Breastfeeding Update

I didn't want to only document the hard stuff so I thought I would do an update on our breastfeeding.

Basically, the struggle is over.  Things are going really well and have been for some time!  There are no more nursing strikes, no more breast refusal (the baby is always willing to nurse), no more pulling off and crying (though we do pull off to stare at pretty things these days -- distractable baby!)

I've been taking domperidone for two and half months and my supply has evened out.  I have plenty of milk for the baby throughout the day and night... but he does still need an evening bottle.  He takes about 2.5oz before bed.

Bah, breastfeeding advocates will say, that's such a miniscule amount.  You must only be doing that for convenience.

That's what I would think.  But the fact of the matter is, I have tried multiple times to wean him off this last bottle.  He doesn't get cranky or fuss or cry, so it's certainly not a convenience issue.  The fact is, he can go a day or two on breastmilk alone.  But by the third day he is ravenous.  He nurses nonstop (with no swallowing) and just can't get enough milk.  So I break down and give him a bottle and he positively chugs 4oz in one go.

Clearly, while 2.5oz isn't much in a single day, doing without it every day is just slightly less calories than my growing boy needs.  So the lack of calories adds up and a few days into it he's starving.

I figured out this pattern last month.  Since then, I have accepted the fact that my baby is almost completely breastfed but really does need that last little bit.  If my right breast had more milk producing glands I would be able to make up a 2.5oz difference easily.  But as things stand, I'm just slightly short of the goal of exclusively breastfeeding.

I'm ok with that.

I'm proud of how far we've come, he and I.  Our breastfeeding relationship was so rocky and full of frustration (for both of us, I'm sure) that to have this easy, playful, bonding time now means the world to me.  I'm grateful for what we have and I'm not asking for anything more.

I believe breastfeeding is vitally important, physically and emotionally, for both mommies and babies.  Choosing formula is anyone's right and it doesn't make them bad mothers.  Their children will still grow up healthy and happy.  But it does make me sad on their behalf for the precious experience they and their children will miss out on.

Funny thing: lately he loves to grab my nose and hang onto it while he nurses. It is hilarious.

Stripping

No, I haven't taken up a new career.

I mean stripping diapers.

For some reason when I began cloth diapering I ignored all this talk about stripping. I didn't know what strange things other people were doing with their diapers but I was sure I wouldn't need to strip mine any time soon.

Fast forward two months.

I'm not sure which change caused the problem. We moved, so we have slightly harder water and a new HE washer. We switched detergent... but is it the new detergent (Country Save) or is it that the new low residue detergent has loosened all the gunk leftover from when I used a Free and Clear brand? Is it too much detergent or not enough? And what is that smell, anyway? It's not ammonia or barnyard. It's just... musty. I suspect a possible buildup of urea? But wouldn't that lead to ammonia? Its most definitely not ammonia.

Oh dear.

The laundry situation is definitely the most confusing part about using cloth.

So I decided to strip my diapers. My first attempt failed utterly but this time around I seem to have gotten it. The diapers smell fresh and clean. So I decided to write down my stripping method because, knowing me, I won't remember the next time I need it.

First I did a deep clean with Tide Ultra (in case it was a not clean enough problem.) Rinse. Hot wash with 1 squirt of Dawn and 1/3 cup of bleach. Rinse, rinse. Overnight baking soda soak. 1/2 cup vinegar rinse. Rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse... so many suds were coming off. It was amazing. Maybe that baking soda soak really loosened deep residue. Anyway, I rinsed the whole day until I didn't see any more soap. Tumble dry.

Fresh diapers.

It's a real pain in the ass though and I hate to see what it does to my electric bill. So hopefully I only have to do it every few months.

Home Remedies for Earache

We have been battling earaches this week.

I noticed my poor boy would cup and pull on his ears while nursing.  He seemed fine the rest of the time so I just carefully watched him for a day or two.  We had an upcoming pediatrician appointment, anyway, so I asked her to check his ears. 

He had some wax buildup in the right and some redness and irritation in the left.  No signs of infection or swollen eardrums, thank goodness... and since antibiotics are rife with side effects and very likely not effective against mostly viral infections in the first place, they were not an option.

So our pediatrician recommended putting drops of warm Garlic Mullein oil in his ears a couple times a day.  She also said that for an earache I could boil slices of ginger and then make a warm compress with a washcloth.

We've been doing this for two days and have seen an improvement.  He's no longer out of sorts and doesn't tug on them as often.  But he still reaches up and touches his ears a couple times a day.  Hopefully a couple more days will solve the problem since he's too young for many other home remedies.

Dr. Sears Is Not My God

In light of the recent TIME magazine article on the AP lifestyle, I feel like this post is warranted.  If I were to label my "parenting style" I would call it attachment parenting.  (Hence the title of this blog.)  But I'm here to say something that needs to be said:

Dr. Sears is not my god.

It's true.  I actually have a mind of my own and don't necessarily agree with all of the Sears parenting advice.  Shocking, I know.  When there is a public "figurehead" of a movement I think it's very easy for society to assume that everyone who follows similar methods is his acolyte. Certainly, he has many fans... and yet I haven't run across many APers who begin their sentences with "Dr. Sears says..."

In fact, when he said the birthing experience should be described as "sensation" not "pain" I wanted to punch him in the face. That's holy-mother-of-god fucking pain, buddy.

If anything, I would say the spirit of modern AP is to keep pace with the beat of your own drum and not follow any specific dogma. Something I often hear repeated in AP circles is "this is what works for OUR family" with no assumptions that it is what you should do with yours.

In my mind, APing means parenting with heart. It means ignoring all the methods and parenting plans out there that tout their way is the only way for all babies and instead parenting with instinct. It means keeping in mind what the world looks like through a child's eyes: so enormous and new and overwhelming that they need you, their parent, to be their constant grounding rod, their port in the storm.

In NO WAY does it mean raising dependent children.

Sure, Dr. Sears has some ideas that many APers (and non-APers) think sound good: things like babywearing or not crying it out. There are definitely similarities or common practices among APers. But in the end we are all different. In fact, most of us are quite open minded.

Just something to keep in mind the next time you hear about AP.