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In the 60s, virtually no one breast fed in this culture. Not even the hippies. We were all pushed onto "better life through science" then. I gotta say that my life would be much easier if I formula fed him exclusively. It can take up to an hour's worth of breastfeeding just to make sure he gets a full meal at his new demand level until my body clues in that he needs more now and then makes more. It would most certainly be pretty hairy around here if I breastfed AND had other kids around. I do it because our "better life through science" has now moved into admitting that science can't yet create the formula that replicates everything in breastmilk and I don't have any older children. How women who have 3, 4 kids all close in age do this for their younger kids is beyond me. I know Kathleen had a hard enough time breastfeeding her youngest and she only has one older child.
According to Alex's pediatrician and the lactation consultants at the hospital and my breastfeeding class, I was to expect that Alex would not sleep a 5-6 hour stretch through the night until he was at least 3 months old. Formula fed babies sleep through the night earlier because formula is so much denser a food. Breastfed babies do not sleep through the night so early because breastmilk is a much lighter food and it's that much more efficient a food. The baby uses it up much more quickly than he would formula. It's common for breastfed babies Alex's age to STILL be eating every two hours. It's also common for them to have far fewer bowel movements, because their bodies use up the breastmilk that well.
I spoke to a pediatric nurse at his doctor's office yesterday about the lack of bowel movement yesterday. She said that with his diet of at least 50% breastmilk (some days more), I can even expect that he'd go DAYS without a bowel movement at this age. (He finally had one last night). The pig out he's been on is apparently also normal for his age and growth rate and that demand will be higher still because of the breastfeeding. It's kinda the equivalent of using high octane fuel. It has less gunk in it, so the engine burns it up faster - but runs better for it.
The pediatrician told me that I have to wait for his intellectual development to show signs of being able to understand anticipation of events before I can have any prayer of setting a rigid feeding schedule for him. Without Alex being able to understand that if I don't respond right away, I will eventually be coming, I'm fighting a losing battle on setting it down in stone. Alex has shown only a slight ability to anticipate events in the past two weeks. These days he will stop his crying and smile when we put a bib on him or when I place him on the Boppy pillow in a position for breastfeeding. Two weeks ago, he didn't yet understand what those actions would mean. I've also extended the breastfeeding times for him so that he'll get a little bit more than usual, which will last him a bit longer. That's made life a lot easier.
The thing about breastfeeding is that Alex and I will reap the benefits from it all by the things that don't happen, so it's hard to measure the success. I'll know it worked when he gets fewer ear infections or colds than he would have without it. We'll know that it worked when his IQ is higher than it would have been without it. Thing is, there's no way of knowing what the lower level of success would have been. For my money though, the fewer nights I spend pacing the floors at 4 AM with an infant screaming from the pain and discomfort of an ear infection, the better. So, it's all worth it.
We don't see the doctor again until the end of May/first few days of June, depending on when I get the appointment. The appointments are to be set for his month passage days - approx. May 28 for two months, June 28 for three months, etc. I'll let you know what comes of the next appointment. (He's supposed to start his immunizations then.)
May 17, 2007
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