I answered a few questions you guys have had about breastfeeding, sleep schedules, and postpartum/life with baby in general on Stories! Here’s a recap of everything we discussed.
FEEDING
Q: Is breastfeeding something you figure out as you go? Do you have any resources?
A: I was also intimidated by breastfeeding while I was pregnant, but it came really naturally to me thankfully! I know that isn’t always the case. I took advantage off the resources our hospital gave us. Our lactation nurse was wonderful and gave us lots of information and their phone number for if we needed them after we were home! You can review some breastfeeding resources here at www.womenhealth.gov.
Q: Did your milk come in immediately? Any trouble feeding him at the hospital? (I’m due 8/6!)
A: No! My milk came in a few days after he was born. He was just getting colostrum (a breast fluid produced before breast milk is released; it’s very nutritious and contains high levels of antibodies, which are proteins that fight infections and bacteria) the first few days of life. This is a very normal timeframe! I know it can be stressful waiting for your milk to come in and wondering if they’re getting enough nutrients. This is why we track newborns’ weight closely… Babies usually drop in weight the first week or so after birth! Babies are more resilient than we think, so try not to stress TOO much!
Q: Do you have a pumping schedule? How many times do you pump?
A: I know lots of mamas that do have a pumping schedule (I’ve heard this can also help if you’re having supply issues!), but I never have! Liam takes the breast more often than not, so I only pump when needed. This has definitely decreased over the past 6 months.
Q: When Luke wants to help with feedings, do you just pump or use from a stash you already have?
A: A little of both! It just depends on the situation!
Q: How do you breastfeed when drinking? Do you pump and dump?
A: I don’t pump and dump! My lactation consultants and birthing coach told me that having a few drinks is okay when breastfeeding. Consult with YOUR doctor and YOUR pediatrician, of course! Just do whatever you feel comfortable with!
One of you told me something that my lactation consultant told me as well regarding drinking and feeding: if you can drive a car, you can feed your baby!
Q: Tips on how to get more milk supply? Started to miss a pump and then bottle feed seems to help.
A: Thankfully I haven’t really had issues with my supply. I feel so extremely blessed for this and I don’t take it for granted!! I do have (excuse my language!) a “shitty titty” – my right breast produces SO MUCH MORE milk than my left! It’s crazy!
Q: How were you able to lose the baby weight without it affecting your milk supply?
A: I know working out can supposedly decrease your supply, but again, I’m thankful I haven’t dealt with any issues here! I’d recommend reaching out to a lactation consultant for advice.
Something I want to mention about MY supply is that it has decreased obviously the last 6 months. It’s all about supply and demand for most people. Liam isn’t nursing as often as he used to, so my supply has dipped to be in line with how much milk he needs RIGHT NOW. It’s such an amazing process… literally mind blowing what our bodies do!
Q: How old was Liam when you introduced bottles, and how many would you say you give per day?
A: We introduced his first bottle at around 3 weeks per our pediatrician’s suggestion. Looking back, I wish we had done more bottles the first few months to get him used to it. He takes the breast (and still does) the majority of the time!
I’ve said this a million times, but I feel the need to mention again since we’re on the topic…
I wholeheartedly believe that a FED BABY IS BEST!
Breastfeeding has been a huge part of mine and Liam’s life the past several months. It’s been absolutely beautiful and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Being able to birth and now nourish my son has been life changing. However, I know there are various reasons why this isn’t the case for lots of other mamas out there, and that it TOTALLY okay. Being a breastfeeing mother doesn’t make me any “better” of a mother… seriously!! I am simply sharing my journey here.
Q: My daughter just turned 1, and I didn’t continue breastfeeding because of the pain in the beginning. Do you have any tips on how you got through it?
A: If I had dealt with horrible pain when nursing (engorgement/mastitis), I can’t say I would have continued breastfeeding! I’m thankful that it came naturally to my body and I didn’t deal with a lot of pain or issues. Again, I am NO professional. Please consult with a lactation consultant or your doctor!
Q: What bottles ended up working for Liam with you also nursing him?
A: We stuck with the Como Tomo bottles! He ended up loving them!
Q: How many times per day are you feeding solids? Are you doing purees?
A: We’re currently feeding Liam solids 3x per day! We are only doing oatmeal, rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula, and purees currently. We want to start some BLW (baby-led weaning) this month, but I’m a little intimidated to start! Feeding Littles has lots of helpful tips!
