We are going to a wedding next week and I won't be able to nurse my 10 m.o. daughter before bed. I don't pump. She nurses 3 times a day (morning, at afternoon nap and at bedtime). I've only had to be away from her at night 2 times and since she sleeps through the night, I would go in her room (and since she is a suer light sleeper, she would pop right awake) and nurse her. For 3 reasons I do this, one is because I feel she needs the nutrition from BM and two, I worry about having sore boobs in the morning and last, since she is down to only 3 feedings (not my choice, she just won't sit still and focused to nurse any more... she just wants to be on the move) I worry that my milk supply will go down even more and I'm not ready for that yet. I also think I really need that nursing bond for me too and I need to hold her before I go to bed. Have you done this? I know I can't be the only one. Just curious.
Interesting. I do have pump but I don't like to use it and she doesn't seem to like BM in anything other than the breast which is ok. I guess I'm paranoid that I will dry up if I miss a feeding. Maybe I'll just let her sleep.
I never did, per my peds advice. He said the only reason many older babies wake at night to feed is because they have been trained to. Once they stopped waking on their own out of real hunger, about 6 weeks old, I let them sleep through the night. I have used a hand pump to take the edge off at night before, when they first started sleeping straight through.
Hi T.-
For me...unless there was a compelling medical need...I NEVER wake a sleeping child...
I suggest that you could 'hand express'...either in a warm shower (may be easier)...or not in a shower...
But...IMO...a sleeping baby is a blessing!!
lol
best luck!
michele/cat
No, I haven't bc I would just pump if I needed to, but maybe you don't even have a pump? But I don't think one night of not nursing would cause any problem bc you are so far into it now as far as you getting majorly engorged, you could experience mild discomfort, but I think you'll do alright. I also don't think it would affect your milk supply either. I mean when it's time to wean, it takes a couple weeks or so, so I think you will be fine. Your body won't go haywire with one feeding missed. I would wear a snug but comfy bra with breast pads and make sure you bring along some extra breast pads in case you do really leak around the time you would be feeding her. A baby her age can handle a bottle of formula no prob, so you can have whoever is caring for her giver her one if you are concerned about her being hungry, I have supplemented both of mine with formula after six months and they did great. Also, with my first, I was an avid pumper so that on the weekends my husband could feed our son on the night shift and I would sleep. I would wake up with sore boobs, but I did not care bc I got sleep!! It never caused me any problem with supply, just mild discomfort. By the second I was more like you, I was over pumping so I would just latch him on and halfway snooze while he ate. But I have never woken a sleeping baby that age :D
sounds like nature is going to take its course weather you want it to or not. nature has bigger plans for us than what we want sometimes. i would get a pump. even though she wont drink it from a sippy now she might in three months ( the lenght of time you can freeze it ). or you can donate it to another momma who cant make milk. i vote pump it!
Yep! I work and when my son was a baby I realized that A) he was slurping bottles and I was struggling to pump at work and B) the baby sitter had all the stories about all the cute things he did while all I got to do was watch him sleep.
So I started waking him up every 2 hours to nurse when I was home and awake and shifted his schedule to something that worked better for ME even if it wasn't "normal" (I was working 3-11s at the time!)
ETA-- don't worry too much about your supply-- she's probably getting A LOT of milk during those 3 feedings AND things go in waves My son would go through a phase where he'd only nurse once or twice a day and then he'd hit another phase and start nursing more again. I've thought he was REALLY weaning 3 or 4 times Now at 3 1/2 I think he REALLY is FINALLY weaning. He was sick a couple of weeks ago and didn't comfort nurse. First time EVER I had to worry about dehydration...
I don't do that, but if my daughter was taking a nap, she usually nurses when she woke up. I learned that I should nurse her in her sleep, so she won't cry.
My rule is never wake a sleeping baby up (unless it is a have to).I would use a pump,or express the milk by hand in the shower,cup,towel whatever you can to have a let down,or wait till she wakes to feed her.
You won't dry up after only one missed feeding. But I've gone in there staring at the sleeping baby because I'm full and uncomfortable. =) I can't sleep if I'm engorged so it helps me none to have a sleeping baby. I still get engorged even though my son is 18 months because he nurses so much. I don't wake him up but like you say, I go in there and hope he wakes to nurse. Not so much now but when he was your daughter's age. =)
Sure, I've done that - I pumped at work every day, and if I had to go somewhere in the evening, the last thing I wanted to do was pump again before bed so I would wake the baby and nurse. It's a great way to reconnect after an evening away.
And it sounds like this is working for you, and if it feels right to you, it's no problem.
Also, if you aren't ready to stop nursing yet, just keep offering during the day. My babies both went through phases around 10-12 months where they were less interested in nursing. And then, after a few weeks, they would go back to nursing more often.
I guess I am crazy. I wake my daughter every morning at 0530 to nurse her before I leave for work. Unless she wakes and nurses like an hour before I usually wake her then I don't. Either way she is nursed at some point before I leave for work then I put her back in her crib and she goes back to sleep until 730-8am.
I personally would wake her when you get home. To me it would give you that mom and baby time and give her the security of you are home and there if she needs you. My daughter is 10.5months old and I have only once been away from her at bed time.
I am also to the point if I miss a pump while I am at work or am late with it my supply drops a little. When I first started I would get 16oz for two pumping sessions now I am down to 9oz as of today and I think this last drop is due to my daughter not really wanting to nurse after I get home. Kind of pains me to see it drop. Like you I just am not really yet...
Good luck you body takes a few days to readjust so this once if you chose not to wake her will be fine. You just would have to deal with discomfort which in that case take a warm shower.
No, I didn't wake my kids up to feed them. I pumped. I had the Medela Pump in Style and loved it. My kids didn't care if they were fed via a bottle or breast.
I would take my pump with me or express my milk into a sink - that pains me to type that - letting "liquid gold" go to waste....
You can introduce her to a sippy cup and have your expressed breast milk in that...have you tried that?
Good luck!!
I did it once or twice in the past so yes. Otherwise I'd express milk myself so I won't get engorged. I never did pump for time like this (rarely did actually unless we went out without our daughter.) Because I hated pumping. It was annoying to me.
No, I never woke my sleeping baby to feed her because I felt full - I pumped. If she is hungry she will wake, and feeling full is not good enough reason to wake her. Wanting the bonding time is not good enough reason to wake her. Just from outside glances it seems as though you do not want to let go of the nursing. Pump at night & freeze the milk for a rainy day, or dump it.
