Archive for the Category »Feeding Times «

24
Feb
Finally! :)
thammie128

I can’t believe February is about to come to an end. I don’t want to say this just for the sake of saying it, but again the sentimental Thammie is acting up a little and I just have to say…time sure flies! *sigh*

Anyway, since March is just around the corner, I think it’s about time that I make it official and report to you that Mikaela has been OFFICIALLY, COMPLETELY weaned. That’s right! W-E-A-N-E-D…..and I did not have to resort to our dreaded last resort! :D yay! Talk about success! hehe :)

I know… this report was supposed to come sometime during the first or second week of this month when Mika turned two. I tried, really– but there were days that after two days or so of being “successful”, I’d get her and volunteer her most-loved question, “Mika, would you like to drink mommy’s milk?” (while flashing a big grin). Of course, what was I to expect from this two-year-old? No less than complete compliance! :D I’m smiling now just thinking about it, how I got to nurse her again. ;) )

….But enough of that. As I was reporting, it’s been more than a week with no relapses whatsoever so now I am confident to say that I have overcome and Mika is now officially a kid. I don’t know how long it will be before I would start to look for another baby to cuddle, but I know now’s not yet the time for that. I shall borrow other people’s babies for the meantime. :D

PS: Please check my blog on weaning to see what worked for me :)

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07
Feb
Weaning Update
thammie128

Since the beginning of February, I’ve been literally counting the days before Mika turns two. That’s two days from now. *sigh* …I wrote in my previous blog how I planned to wean Mika, and I remember promising to give an update on how it turns out– whether or not I’ve had to resort to the last option. So here is my update:

So far so good. I haven’t found the need to do that thing that I dread. For the past few weeks (more significantly, last few days) I’ve been doing all the things I said I would, like not spend so much time in our favorite nursing spots, amuse Mika with other activities, give her other yummy (yet still healthy) options, and dropping certain feeding times. The last part is a little tricky though— I would drop a feeding at a certain time but would feed her the next day. Inconsistent is the word to describe my attempts in this respect. Truthfully speaking, I know that although Mika would cry and give me that “mommy-why-are-you-torturing-me” look most of the time, she would eventually stop and get the point. The problem is that I, the mommy, can’t resist and I so easily miss and long for our nursing moment.

I can imagine most of you are nodding your heads and can very well relate to that separation anxiety that I am telling you about. This makes it all the more difficult for us moms to overcome this feeling, knowing someone is there to empathize with us. BUT, to those who are seriously considering weaning their little cuties, I would say I have news for you: it is possible! It is possible to overcome our emotions after all! :)   I am proud to say that today, I was able to do it. Yes, the whole day Mika drank from the cup. Much of this I would attribute to my busy schedule today so I really had no time to feed her even if I wanted to. But tonight was the real test. Oh, how I wanted to say yes as she cried and take her into my arms and cuddle her and nurse her….but I was able to stop myself, tell her plainly “no more milk from mommy tonight Mika” and kiss her goodnight. Just like that. She said (in a sad but yielding tone), “no more milk? *pause* oh-tay…” Then off to bed she went. :)

Good girl Mika. Good job Mommy. (hehe!) :)

Category: Feeding Times  Tags: , ,  One Comment
11
Jan
Weaning
thammie128

“If you haven’t weaned your child by 18 months, it’s very difficult to do so until about 36 months,” says Ruth Lawrence, MD, a professor of pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

Oh no. Nobody mentioned this to me before.

A month from now my second daughter Mikaela would be turning two– which means I would have to wean her completely. I didn’t really worry much about this before, mainly because the thought of having to wean her from breastfeeding saddens me. I am a very “touchy” person, and so is Mika…so aside from that fact that breastmilk has a lot of benefits for our babies, this is really  why breastfeeding works so well for us– We both love the cuddle time. :)

*sigh* …I can’t believe I would have to stop really soon. I know I can actually choose to extend our nursing days, but I also feel I have to stop so I can “replenish” myself with nutrients if I am to have another baby sometime in the not-so-near yet not-so-far future.

With Alyanna, weaning was very easy. She was one year and four months old when I weaned her completely. The week that I decided to mix-feed her was the same week that I found out I was pregnant. All I did was stop giving her my breasts (we are all women here, right? :) ) and then she gave up without putting up much of a fight. Maybe because she was less than 18 months at that time? Could it be that the above statement by Dr. Lawrence is true? If it is, then should I expect that weaning Mika this time around would be much much harder? *argh* I dread to even imagine it…Even now, it seems that Mika is more attached to me. It is like she knows that I am planning on doing something that is not to her liking. Ever since the holidays, “Mommy!Carry me please!” or “Mommy, drink milk from your b—s please.” is what I’d hear from her all the time. Oh, Mika. Don’t you know this would make things all the more difficult for both of us??

I am expecting that my weaning process would be very much different from what I experienced with Alyanna, but I will probably try these:

1. Take it slow. Drop one feeding at a time, and replace it with formula or a meal…I’ve already started doing this. I only have three feeding times left.

2. Avoid our favorite nursing places and positions…this would be hard, since our favorite nursing positions are my favorite positions…period.

3. Distract her. I would have to cut our cuddle time in bed short, and move it someplace else, some place she won’t associate with breastfeeding.

