Nursing Mama's September Chat

[3sweetsurprises]

I thought would start another chat thread for September. I still don't have much pain while she is nursing but the twiddling is driving me mad. I randomly had a jump in supply a few days ago but it seems to be going back down now. It was really weird. How is everyone else doing?

[Meekola]

I only have pain when DS is latching on- and it seems to last for 10 seconds or so. I hear you about the twiddling! We've been working on "gentle touches" where my son is allowed to place a flat hand on my nipple instead of twiddling it.

It seems my son is nursing more often now that I'm pg. We were down to 2x a day and it seems that he nursing through the night now. Because of the pain this means I wake up and have a tough time falling back asleep

I wonder if my supply is dropping already and he's trying to bring it back?!

Grace

[Peony]

Definite pain here. DD2 has her first cold of the season already, (this child catches every virus known to man) so she is nursing constantly.

[russianthistle]

I don't know how anybody can withstand any sort of twiddling! It drives me bonkers! not that I don't deal with it on a daily basis. I am getting to the point where nursing is starting to feel a little icky. There is no pain, yet, thankfully.

Why does it have to be this way? I don't want to wean, yet...that, essentially means that I am going to have flow with the weirdo irritation that comes with nursing in early pregnancy. Argh.:

[*Lindsey*]

No pain yet. I'm praying it stays away. My girls are teething and they either have a cold on top of it or just a runny nose from the teeth. Anyway, it's miserable!

[riversong]

Yeah, twiddling drives me crazy, too. I have some pain in my nipples when ds latches on, but it's nothing I can't stand. I don't think my milk supply has diminished-at least not noticeably.

Nightweaning was going well again and then we spent the night at SIL's house. I had to nurse him during the night so he wouldn't wake 7 people. Now he's waking to nurse at night here, too. He has a runny nose, so I've nursed him, but once he's better, we're getting back to business. I am so tired I feel like I could fall asleep at the wheel.

[Mermaidmomma]

Pain is still present only during the intital latch onto my right breast only. Weird Huh? Twiddling is driving me crazy! I keep telling her, to please be gentle etc... But that little hand keeps trying to get at me. I think I need to start wearing a necklace or something.
She is still waking about 2x a night to nurse, and I very gently tell her not until the morning, "num nums are sleeping" She crys for a bit but then goes back to sleep after drinking some water.

[russianthistle]

A nursing necklace, of course. I think I'll try that. I have been meaning to make them to sell at the local co-op (and perhaps on etsy).

I really have to repeatedly divert his little hand while nursing, esp. before his nap. The feeling makes me ill!

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. I've noticed that I am bothered much more during early pregnancy, than I normally am.

[VeganC]

I'm only having a little tiny bit of pain if my nipple starts to slip out of her mouth. My supply still seems fine, I think. I'm going to go get her weighed tomorrow. She seems more interested in solids lately, so I wonder if my supply is decreasing, at least somewhat.

[Gnatty]

He seems a little fussy in the late afternoon...I wonder if that is when my supply is lowest and he's noticing? Or it could be that we've been having a few really busy days- I'm babysitting a friend's 1 month old baby, and boy, he is NOT an easy baby! I did not know how easy my ds was! Part of it is that he's bottle fed, and he's not used to taking a bottle from a woman (he gets it from his dad at home, or mama nurses him), so he's resisting a little bit, but he is just a much higher needs baby than my ds ever was, so I have less time for cuddles and playing with ds this week. He seems a little disgruntled, but I'm doing my best... he is at least producing plenty of diapers, so I know he's doing ok in the hydration department!

[mom2sol]

Pain and just downright irritation.
Luckily DD will be three in October, so she's not nursing much these days and seems to be on the road to weaning.
I feel guilty though because I've been pointing her in the weaning direction. I'm just kind of done nursing her and that makes me a little sad

[heatherweh]

Originally Posted by mom2sol

Pain and just downright irritation.
Luckily DD will be three in October, so she's not nursing much these days and seems to be on the road to weaning.
I feel guilty though because I've been pointing her in the weaning direction. I'm just kind of done nursing her and that makes me a little sad

I feel that way too, actually more downright angry. Night-weaning and cutting back is going miserably. DS cries, throws things, hits me. I feel guilty but can not stand nursing. He has stopped napping because I cant nurse him down for naps and getting him to sleep is miserable too, he's up crying himself to sleep until the wee hours as I try and rub his back and offer water or snacks. We're both exhausted and resentful and it is more miserable than I ever anticipated.

