If you know me at all, you know that I am pro-breast feeding. I nursed Kai up to her surgery and pumped until she was almost a year old. I have decided to let Reef wean naturally.
Lately, Reef has been going through a lot of changes... learning to walk, learning to talk, teething and he is getting over a cold so, he's been looking for a little more comfort and snuggling. For Reef, that means "ninny" (our word for nursing). He had weaned down to about 3 feedings in 24 hours but in the last week he's started nursing about every 2 hours again.
As I sit here incapacitated holding 20lbs of squirming baby boy, because at this age nursing becomes more like an extreme sporting event somewhere between wrestling and yoga, I'm thinking someone really should make a boob-like apparatus that holds milk and calms babies. And then I think, "Oh, right... bottles...". Duh.
I consider giving him a bottle with some of the pumped milk I have in the freezer but I know he would not accept that as a viable substitute. Why should he? What he gets from me is more than milk; it's a warm, soft, familiar place where he knows he's safe and loved. It may seem inconvenient, at times, but soon he'll be a busy, running toddler, too busy to sit and snuggle on my lap and these fleeting moments will be little more than memories.
Not to mention all of the health benefits that both he and I can expect from it. Breast fed children are purported to have fewer incidence of allergies and asthma, autism, diabetes... the list goes on and on. Research shows that women who breast feed for two years or more decrease their risk of breast cancer by 50%, as well as lowering the risk for other kinds of cancers, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. (reference: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html).
So, while the convenience of a bottle seems appealing, I'm thinking I'll stick with the real thing as I try to figure out how to nurse a baby in downward-facing-dog pose while holding him in a full nelson.
Lately, Reef has been going through a lot of changes... learning to walk, learning to talk, teething and he is getting over a cold so, he's been looking for a little more comfort and snuggling. For Reef, that means "ninny" (our word for nursing). He had weaned down to about 3 feedings in 24 hours but in the last week he's started nursing about every 2 hours again.
As I sit here incapacitated holding 20lbs of squirming baby boy, because at this age nursing becomes more like an extreme sporting event somewhere between wrestling and yoga, I'm thinking someone really should make a boob-like apparatus that holds milk and calms babies. And then I think, "Oh, right... bottles...". Duh.
I consider giving him a bottle with some of the pumped milk I have in the freezer but I know he would not accept that as a viable substitute. Why should he? What he gets from me is more than milk; it's a warm, soft, familiar place where he knows he's safe and loved. It may seem inconvenient, at times, but soon he'll be a busy, running toddler, too busy to sit and snuggle on my lap and these fleeting moments will be little more than memories.
Not to mention all of the health benefits that both he and I can expect from it. Breast fed children are purported to have fewer incidence of allergies and asthma, autism, diabetes... the list goes on and on. Research shows that women who breast feed for two years or more decrease their risk of breast cancer by 50%, as well as lowering the risk for other kinds of cancers, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. (reference: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html).
So, while the convenience of a bottle seems appealing, I'm thinking I'll stick with the real thing as I try to figure out how to nurse a baby in downward-facing-dog pose while holding him in a full nelson.
No comments:
Post a Comment