beating your mother while she feeds you. Also, it really helped me get my body back. I'm finally back to a reasonable weight. I actually weigh less than when I found out I was pregnant! I've been doing WeightWatchers again, and I'm really liking it. I need a little accountability. My body is finally starting to feel like my own again. It's nice.