4. Cuddle her some more…in different “settings”

5. Ignore her cries.

6. Keep ourselves busy-er…hopefully she’ll think there are more fun things to do after all.

7. Keep her full and satisfied with real food…this shouldn’t be so hard to do. She’s much like her mom. :)

That’s all I can think of for now. I know there’s not much of a plan here, but we’ll see.  I’ll be trying them soon, and I shall let you know which work/s best. I am open to suggestions. :)

My last resort:

Apply olive oil that has been “infused” with garlic on your nipples as you breastfeed. Our babies (and us, and I’m sure our husbands too—the downside) will hate the odor from the garlic.

I’ve heard of someone who applied coldrub instead…I think anything with a strong scent/smell would do? Again, this would be my last resort. I don’t like the downside of this. :)

slowly-wean-baby-breastfeeding-200X200

Category: Feeding Times  Tags: , , ,  2 Comments
05
Nov
Pins and Needles
thammie128

Over lunch today, I once again had to tell Mika to sit properly. She has this habit of leaning and putting all her weight on one side of her booster seat, which renders her body unstable, causing her legs to also take on an awkward position just to somehow keep her from falling off the seat (in case the seat belt finally gives). She also rarely listens. I have to be the one to move her and show her how to position herself, only to find her shifting her weight again. I usually end up just letting her be, praying that the seat belt doesn’t snap.

Every once in a while, Mika would suddenly cry and complain of having an “owie” on her leg. I would ask her to point to the exact area of her owie, but she would just cry and cry and point to her leg, frustrated and irritated. This has been the case quite a number of times already and so I have figured out that every time this happens, it is a classic case of having pins and needles. :)

Ugh. I hate that– pins and needles. I know how annoying it can be, and I wouldn’t blame her for crying and kicking out of irritation. I can understand that as a toddler, she perceives the sensation as pain and probably doesn’t know how else to explain whatever it is she is feeling on her leg. I also know that there’s not much you can do about those temporarily-impinged nerves, except maybe shaking the affected limb to help hasten the conduction of nerve impulses and help bring them back to their normal state. But then again, even that is still not comfortable since it would actually heighten the sensation momentarily until everything goes back to normal.

So earlier, that’s what I did. While Mika was all “distressed” from the pins and needles and not knowing what it was that she was really feeling on her leg, I remained calm, because I knew what it was and that it was temporary and a normal part of how our bodies work. I gently held her leg but when I tried to shake it while assuring her it would be okay, she cried all the more and hit me, thinking that I was trying to hurt her some more.

And then it hit me– a lot of times we cry and get frustrated because of some discomfort we’re going through in life and we don’t know how else to perceive it but to think of it as being painful and confusing. We cry and we complain and when God– knowing that it is all part of this thing called life, knowing that what we are going through is temporary, and knowing how to hasten the process of “healing”—when God calmly tries to shake whatever it is that is causing the discomfort off, we cry all the more and get annoyed at Him for not helping ease our pain. Sometimes we think He’s not even doing anything about our situation. But in actuality, He just knows better. :)

Category: Feeding Times, God moments  5 Comments
23
Oct
One Empty Cup Please!
thammie128

Lately I have noticed that it’s been very hard to get Mika to drink water. I’m not really a water person either (I’d rather save the space in my stomach so I could eat more :) ), but since I came across some articles on what water really does and what can happen to our bodies when we don’t drink enough of it, I got a little bit alarmed and I am now trying to get into the habit of drinking H2O (after 26 years of existence, it is just now that I realize my science teachers were not exaggerating after all). I even put it as a wall paper on my cell phone as a reminder for me.

My point was, I think my two daughters took on that bad habit. And since I have come to realize the error of my ways, I’ve been trying extra hard to get them to drink water.

So far so good with Alyanna. All I have to do is make it a prerequisite to everything she’d like to do or to have. For example, earlier I was having fresh buko juice over breakfast. Now juice–whether fresh or not, both girls really like. So I was not surprised when both of them started begging me for juice. I gave both of them the condition that I would give them fresh, yummy juice, if they finished their water. I told them that I needed them to empty their cups for me to be able to use the same cups for the juice.

Alyanna immediately took her cup filled with water and gulped down every drop, excited for the juice. Mika, on the other hand, still refused to drink water (even if it was just an ounce or two). Instead, she started whining and kept saying “joo! joo! pu joo!”, gesturing that I pour some juice into her cup. I kept telling her, “Drink your water so I can put juice in your cup.”, but she just didn’t seem to get it. The whining started to turn into a cry of frustration because she was not getting what she wanted. My point was just, “Empty your cup so I could fill it with what you really want.”

As we were going through that whole scene, a thought popped into my head. It was actually a very familiar scene that I was in. I realized that when it comes to our walk with God, many times we start whining and crying out to God, sometimes out of frustration for not getting our desires met. We think “But Lord, I’ve been a good daughter!”, “If you really love me, why couldn’t you just give me this thing that I’ve been asking for?”, “I know that what I’m praying for is according to your will naman, how come I’m still not getting it?”

…and God just looks at us and says, “Because you don’t get it. I just want you to empty your cup. Only then could I fill it with the best thing that would really satisfy you.” :)

glass-of-water

Category: Feeding Times, God moments  Tags: ,  5 Comments