The Beginning of the End?

I shouldn't be blogging; I should be working on my syllabus or going to bed. School starts in two days and I'm fully in the 'if I don't think about it, it doesn't exist' mode of dealing with stress. My syllabus is mostly written and my goal tomorrow is to get it completed so I can make copies on Tuesday. My other goal this week is to get back in the habit of going to bed by 10:30, not 11 or later because I have to get up early and no one will be happy if I am a crankypants.

The title of this post has to do with nursing the baby; we switched Little Dude to formula when he was about six months old (thanks blogger for reminding me). He had been a total crankypants for a while and we realized that he was mostly just hungry. Breastfeeding got off to a much better start this time around and I thought we were doing well. During the last few months, though, I've started noticing little things that made me worry. My baby has been wearing the same clothes for the last three months and they aren't getting any smaller. She has been getting fussier and more clingy. She only nurses for about five minutes on each side and then acts angry when I try to get her to eat more. But she still has fat cheeks, bright eyes, and seems generally healthy so I've been trying to figure out what the right choice is. My work schedule shouldn't interfere with her eating schedule either so that's not an issue.

Last week I had to go to an orientation on Wednesday morning, so Tuesday night I tried pumping some milk to put in a bottle. After a long time on both sides I barely got an ounce. A few months ago I could easily have produced six or seven. Then Mr. Fob told me that the baby happily drank her whole bottle without fighting it. She didn't do that a few months ago either. Then a few days ago she began crying, fussing, and pulling on my shirt only about half an hour after eating. I decided to make her a bottle and her eyes lit up. She grabbed it, drank the whole thing, and smiled happily at me. That made my decision for me; I think we're going to transition to supplementing and then bottle feeding. I knew this was a possibility when she was born, but then things were going so well for a while that I really got into breastfeeding. I breastfed S-Boogie for a whole year, but I've already been through this with Little Dude and I think it's the best choice for all of us.

Comments

Lest any of your readers think we're negligent parents, I want to clarify that even though the baby has been wearing the same clothes for the past three months, we do change her diaper every few weeks or so.

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