[maya's mommy]

I am not in pain but i am so tired. My 2 1/2 dd will nurse all night if I let her. and I can't seem to find the right time to get out of her bed without waking her. I don't know what is going on with her but it is so hard on me. My dd1 was the same age when I got pregnant with dd2 but she was basically night weaned at that point so at least I could sleep at night when I needed to. I feel a little stuck. I don't want to her cry and wake up dd1 and dh in the middle of the night and I know if I won't nurse her she will just say she is awake at whatever time it is that I won't nurse her. i know that in her life the baby being born is a long way away but I worried about what will happen if she is still nursing and not sleeping like this at that point.

[russianthistle]

the booby pain is just beginning.:

[IncaMama]

i'm feeling pretty lucky right now in terms of the nursing. i still have milk (ava says it tastes like ice cream lol), and she's nursing pretty much the same amount as she has been for a while. it averages out to about 10x/day, but they're just little snacks rather than long nursing sessions. she falls asleep at the breast and then usually sleeps through until around 6:30 or so. some nights she'll wake once at aorund 3am and i nurse her back to sleep and just stay in her bed until the morning.

i have some pain at latch but not much after that. she still nurses from both sides, unlike rowan did at this point. when i was pg with ava and rowan was still nursing, he only nursed from the left side. ava's not choosing sides, which i'm happy about. the pain i felt on my right side when ava was a newborn and nursing fo rthe first time was nearly worse than it had been when rowan first started 3 years before! hopefully that won't happen this time around.

then again, maybe ava will self-wean before then. who knows??

[CEVmommy]

I've noticed that dd is really cutting down on her nursing. I night-weaned her easily like 2 weeks ago, and then she was down to twice a day - first thing in the morning and last thing before bed. For the last two mornings, she didn't even ask to nurse, just asked for breakfast. And last night when she nursed, after she was done, she was just playing with my nipple instead of nursing. She was touching her nose to it and stuff and thought that was hilarious! haha I guess I didn't expect it all to happen so quickly.

[mrsbass]

I'm a little sad beacuse I'm having to give my ds formula at 9 months. I was doing fine until I was a month pregnant. My ds lost a pound instead of gaining 2 in a month's time, so my milk wasn't nourishing him anymore. Anyway, we still nurse in the morning and evening for snuggles and he gets his bottle at feeding times. We're also eating a lot more table food, and he's gained a pound in a week - YAY! :

He was also down to 3 or so diapers a day and a BM every 3-4 days. Now I change him every 2 hours and he has a BM every morning. So, we're much happier about that!

You mommas go that are still feeding! My mom nursed through 2 pregnancies (she was in her early 20's, though...). I'm near 30 and had a c-section 9 months ago, so not in optimal physical condition. Maybe dc#2 will get to nurse longer.

Just wanted to share...

[Jennbee]

I have a few questions I hope someone can help to answer:

About when does a pregnant and nursing mom's milk supply drop?

Does the milk change entirely to colustrum around 6 months or so?

[smocklets]

Originally Posted by Jennbee

I have a few questions I hope someone can help to answer:

About when does a pregnant and nursing mom's milk supply drop?

Does the milk change entirely to colustrum around 6 months or so?

This is really different for everyone. You may never notice a drop in supply, or if your child is older they might not mind because they are eating other foods. I've known moms who never noticed colostrum coming in, but I definitely changed to colostrum both times I nursed through pregnancy. I think it was around 6 months. Both times, my toddler loved it and it had quite a laxative effect on them(just to warn you)

[mom2sol]

I feel that way too, actually more downright angry. Night-weaning and cutting back is going miserably. DS cries, throws things, hits me. I feel guilty but can not stand nursing. He has stopped napping because I cant nurse him down for naps and getting him to sleep is miserable too, he's up crying himself to sleep until the wee hours as I try and rub his back and offer water or snacks. We're both exhausted and resentful and it is more miserable than I ever anticipated.

I'm sorry things aren't going well. I nursed through my first pregnancy and I remember having napping issues but he did nurse a little he just was kind of done napping and I really needed one. He also would hit me and cry and generally throw temper tantrums if I didn't let him nurse for an hour! I did find the wanting to nurse for an hour really irritating but with my daughter I'm irritated right away. It's kind of weird.
Different kids just handle things differently though. My son was always a sleep fighter, he wanted to stay latched on forever since the morning he was born. My daughters has always been a little more easy going. It does get better though. My son is 5 1/2 now, he weaned slowly and easily soon after my daughter was born. He was almost three when I realized he hadn't asked to nurse in a couple of weeks. I was hoping for the same thing with my daughter but she's kind of hanging on to dear life to the evening and morning nursing.

Hang in there!