This really sucks...

[carolineb]

Originally Posted by poppan I hear ya on the pumping. I hate it and it takes up so much of my time. I'm seriously contemplating adding in formula and just pump what I can when I get home from work and call it good. Maybe use formula to get you started and then see what you can pump at the time of the missed feeding. Your supply should be well-established now and if it's just one bottle a day I don't think you will lose your supply. If you want to stay exclusively mommy's milk there are ways to train your body to pump. For example you could try pumping one side while nursing the other for the first morning feed (most women can pump more in the morning). And by doing it every day at the same time you would further cue your body that you want it to produce at that time. Also until you get to the desired number of ounces, you keep the pump going for 5-10 minutes longer after the last let down--again to signal your body to make more. Sent from my iPhone using DS Forum

Thanks for the pumping tips! I really don't have a problem with formula, but I would like him to stay on mommy milk. I thought for sure we had past the "point of no return" for bottles. Saturday mornings I usually nurse him in bed as we wake up, then I eat a quick breakfast and take off for about an hour and a half or so bike ride. This morning he was up at 6am and it was still too dark to go riding. He nursed again around 7:15 and fell asleep for about 30-45 minutes, then woke up and nursed some more. I ended up not leaving until about 9:15 or so. I still had ONE bag of previously pumped milk in the freezer, about 4oz. I pulled a bottle out for DH and gave him some tips on calming the baby and to try different things, but if all else failed, try a bottle. I got home around 10:30 and he was giving DS a bottle. DS was asleep and had taken about 3oz or so! So, I took a shower and pumped and got about 3oz. Funny is that I got 2oz from one side and 1oz from the other side. I may need to try more membranes to see if that helps.

Anyway, I think I will try the letting him get a late afternoon nap and go to bed later thing first. I will also try to start pumping more regularly in the morning to build a stash since I've seen he'll still take a bottle. That way I can maybe get out for longer now.

[aept]

Sounds like things are looking up for you, then! That's cool he took the bottle of your milk from daddy. I hope you enjoyed the bike ride

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[lauren420]

Originally Posted by aept Will your ds fall asleep in a carrier? Some evenings that is the only way for me to get anything done (besides killing time or checking emails on my phone.) Then when I am ready to go to bed I change him into his night diaper and he co-sleeps with me. I still often try to get him to sleep in bed (my bed) and then get back up and do stuff but last night it was 20-30 minutes in bed, 2-15 minutes out, repeat. I would fold half a basket of laundry and he would be fussing again. It can be frustrating now but won't last forever. All 3 of my boys have been similar. I like to remember a line from a poem I read in a LLL book: Quiet down cobwebs, dust - go to sleep I'm nursing my baby, and babies don't keep. I think this baby is my last. Some day I will long to go back to these days. Sent from my iPhone using DS Forum

I that pome, its in my siggy! ITs true, enjoy it, I had to stop nursing for medical reasons, and this is my last baby and I am so sad

[aept]

Oh, I shed a tear for you mama! I am
sure you have some awesome nursing memories, though - If you took the advice of the poem! And I'll bet your littlest is still at an age to be a good snuggler! My oldest hardly "needs" to snuggle me anymore - so sad!

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[ACSNMama]

I barely got through the first page of posts, but you know, I found your thread because I searched "sleep" because I'm not getting any of it! My DS who is 8 months is doing what your 6 month old does. I have 2 other children and I'm downright exhausted. DH and I stayed up trying to get him to sleep last night, needless to say, I'm having trouble reading everyone's responses without going crossed eyed because of lack of sleep. So I will come back and read more later.

I'm thinking about pumping an evening bottle with cereal, I know many say it makes no difference, and I know he's likely waking out of habit (as there are other times he goes 5-6 hours without eating, like in the morning when he ate at 3am and it's now 9am, problem is I can't sleep until 9am!) Anyway, I may try and have DH feed him at night, my DH rocks him every night anyway. I've noticed there are times when he is tired that he conks out half way through a bottle...

[melilo]

I feel you a bit on this one, mama.

We have a wonky schedule around here (both hubby and I work at 4am), so it's hard to get any kind of sleep schedule going.

Basically, he usually won't go to bed until around 9:30-10:00. That would be GREAT, if I didn't want to go to bed for my own sake at 9pm. He's too energetic and awake when we need to go to bed, so I bring him in our bed and he kicks us and drives me bonkers until 10-ish when he will sleep. He will then wake once or twice before I get up at 3am. Then, I have to wake him at 3:30 to go to grandma's. He sleeps his longest stretch in the morning, and he does that at grandma's! No fair, lol.

It sucks, but I really don't know how to get him to go to bed earlier. I don't know if I can. No matter what his naps were like during the day, it's like his internal clock is set to go to bed at 10. When I'm not working on the weekends and such, he does so well. Goes to bed fine, sleeps better, naps better.

I have told hubby and convinced myself that he will eventually "grow out of it." Oh, and he used to go to bed earlier when he was younger, and sleep in his own bed (until first waking), but now I can't get him to sleep in his own bed at all.