I am finally caught up! 4 Months!
I have one month of being a working mom of two under my belt.
This past month went by so fast. I was so busy at work, the days went by fast.
I struggled to find time to pump. The motivation just wasn’t there. I also do not get engorged or full or leak so I have no sense of urgency. Maybe because I am also a more relaxed second time mom I am not hyper aware of needing to pump to keep my supply up.
Breastfeeding itself was easier. We nurse on nights and weekends. I think this comes with time. I was less stressed because he was gaining weight. My baby got more efficient at eating too. I also enjoy breastfeeding, and appreciate that time we have together. I also dislike pumping more – mainly because of all the bottle washing. I have enough bottles to wash already!
He’s still pretty gassy, but I have stopped all food restrictions. His colicky-ness has seemed to get a lot better. I guess he just grew out of it.
We went on a long weekend trip and my baby was so great going with the flow. I nursed him at the aquarium with a cover. I am still not the most confident nursing in public (NIP) and usually just nursed in the car. Also because it was so hot I could have the AC blowing on me in the car.
I try to pump 3 times at work, and usually can. On days that I am super busy or have a lunch meeting or need a sanity break and go out for lunch or go the gym I have pumped twice. Sometimes I get almost the same amount of milk, sometimes a less. I am usually pumping 5-6 ounces in the morning then 4 ounces at lunch and in the afternoon.
I am also building up a pretty good freezer supply. I freeze milk from Fridays and then use the oldest frozen milk on Mondays. P.S. Target shoe boxes are the perfect storage container for frozen milk bags. I always freeze them flat to save space too.
But the 4th month came with it’s own challenges.
My baby still gets distracted easily while nursing. I try a few times to get him to finish, but if he’s not interested, I take him off and if he acts hungry later let him eat again. But I try to get him to eat a full meal because I don’t want him “snacking” all day.
For the first half of the month, my husband was staying home with our toddler and baby during the day. This made my transition to work easier. Also, our baby continued to nap well, at home, in his crib, lights off, sound machine on, and swaddled. However, when he went to daycare, right before he turned 4 months old, naps became horrible (20-30 minutes). So the poor guy is tired when he gets home and I don’t get to spend much time with him before he is tired and goes to bed (around 7-7:30).
He also still isn’t great about taking bottles, and on a regular basis doesn’t finish his bottles at daycare. And it KILLS me that they have to throw out 1-3 ounces some days!
Sleep at night has also been all over the place, with sometimes my baby waking up once or twice, and sometimes every hour. Because he’s so close (literally 10 feet maybe) and I don’t want him to wake up the toddler, I try to go in and give him his pacifier, but usually end up feeding him. I know its the fastest way for us both to go back to sleep. I am also leery because my first didn’t sleep through the night until he night weaned at a year. (I night weaned him – he didn’t do it on his own). I am going to start thinking about night weaning though because sometimes he will wake up around 4 am eat a lot and then isn’t hungry when I get him up or when he wakes up between 6 and 7 am.
I’ve gone back and forth with dream feeds before I go to bed – bottle or breast, and they don’t seem to consistently help him sleep longer.
I am feeling pretty confident that we will be able to reach my goal of breastfeeding for a year now.
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