i sarched the forums and didn't find anything that specifically related.
Here is the deal: I WOH in a school and have since ds was 6 weeks old. I pumped faithfully at work and skipped lunch to go home and nurse him at lunch, then I pumped 2-3 more times a night in addition to cosleeping to give him full access to nursing. He reverse cycled, then switched back mroe or less over the summer, when I was at home. I admit that I did not do a good job of pumping to build a stash over the summer. I was sick of the pumping after my struggles to do it at work. ok, so when i went back to work I only had about 12 oz in the freezer. I seem to have lost my ability to pump...I only get 2-3 oz combined from each pumping session, if that. Ds is gaining fine, and i get letdowns that are sometimes uncomfortable, so i know that I have milk a nd that he is getting it fine when he nurses directly.
he generally refuses a bottle, but since I've been back to work now for over a month, he has started taking one, although he rarely finishes it. My mom who watches him offers the bm first and will let him sip on it all day or until he finishes it. If he does (which he may if it's just 2 oz or so) then she will give him a homemade goat milk formula or more often just the plain goat milk. This was her idea, not mine, but the ped said the goat milk would be ok on his gut if I chose to give it to him.
I guess my question is: is the pumping worthwhile? Like tonight, I just don't feel like sitting at the pump for 30 or 40 minutes and get almost nothing, and then be attached to ds for another 45 minutes to nurse, and then i still have schoolwork, laundry, etc to do. At this age, can I skip the pumping some days, give him maybe 4 ox a day of the goat milk as needed, and rely on nursing the rest of the time as well as 3-4 solid meals a day for nutrition? if this is a horrible idea, please just give me a kick in the butt to continue. I am just so overwhelmed with responsibility: single parenting my ds, struggling to make ends meet financially which has led to my life being more complicated (i.e. cloth diapers to save money, and not the nice fuzzi bunz kind either!), stressign about the upcoming custody hearing, taking 15 credits in school, working full time....the pumping/nursing situation is becoming increasingly discouraging, especially since he rarely finishes the bottles and i often come home to see 3/4 of what i pumped sitting out on the counter gone bad. I guess i'm just looking for reassurance maybe that it is OK to skip pumping sometimes, just for my sanity...he will be 10 months on the 17th. Again if this is a horrible idea nutritionally or just generally stupid, please say so, so that I will be motivated to continue. I really do want what's best for ds, and I swore i would NEVER give him formula (and I haven't, unless you consider goat milk/acidophilus/molasses/flaxseed oil/vitamin c & a few other things to be "formula") and it just meant so much to me to stick with that. But i am exhausted.
Here is the deal: I WOH in a school and have since ds was 6 weeks old. I pumped faithfully at work and skipped lunch to go home and nurse him at lunch, then I pumped 2-3 more times a night in addition to cosleeping to give him full access to nursing. He reverse cycled, then switched back mroe or less over the summer, when I was at home. I admit that I did not do a good job of pumping to build a stash over the summer. I was sick of the pumping after my struggles to do it at work. ok, so when i went back to work I only had about 12 oz in the freezer. I seem to have lost my ability to pump...I only get 2-3 oz combined from each pumping session, if that. Ds is gaining fine, and i get letdowns that are sometimes uncomfortable, so i know that I have milk a nd that he is getting it fine when he nurses directly.
he generally refuses a bottle, but since I've been back to work now for over a month, he has started taking one, although he rarely finishes it. My mom who watches him offers the bm first and will let him sip on it all day or until he finishes it. If he does (which he may if it's just 2 oz or so) then she will give him a homemade goat milk formula or more often just the plain goat milk. This was her idea, not mine, but the ped said the goat milk would be ok on his gut if I chose to give it to him.
I guess my question is: is the pumping worthwhile? Like tonight, I just don't feel like sitting at the pump for 30 or 40 minutes and get almost nothing, and then be attached to ds for another 45 minutes to nurse, and then i still have schoolwork, laundry, etc to do. At this age, can I skip the pumping some days, give him maybe 4 ox a day of the goat milk as needed, and rely on nursing the rest of the time as well as 3-4 solid meals a day for nutrition? if this is a horrible idea, please just give me a kick in the butt to continue. I am just so overwhelmed with responsibility: single parenting my ds, struggling to make ends meet financially which has led to my life being more complicated (i.e. cloth diapers to save money, and not the nice fuzzi bunz kind either!), stressign about the upcoming custody hearing, taking 15 credits in school, working full time....the pumping/nursing situation is becoming increasingly discouraging, especially since he rarely finishes the bottles and i often come home to see 3/4 of what i pumped sitting out on the counter gone bad. I guess i'm just looking for reassurance maybe that it is OK to skip pumping sometimes, just for my sanity...he will be 10 months on the 17th. Again if this is a horrible idea nutritionally or just generally stupid, please say so, so that I will be motivated to continue. I really do want what's best for ds, and I swore i would NEVER give him formula (and I haven't, unless you consider goat milk/acidophilus/molasses/flaxseed oil/vitamin c & a few other things to be "formula") and it just meant so much to me to stick with that. But i am exhausted.