Q: When will you introduce table foods? Will you share that journey with us?!
A: We started the solids at around 5-ish months and want to start BLW later this month when he’s around 6-7 months! I’ll definitely share with y’all if you want! I know this topic isn’t interesting for everyone, but since it’s part of my daily life, I’ll probably share some!
SLEEP SCHEDULES
Q: What age did you start a schedule with Liam?
A: We started a very loose schedule as soon as we could! I’d say it was around 3-ish weeks. Babies thrive on schedules! We loosely follow the Moms on Call schedules and tips from Taking Cara Babies.
Q: Does Liam still wake at night to nurse? Did you sleep train him?
A: He does usually still wake up once a night, but it isn’t a big deal for me at all. He wakes up, I nurse him, and then he’s back to sleep all within 10 minutes. I haven’t brought myself to sleep train just yet because his nursery is all the way upstairs and I’m not ready to have him sleep that far away from me yet. If his nursery was right across the hall, he probably would have been in his own room months ago. All of his naps are in his nursery upstairs, though. It seems pretty impossible to me to “sleep train” or “let him cry it out” in the same room, lol! We’ve debated putting him in his nursery at night while we sleep in our guest room upstairs, but we haven’t done that yet! I’ll let y’all know what we decide to do. Everyone’s timing is different on this and there is no right or wrong way.
Q: Do you do a dream feed?
A: For reference, a dream feed is a late-night feeding that you give your baby right before you head off to bed, usually around two or three hours after you’ve put your little one down for the night. Dream feeds are initiated by parents, not babies.
I do a dream feed sometimes, but not every night! It just depends on when he falls asleep and when I’m going to sleep. If he goes down around 8pm and I’m still up around 11pm, I’ll do a dream feed!
Q: Does Liam put himself to sleep for naps and night time?
A: YES! We did do sleep training for naps early on. We’d put him down, leave the room, and let him cry for no longer than 12 minutes! That was the sweet spot number for us for some reason, ha! Now we just put him in his crib at nap time and he hangs out (and squeals some, lol) for a few minutes and then he falls right to sleep. It’s the same with night time! If we did do sleep training through the night, I’m sure he’d be sleeping through the night within 3 days (per Moms on Call). I don’t know why I just can’t do it yet!!!
The Taking Cara Babies wake windows have helped us tremendously with make nap time decisions!! They are SPOT ON!
We also loosely follow the Moms on Call schedule! We just pushed everything back by an hour because that’s what works best for us at this time. For example, instead of waking at 7am we wake at 8am.
Our two favorite sleeping resources are hands down @takingcarababies and @momsoncall
A few of y’all have recommended Baby Wise also! After we put Liam down around 8pm in our room, we watch shows on the iPad with our headphones in. Sometimes we’ll go out in the living room, but we usually just chill in bed until we go to sleep around 10:30 – 11:00!
Q: When did Liam go to 2 naps? My baby (born on the same day as Liam!) still takes 4!!
A: TWINS!! He went from 3 to 2 naps right around 6 months, so very recently.
Q: How did you transition to two naps?
A: We just started slowly stretching his wake windows in between naps! We could tell he was ready to drop a nap, but timing is different for each baby! The older they get, the less sleep they need during the day. The first few days of starting to drop the third nap, we let him nap for just like 30 minutes in place of his third nap. We then took that catnap away and he’s down to two! It wasn’t a super difficult process for us!
Q: Did you use a sound machine with him every night? I’m debating if I need one…
A: YES! Liam uses a sound machine for nighttime and every single nap. It’s highly recommended to have just plain white noise up pretty loud vs. ocean waves, etc. Luke and I use the same sound machine and we love it!
We also have this little portable sound machine/Bluetooth speaker that he loves! It’s rechargeable and can be clipped to his stroller, car seat, or pack n play when we travel!
Q: It’s hard while you’re in it, but you’ll look back and miss this stage!
A: Thank you for this encouragement, and I couldn’t agree more! I’m trying to enjoy and soak in allll of the moments! People told me that the newborn cuddles didn’t last long, and they were right. It’s all going by SO FAST! It sounds cliché, but I blinked and he’s already 6 months old.
XOXO,
Laura Elizabeth
