I am ready for 2 things;
1. Sleep (really, is it too much to ask for?!)
2. To be done nursing (yes- I made it a whole year with these cuties!)
I do feel like the night sleep would be better if I would stop nursing at night. It's been so much easier to nurse while sleeping-ish, than bounce babies hour after hour. I did just get a white noise maker machine- and it seems to really be helping (especially for Zach- he's in the same room with the babies). They were doig great, and then got sick. Hannah can't breath if she cries very hard- and silly me, breathing comes first :) But once they're done being sick- I'm ready to stick to my guns and get them sleeping all night. Please share any advice, tips, or small progress you've made yourselves!
Next- weaning. Why is it I can't remember how I did this with Zach just a few years ago?! I think I get the concept.... Slowly take away feedings and replace with cows milk. But I've gotten so much conflicting advice. Trevor says go straight to a bottle (is he crazy? I don't want to have to wean twice!) My pediatrician says to still give one nighttime feeding if they wake for it- and 3-4 sippy cups full of milk during the day. Usin milk as their primary nutrition for at least 2 of those feedings. If they don't drink the whole cup- to nurse afterwards to make sure they get their nutrition. Then WIC's nutritionist told me to not do sippy cups at all. (This is crazier than the bottle idea if you ask me! Have you ever seen a 1 year old with an open lidded cup?!) They also said to not worry of they're not drinking their milk- just to supplement with other dairy products and to make sure I'm not giving too much dairy in a day.
Ok- so outside of all the mixed advice- these babies are not taking a sippy cup! We've only been trying for a week.... But they most I can get them to drink is a couple swallows. (And this is with the valve removed so I'm just pouring it into their mouth). Ontop of this- WIC is no longer helping with baby food- so I'm trying to make the transition to 100% normal food. Between them both they have a grand total of 2 teeth. I am a total loss of what to feed them. I mean, I have a handful of ideas, but all of them are used by morning snack.
SO- what sippy cups have worked for you while in transition? What worked for you as you took away nursing times? How often (and WHAT) have you fed your little ones? How do you deal with nighttime wakings? How long did you taper off nursing feedings? How did you deal with engorgement? How did you get them used to a sippy cup?
Thanks so much for any and all advice, sympathy, and comments!
2 comments:
I'm sure this will be long. Hopefully it'll make sense. :)
Honestly, I have no idea on the sleeping bit ... Ethan was a piece of cake, and Jade preferred sleeping alone. I had to sit with Lincoln until he fell asleep at night. He would hold my arm while I sang to him and once he was unconscious I would sneak out. Longest nighttime routine ever! As for the weening thing ... If you are dried up, there is no other option for them than to drink milk. You can EASILY dry up your milk with peppermint. Like instantly. When you are ready for your milk to be gone, take some peppermint essential oils. Like a couple drops or something in a glass of water. Until you are ready to be dried up, just hand express or pump off just enough so you are not in pain, but not enough that it signals your body to make more.
I think with Lincoln, I just cut out all feedings but the one right before bedtime. I am horrible and don't feed them the same amount of milk as I fed them. I keep hearing conflicting reports how cows milk is not good at all for humans, and I never drink milk anyway (so ... maybe don't follow my suggestions on this one?) I think by then, he was sleeping through the night? I can't remember ... my memory is shot. Maybe just snuggle them back to sleep at night, tickle their arms and legs, their face, sing them songs ...? Maybe then they'll catch on that there is no more food at night (or not, they are related to you after all! Ha!) and maybe they won't wake up in the middle anymore.
As for what to feed them ... people would tell me all the time to just feed them the same exact food you are already eating for meals. My mom gave me a food grinder thing with Ethan, you put spaghetti in it and it comes out a puree, you put whatever you are eating it in and it comes out all mushy. People told me to do frozen peas, apple sauce, noodles, tiny pieces of bread and soft cooked (probably mashed?) meats, pancakes/waffles cut up small so they are gnaw on them, hamburger, cooked veggies, cooked fruit, banana ... I'm just trying to think of things. Once again, I have no recollection of what I used to feed my small kids. :) Moving up to "people food" from baby food freaked me out both times. I was so paranoid they were going to choke on everything.
Good luck! I have no idea if this will help at all, but let me know if you need anything. :)
Dex has given up on the baby food as well. We have been doing fruits cut into small pieces along with canned beans, frozen peas, bread, yogurt bites, cut up lunch meat, and his new favorite is scrambled eggs. He likes to try new things. He does good with cereal, veggie straws and any kind of cracker.
I don't have any good advice for weaning...I don't remember what to do either :) Good luck!
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