Nursing in the News

Just some interesting news I read about breastfeeding:

1. I'm always happy to read about celebrities who share that their babies are breastfeeding. Latest celebrity is Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio who shares that his 4-month old son is "only on breast milk right now, and even at night time, when he wakes up, you just stick a bottle in mouth or breastfeed him and he goes right back to sleep." I'm not too happy to read about him sticking bread or strawberries in his son's mouth though.

2. Meanwhile, Today presenter John Humphreys had been enjoying breastmilk with his morning drink. His co-worker, Rosie Millard, a former BBC arts correspondent had been expressing milk which she stored in a common fridge. Someone spiked Humphreys' coffee with her milk. Humphreys was unperturbed -- he had drank breast milk for the first year of his life.

3. Finally, I was really disturbed with the article that a breastfeeding mother may have accidentally smothered her infant during a United Airlines flight. The mom was on her way to Kuwait from Washington DC with her 4-week old baby smothered her baby while allegedly breastfeeding. Although United Airlines refused to confirm reports, almost all headlines related to this incident screamed "breastfeeding mother smothers baby". Experts were quick to point out however that it was not breastfeeding but rather sleepsmothering (falling asleep with an infant in arms) which put the baby at risk. I have to agree -- whether or not you were breastfeeding or bottle-feeding your baby, the danger lies in the act of falling asleep on your baby and NOT in the act of breastfeeding your baby.

Last Meeting of the Year for La Leche League Manila

La Leche League Manila will be having its last meeting of the year on 12 December 2009, 9-11a.m. at Mary the Queen Parish Hall, Greenhills. LLLI meetings are informal and not really breastfeeding classes. Each month, a LLLI leader usually takes charge and discuses a certain topic. However, attendees can ask any question or concern they may have about breastfeeding. There are usually experienced moms, pregnant moms and new moms in attendance. It's a great mix of moms with a variety of experience (from none to advance! :D). You can read about my experiences here.

This Saturday's meeting is special as it will be the last meeting of the year and LLLI will be having a potluck. If you would like to attend and meet other nursing moms, do get in touch with LLLI Leader Cris Rosenthal via email or 09178941099. Having the support of like-minded moms is one of the things that helped me successfully breastfeed and La Leche League meetings are great venues to meet other nursing moms in a casual setting.

Bittersweet

my little girl during her birthday weekend

My milk supply is going and it's a bittersweet time. Naima just turned 2 over the weekend. She still nurses at night but during the day, she is busy being a busy toddler. She has started school and goes for about 2.5-3 hours in the morning. She also does not drink milk anymore when she naps in the afternoon. However, when I come home from work, she still nurses - even if she just ate a snack. But I think that this session is more for comfort because she missed me during the day :).

I have been dropping pumps and now do only 1 session a day. Still, the milk I get is more than enough for Naima's needs - which is why by the end of this year, I am hoping to completely stop pumping at work.

What don't I miss about pumping? As I started dropping pumps, I've stopped watching the clock. I've also lessened the bottles and pump parts I bring to work daily. I've also started to enjoy a longer lunch break (no more quick eating to squeeze in pumping time!).

However, I miss the feeling of being the only source of nutrition for my little girl. She has become little miss independent and seems to need me less and less. Pumping has become part of my daily routine that I feel that my day isn't complete without the pumping session. Plus, I feel guilty about not being able to store milk for the day (although Naima never drank my frozen milk and I just ended up donating the milk I stored from my work day).

Naima's yaya told me that for the past week, Naima doesn't drink milk anymore when we are separated. She waits until I get home before she starts asking for milk. I still have lots of milk stored in the refrigerator and freezer. Since I stopped my early morning pump, I haven't been able to leave freshly expressed milk for Naima. So yaya has started to use the refrigerated milk. But she tells me that it's always a battle for Naima to drink the milk I leave.

One more thing that’s stopping me (aside from mommy guilt) is the requests for donations I get. So far, I have always donated milk to moms who have yet to produce milk. Lately though, I’ve started turning away some moms because, I simply do not have enough milk to give. But with Naima refusing to drink expressed milk, I think it’s about time I wean from the pump.

I have 3 pumps (1 for work, 1 for home and 1 for traveling) and they’ve been my very good friends these past 2 years. I’m very happy with my pumps performance but I won’t be sad to see them go. I initially just wanted to reach 6months of breastfeeding Naima – here we are, still nursing at 2. But I’m definitely looking forward to the end of this year when I can finally drop that last pump of the day, comfortably and without regrets.