Pride

My daughter had her 12 month doctor appointment today. Everything went well. Her height and weight are steady. Her development is right on target. The doctor was happy with everything. She even told me, "It's nice to deal with a baby that isn't chunky. Evidence shows that chunky babies tend to be obese adults." The nurse praised me for keeping up with her well-child visits, saying, "You wouldn't believe how many people don't." Other than the shots and bloodwork, it ended up being a very nice visit.



Weaning has been going well. The mid-morning feeding has been phased out. She hasn't even missed it. And I have lots of pride in the fact that I made it a year. According to the CDC, only about 17 percent of babies are breastfed through an entire year. Greta and I are in the minority. And she was exclusively breastfed through six months. That's pretty rare as well. Even though solid foods aren't recommended until six months, so many parents (and doctors tell them to!) start solids at four months. I guess it's okay to start at four months, but it's not recommended.

I think people feed their babies too much. There's a reason nearly 33 percent of children in this country are obese. It starts young. But I've covered this before.

Weaning

My daughter will be a year old in a little more than a week. Ever since I started her on solids, I've done everything to her pace. Baby-led weaning it's called.

And we are already down to only four (sometimes five) 10-minute nursings a day. She is getting less and less interested in breastfeeding. And that's good. I won't have to quit cold turkey, and she won't be traumatized by the whole process. In a couple weeks I hope to phase out another nursing. Following her lead, I will not ask or offer to nurse. But I will nurse if she gives me the signs that she wants to nurse. I think I will start with the mid-morning nursing. It seems to be the one she's the least interested in. She may not even notice.

It's a bittersweet time. Bitter because she is growing more independent. Bitter because we won't have that intimate time together anymore. Bitter because she is no longer a baby. Sweet because of all the breast issues. I won't have to deal with being engorged anymore. No more leaking. No more clogged milk ducts. I'll be able to sleep on my stomach again (this is related to the clogged ducts). Normal-sized boobs. Regular bras!!!!

So, my baby girl is becoming a little girl. Such is life.

My baby is normal weight...your baby is fat!

This is a bit of a rant and a definite rave.

Thank God for the Kelly Mom Web site! As a breastfeeding mom, I've found this site to be invaluable. I like how the information is easy-to-find and very balanced. The other breastfeeding Web site out there for La Leche League I have found to be very skewed toward almost being fanatical about breastfeeding. That's just not my thing. I support, but I'm not crazy!

Kelly Mom has kept me sane with my daughter's growth patterns. It's the only place that has the newer WHO growth charts as well as the CDC growth charts. I always get a little freaked out when my daughter goes to the doctor and is in the 25th percentile. Or was in the 40th percentile then drops to the 25th percentile. I go to Kelly Mom and find that her growth rates are perfect for a breastfed baby. The CDC charts are based on both breastfed and formula-fed babies. Thus, inaccurate for any baby! The WHO charts are based on only breastfed babies. (WHO figures if it is going to advocate breastfeeding, the growth charts better reflect that.) My daughter falls right along the 50th percentile on the WHO charts. I see that and I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Plus Kelly Mom has the CDC charts with the mean curve for breastfed babies printed on it. These CDC charts came out in response to the WHO charts. It shows that breastfed babies weight gain slows down dramatically right around 8-9 months, while if you look at the mean for all babies, it curves more up. Thus, why my little girl went from the 40th percentile to the 25th percentile on the CDC charts. Again, she stayed at the 50th percentile on the WHO charts. I notice that and breathe a sigh of relief.

So my rant is about the CDC growth charts being inaccurate for all babies. Breastfed babies cannot be compared to formula-fed babies and vice versa. And seeing that so few women still are breastfeeding at six months, let alone a year, there need to be charts to reflect how a baby is actually fed at the time that they are weighed. It would solve a lot of anxiety on breastfeeding moms. It may even keep some moms breastfeeding an entire year to know that their baby is just fine instead of hearing these crazy percentiles that aren't even based on breastfed babies! I'm sure some moms quit because they don't think their babies are gaining enough weight just because of the stupid charts or perhaps because of stupid doctors who don't understand that it's normal for a breastfed baby to fall in the lower percentiles on the CDC charts.

My rave, of course, is for Kelly Mom. Thanks for giving breastfeeding moms a factual, balanced place to go with all our questions!

Feeling conflicted with working and nursing....I'd rather nurse

It looks like I haven't written since a few weeks before my daughter was born. She was born on September 15, 2008. Labor went fairly quickly. I ended up needing a c-section. She had problems nursing. So that first month really sucked.

But now she is a healthy, happy, breastfed four-and-a-half-month-old baby.

I've gone back to work. I'm happy getting away from my daughter for some time everyday. And I'm lucky because my mom teaches preschool at a daycare. She picks the baby up and takes her to work with her and then watches her after she's come home until we get home from work. My mom has also decided she is retiring at the end of the school year. So no more daycare payments after May! At least until my mom gets sick of watching her granddaughter everyday.

So, luckily, I've been able to express milk while I'm at work. I just worked it out that I come in a little earlier to make up for the time it takes to pump. I'm a good little worker...but the company is also lucky that it doesn't have any smokers. I would be pissed off doing that when smokers take smoke breaks for ten minutes at a time every hour or so. I only need 15 minutes three times a day...and one of those times is during my lunch break.

It's still frustrating, though. No one here really understands how breastfeeding works. It's a small office. Two are men. Two of the women never had children. Two others did but formula fed. The last tried breastfeeding her first daughter and quit after two weeks. So she is the only one who even slightly understands.

They just don't understand that I really shouldn't skip a pumping session. They don't understand the bond I have with my daughter when I nurse. They don't understand why I'm so worried when my daughter has to have a bottle when she doesn't normally get one.

Case in point: I've been asked to cover for an evening meeting. To do this would be a logistical nightmare for a nursing mom. I would only get to nurse my daughter once the entire day (in the morning). Then I would have to pump the rest of the day, requiring at least seven or eight bottles for storage. Plus, a cooler to store them in. The one I normally used only has space for four bottles. That gets me through a regular workday. I've tried to explain this, but the person who handles the schedule just doesn't get it. She's very flippant. Almost like she is saying, "So what!"

I think there should be more education about breastfeeding and how important it is for a working mom who nurses to nurse as often as she can. I love nursing my daughter and it breaks my heart that I won't be able to nurse her that day. And for no good reason but to babysit a group who will be using our meeting room. I actually want to cry about it! So I'm stuck doing it...all I can do now is to pray that the meeting ends up being canceled.

I already have issues with the fact that my boss thought that I wouldn't come back to work after my maternity leave. He is very conservative and old-fashioned. He thought I would end up being a stay-at-home mom. I think until recently he thought I would quit at any moment to do so. I love my daughter, but I really need the time away from her. I really would like to leave this job, but the job market is so bad right now. I want to be at a more family-centric company!

Anyhow, that is what is going on. Thanks for listening.