If there’s anything I’ve learned during the first three months of this little guys life, is that nothing I've done has a routine, rhyme or reason. I don’t know if it’s because he’s number five and I’ve become settled in my mom ways or it’s because he’s number five and I don’t have time to worry about every little detail, maybe it’s a combination of both? Whichever the answer is, I’ll say confidently that this routine-less life style has been keeping my nerves at bay and seems to be working well thus far. I do wonder from time to time if it will bite me in the butt but I’ll just have to wait and see.
Our breastfeeding experience so far has been pretty relaxed. I am still rocking that exclusive pumping life during our wake hours, 6a-10p and nursing at the breast while the sun is down. I find he’s a far more effective feeder when he’s half asleep, I can feel his latch is more effective and it feels to me he’s more comfortable with this routine during the middle of the night when compared to trying to feed him at the breast during the day. Just because he’s a little baby dude doesn’t make him any less intelligent than us big people; all of us alike know what we are comfortable with and what to expect when based on consistent routines. He’s definitely taken a liking to nursing during the middle of night and does a great job taking bottles during the day. Speaking of bottles, he maxes out around 5 ounces per feeding, I try to start with 3 ounces and then add if he continues to show that he's hungry. We are still loving these bottles, the slope and speed of the flow have been excellent these alst few months! It’s been a great balance these first 3 months and I hope to stay on this road!
One thing I never thought I’d say is how much I love co sleeping. As I have said in my previous Bump to Pump blog, co sleeping was never in the books for us. While living in Chicago our house was too small to fit even a side sleeper in our tiny bedroom, the first three of our kids started life out in their cribs from day one. I have no regrets with these routines, we didn’t have much of an option at the time and I can’t change the past. I do, however, wonder how much I may have valued and enjoyed co sleeping with these three kids as babies. Our fourth baby, singleton number four slept in a bassinet 100% of the time in our new bedroom, we moved while I was late into my third pregnancy. Again never co slept because it didn't really occur to me as an option.
I don’t expect a first time mom to just jump at the idea of co sleeping, especially when it’s considered (unnecessarily) taboo. May I just throw in here quickly that it’s only considered taboo in Western culture. As a first time mom you’re figuring out your routine, new lifestyle and how to survive while now adding another dependent little body to care for. Throwing co sleeping into the mix right out of the gate might be too much all at once, for some, not all to handle. As much as I think about possibly loving the idea of co sleeping with the 4 previous babies, I’m not sure that I’d be brave enough to try more new mothering techniques. It wasn't until baby number 5, tons of fatigue and lack of sleep did I consider co sleeping.
With baby number five, co sleeping has proven to be a complete asset to my overall sleep quality which directly has had a positive impact on my overall mental health. I may not sleep super well but I certainly sleep better than I would otherwise. Little dude wakes to eat around 2a and again 5a after going down for the night around between 8 and 9pm. Something I’ve been trying to do consistently, which still isn’t quite dialed in yet, is starting our night off in the bassinet and then waking and moving him to our bed to feed and finish the night out co sleeping. For these first three months we went from only sleeping in a bassinet, to co sleeping, to part time co sleeping, back to full time co sleeping and now back to part time. As I said earlier, nothing I do is 100%. I’m not 100% exclusively pumping this time around, nor am I 100% co sleeping and I feel confident in the choices I've been making have only been a benefit to my family and our daily lifestyle. I have once again found a happy balance of starting his night out in the bassinet, allowing me to get more solid sleep for that first half of the night. Once he wakes typically around 2am, sometimes as early as midnight, I will then bring in him into bed with my husband and I to finish out the night in bed. Something that I am taking even more seriously this time around are the diapers I am putting on my baby. My family and I have always tried to do better for our heath including filtering our water with the AquaTru RO system and eliminating fluoride in our toothpaste, so clean diapers are right in line with our toxic free values. We have been using Kudos diapers since baby boy turned about three months old, we found the number ones were just slightly too large but for his early newborn days. At three months and about 13 pounds we are just about out of number ones and awaiting our batch of number twos! I owe a review on these diapers, so stay tuned for that! If you're interested in checking them out use BEMYBREASTFRIEND for 10% off your first order at Kudos!
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As far as naps go, well I wish I had a better response. Currently he is falling asleep in his Rock 'n Play, which has been recalled so I cannot link it. Like myself, his naps have no rhyme or reason either. I call him the cat napper because he just passes out randomly and you never know how long it will last. I would like to get him into a routine of some sort napping in his bassinet in my bedroom as he's now a little older. I won't be doing any type of training for this, just follow his lead and maybe by month number four I'll have more to report and share on!
September 23, 2024, which was two nights earlier than me typing up this blog entry was the first night in a while that I tried going back to the bassinet to start the night. I had such a weird feeling for the first few hours of this particular night before I actually falling asleep. I tossed and turned for what felt like forever, I was so anxious waiting for him to realize he wasn’t next to me. This little dude is seriously my own personal inchworm, he cannot get close enough to me. This alone is my bittersweet moment, I love the feeling of having him so close and how secure he feels sleeping so close to me. On the flip side this is also the reason I don’t get much sleep and find myself falling off my king size bed most nights, but honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing. If I could get him to start the night in the bassinet and allow me more solid sleep in the front half of the night and then come into bed hours later, this would be our happy compromise.
My current pumping sessions look like this
|
7a |
Longest pump session around 30-40 minutes ideally |
|
9a |
Average pump session, around 20-30 minutes if I can sit for that long |
|
Noon/1p |
Average session or sometimes mobile for errands |
|
3:30/4p |
Average session |
|
6:30p |
Average session or sometimes mobile for errands |
|
8:30/9p |
Average session |
As for my milk supply, I have definitely noticed a dip in my oversupply, I am after all 12 weeks postpartum! This dip has been in the making for the last week or so, or at least that I have noticed. I am totally okay with this, I will not work at trying to increase my supply. This reduction in my supply can be associated with my body's hormone shift and regulation with my milk supply, which is expected between 8 to 12 weeks postpartum! While I am currently pumping to feed the little dude while still offering small volumes to my 2 year old and as of last week (middle of September 2024) I have been accepted to donate breast milk to the UC Milk Bank in San Diego. If I can sustain my supply at 5-6 pumps per day, I'll be easily sailing for a long time.
Well, that is all I have! If you have any questions head back to Instagram and drop me a comment on this reel!
