The past couple of weeks have been pretty rough. It seemed as though there was no end to the constant crying, fussiness, spitting up, and unhappiness with my little boy. He wasn't nursing well and would rarely sleep. I thought about calling the doctor but instead I just kept telling myself "this will end, this will end!" and my friends reassured me that it's just a phase and it will pass. Well, I sure hope it has passed because yesterday was our best day since he's been born! Let me tell you about my 2 new lifesavers!
My Medela Pump-In Style Breast Pump...
...and these AMAZING Dr. Brown's bottles!
Since breastfeeding wasn't going well, hubby and I decided to try a bottle. A gal at church gave me the Dr. Brown's Natural Flow bottle and let me tell you, my son is a completely different baby when we feed him with this bottle! This particular bottle vents out the air so that there are no air bubbles in the milk, ultimately preventing gas, excessive spitting up, and colic. What a difference!! My little boy can now eat his fill and sleep when he needs to without having gas problems or spitting up all over himself all day and night. He's even smiling now which makes mama and papa very happy! This last weekend we decided to do a trial run with me pumping and bottle feeding him all day. It worked great! Then I tried to breastfeed him and even though he ate well he was a fussy mess again, so back to the bottle it was. I really want to try and breastfeed him as much as possible since he will be bottle fed all day at daycare, so this week I am really trying to see what I need to do to fix whatever this "problem" is that is making my son so fussy after he nurses. I went back to using the boppy pillow to position him well and I'm really working to make sure he latches on well. I also thought that maybe noise and light were distracting him from eating or latching on well so I have only been nursing him in his bedroom where the lights are dimmed and it is quiet. So far so good! Next week I return to work and will have to see how it goes only nursing him in the evenings. The nice thing about bottle feeding him during the day is that he has less tendency to cluster feed at night since he eats so well, which makes our evenings much more enjoyable. Even though I'm going to keep trying to breastfeed, it's nice to know that when he doesn't nurse well that I can rely on my pump and good ol' Dr. Brown to help us out.
My Medela Pump-In Style Breast Pump...
...and these AMAZING Dr. Brown's bottles!Since breastfeeding wasn't going well, hubby and I decided to try a bottle. A gal at church gave me the Dr. Brown's Natural Flow bottle and let me tell you, my son is a completely different baby when we feed him with this bottle! This particular bottle vents out the air so that there are no air bubbles in the milk, ultimately preventing gas, excessive spitting up, and colic. What a difference!! My little boy can now eat his fill and sleep when he needs to without having gas problems or spitting up all over himself all day and night. He's even smiling now which makes mama and papa very happy! This last weekend we decided to do a trial run with me pumping and bottle feeding him all day. It worked great! Then I tried to breastfeed him and even though he ate well he was a fussy mess again, so back to the bottle it was. I really want to try and breastfeed him as much as possible since he will be bottle fed all day at daycare, so this week I am really trying to see what I need to do to fix whatever this "problem" is that is making my son so fussy after he nurses. I went back to using the boppy pillow to position him well and I'm really working to make sure he latches on well. I also thought that maybe noise and light were distracting him from eating or latching on well so I have only been nursing him in his bedroom where the lights are dimmed and it is quiet. So far so good! Next week I return to work and will have to see how it goes only nursing him in the evenings. The nice thing about bottle feeding him during the day is that he has less tendency to cluster feed at night since he eats so well, which makes our evenings much more enjoyable. Even though I'm going to keep trying to breastfeed, it's nice to know that when he doesn't nurse well that I can rely on my pump and good ol' Dr. Brown to help us out.
I am so glad that you figured out the problem and have a happy baby:-) Good luck returning to work next week. If you need to talk let me know! I will be praying for an easy transition!
ReplyDeletei was going to ask you how things were going. i can't remember exactly how old josiah is, but with both my kids (and other moms have agreed that) weeks 2-6 were REALLY REALLY HARD. definitely the hardest by far. if you can make it through until 6 weeks, stuff will go much better after that. then, 12 weeks it goes even better and 6 months it's pretty much a piece of cake. "6 weeks - 3 months - 6 months" was my mantra the whole time with penelope!
ReplyDeletehow are you feeling about gearing up to go back to work? will you be able to pump through the day?
Thankfully Josiah will be 6 weeks this coming Saturday and I really hope next week goes well when I head back to work, Josiah isn't able to come to daycare with me until January so my mom and sister will be watching him next week. I heard that they go through another growth spurt at 6 weeks so I'm hoping he does OK while I'm gone. I'll be able to pump at work every few hours which will be really nice (I can't imagine going that long without pumping!). I am really glad that Josiah is only getting up a couple times a night, usually, but he also won't go to bed until midnight. I look forward to seeing how things get better in the coming weeks :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Paige, once you get past 6 weeks things really start to smooth out. Also, if you feel like your supply suffers from pumping (mine did but that was partially because of work stress and lack of sleep) take fenugreek and blessed thistle. And make sure to eat oatmeal every day. I don't know why all those things help but they do!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat in the world is fenugreek and blessed thistle? Never heard of them but want to make sure I do in case I need them :)
ReplyDeleteThey are herbal supplements that increase milk production. They are breastfeeding safe of course and most midwives recommend them if you are not producing enough and are really helpful when pumping since a pump doesn't always drain you as much as a feeding session might. I got mine at Hy-Vee but I think Walmart has some as well.
ReplyDeleteOk great, thanks!
ReplyDelete