Breastfeeding Problems

[northstar]

Hang in there Limewave - I'm nursing my 10 m.o. daughter exclusively - it is so overwhelming in those early months!

Kellymom pretty much saved my sanity. DD nursed pretty much around the clock. No 2 hours or 3 hours between feedings for her - it was more like 45 minutes, tops. And when we let them nurse, it's so cool how our bodies respond by kicking up production.

Keep it up - you're doing the right thing. It's so much more work on the front end - sooner or later it becomes so easy. (At least that's our story here!)

And mallotpois, I'm relieved to hear your child could take or leave solids until into her second year - DD just isn't really interested and we've tried spoon feeding and finger foods. She's a nice 21 lbs right now, so she's definitely thriving though.

[malkin]

Hang in there limewave!

Let'im suck all he wants,needs, (or all you can stand).

I nursed my baby on demand, and for a while I used to tell nosy disapproving people that she was feeding on a schedule...of course it was an hourly schedule, where every feeding lasted an hour, but that's a schedule, isn't it?

She grew up fine, by the way.

Baby your baby.
My great gramma was fond of saying, "Children are the guests of the human race and should be treated as such."

[malkin]

You too, northstar!

Nurse on!

[Irulan]

I'll ditto the la leche league. Breastfeeding help is what they do. It's all they do.

http://www.llli.org/

Wow, great site. I haven't nursed a kid in 18 years, but the site looks like a wealth of information.

[Tuckervill]

My great gramma was fond of saying, "Children are the guests of the human race and should be treated as such."

Awww, that's so lovely!!!

Karen

[ilima]

Keep it up - you're doing the right thing.

Please stop perpetuating this garbage. There is nothing right or wrong about breast vs. bottle. There is only what works.

[tulip]

Please stop perpetuating this garbage. There is nothing right or wrong about breast vs. bottle. There is only what works.

+100!! My former SIL insisted on breast feeding, even though it wasn't working--for months. It wasn't until the baby was rushed to the emergency room with liver failure that she understood that getting nourishment was the most important thing, and that baby was starving. Once on formula, the baby thrived.

Breast feeding is great if it works, and I agree that it should be the first choice, but formula shouldn't be knocked. Sometimes it's the only thing that works, and there is no shame in that. And sometimes there is no choice. My brother was adopted, and so formula was the only way to go.

[ilima]

+100!! My former SIL insisted on breast feeding, even though it wasn't working--for months. It wasn't until the baby was rushed to the emergency room with liver failure that she understood that getting nourishment was the most important thing, and that baby was starving. Once on formula, the baby thrived.

Breast feeding is great if it works, and I agree that it should be the first choice, but formula shouldn't be knocked. Sometimes it's the only thing that works, and there is no shame in that. And sometimes there is no choice. My brother was adopted, and so formula was the only way to go.

I was allergic to my mom's breastmilk. I never got as sick as liver failure -just kept losing weight long after I should have started gaining - but it did take some time to figure out.

This breast-only and you're-a-horrible-unfit-mother-if-you-don't mentality seem to be symptomatic of highly educated women. I've seen it and attachment parenting take hold of some of my friends and find it terrifying.

[Irulan]

This breast-only and you're-a-horrible-unfit-mother-if-you-don't mentality seem to be symptomatic of highly educated women. I've seen it and attachment parenting take hold of some of my friends and find it terrifying.

You get my agreement there, for sure ( don't get me going on attachment parenting....) However, I do think there is a real range between just giving up, giving it a reasonable try, and the at all costs approach.

[Tuckervill]

The scientific evidence for the benefits of breastfeeding is tenuous, at best.

Yeah, only thousands of years of human development.

Karen

[Biciclista]

no, millions of years! lol

[ilima]

Yeah, only thousands of years of human development.

Karen

Uh, yeah, and I wonder how many children born failed to reach their first birthday, on average, over the course of human existence. I'm wager quite a lot.

Evolution is very, very messy. The fact that humans exist is not indicative that maternal milk is significantly better for early childhood development than formula.

That's like saying we evolved ears to hold our glasses a la Dr. Pangloss.