beginning of an end...

... to our breastfeeding journey?

Since she has reverse cycled, BF more at night... I've been grateful as my pumping output isn't great these days. She is made to take few ozs of EBM during the day, but she isn't very enthusiastic about it anyway.

She's reaching 18 months next week. I'm starting at a new place next week too. I was thinking about pumping at work...just can't imagine how my new work would be. So I thought, okay- maybe fresh milk/formula daytime, BF evenings/nights.

Then she fell sick after the holidays. Even when I stayed home, she wasn't BF. Was that one of the reason she took longer to recover? We thought it was blocked nose, she just wasn't BF as much even at night. Okay, I lied.... she didn't BF (at least not like a reverse cycler)! She probably BF once before sleep, once at 6am.

Is she:
  1. Weaning off breastfeeding?
  2. Blocked nose? (still blocked till now with thick, green mucus when she sneezes)
  3. Hating me because I forced medicines into/onto her?
I welcome any advice, stories on forum/FB/blog/email. Hatemails not welcomed yeah?

12 Response to "beginning of an end..."

  1. Ariana Says:

    no idea... but im staying tuned for other ppl's input...

  2. liz Says:

    first of all.. alhamdulillah arianna's getting better. How's she doing today? is she still not BF-ing much? I'm sorry i won't be of much help but I'm sure #3 is outta the q. My LO is kinda the reverse.. BF-ing is like her fav pastime. We are in the process of weaning.. but it's still like.. 5-6 times a day.. this is considered a big achievement to us la coz before it's like.. ntah berapa kali sehari (lost count).

    In your case, if you ask me.. it does sound like she's weaning off..

  3. farrahar Says:

    Hi Hanim,

    If Arianna refused to nurse while she was sick, I suspect she was on a nursing strike due to the sickness. She probably had blocked nose, making suckling really difficult. I've experienced this with Adam twice or more before.

    What you can do, is of course to make sure she's kept hydrated (sheeshh.. telling this to a doctor haha!). What I meant to say is, keep persuading her gently to nurse directly, if she still refuses to nurse, you can feed her ebm or water via her cup. Then at her next feeding session, try again to persuade her to nurse directly with you. But don't force, of course. Try when she's mamai. Try different position of bf. Maybe elevating her head would work, sometimes work, sometimes it doesn't.

    When this happened to me last time, I made sure I elevated Adam's head while he was sleeping to ease his breathings. I put a few drops of eucalyptus oil in a bowl of hot water and place somewhere near but safe enough. If you have that air purifier thingy where you can drop some oil in it that would be great too. I also slept with him outside under the fan instead of inside our air-con room.

    I truly hope this is just a temporary nursing strike moment for both of you. Not her weaning off bf or merajuk with you. Keep us updated ya.

    *Hugs*

  4. rumiza Says:

    mesti u rase sedih kan.sabar ye.i pun takde much experience psl ni.tp during my confinement my bb kena blocked nose jugak.tp dia still dapat bf as usual.but i'm not sure la hanim.sbb my bb xselsema time tu.just blocked nose.

    tp i pun xrasa arianna nak wean off la.coz her mother's milk is the bestestestest!

  5. raylis Says:

    Salaam hanim,

    If she has been feeding with no problem before she fell sick, it might not be weaning off!

    There were a few times I thought my son was gonna wean off, but he was back on it double time! :p

    However, even if she does decide to wean off, it's her call.. sometimes babies wean off earlier than 2 years, and if it's their choice, then they know best! ;)

    Hang in there, inshaa Allaah she'll be feeding again!

  6. Hanim Says:

    @Liz..oh diff prob we have. I thought she'd feed more when I'm home.

    @Far... the other day nursing when she was mamai worked... but last night, this morning... nil! FUnny thing is, I don't feel engorged :(

    @Rumiza... dulu blocked nose, she still BF. Now she's even refusing the nasal spray. Urgh thick green phlegm.

    @Ray... maybe she'll BF with a vengeance? If not... yeah it's her call. Sad though, she's only 18 mths.

  7. raylis Says:

    salaam hanim,
    oh dear, sounds like it's just her nose la.. green thick phlegm is no fun, esp not for a LO who can't blow it out :/

    she may just be on strike coz of her illness la.. it was quite bad kan. kesian dia

  8. Hanim Says:

    I do hope it's just a strike, coz there's no better stimulation than her suckling1

  9. munira Says:

    This comment has been removed by the author.
  10. Hanz Jamaludin Says:

    Hopefully like Farrahar said is true, hoping it is just a temporary nursing strike

  11. nadnye Says:

    sabar la Hanim.. hope it is just no 2,
    it is temporary strike only...

  12. Hanim Says:

    Hanz, Nadnye.. dah hari Khamis nih.. tak BF lagik

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