Alison

My son is 9 days old and I have only been breastfeeding the entire time. I breastfed my first son, but because he was jaundice at birth I had to pump and bottle feed him for the first week or so. That is not the case this time, so I'm just curious when it is safe to introduce a bottle ( to avoid nipple confusion). I have pumped a few times and have some milk stored in the freezer, his father would like to be able to feed him if I should need to go out for more than a few hours. So my question is how long should we wait to introduce a bottle of pumped breast milk.

My son just turned one 2 days ago, and I've decided to bottle break him immediately. He will drink water or juice out of the sippy cup no problem but he doesn't want anything to do with a sippy cup of milk. He drinks milk out of the bottle but as soon as I offer it in a sippy cup he throws it on the ground and kicks it and acts like its a toy. I haven't offered him anything but water and milk out of the sippy cup since early yesterday morning and no bottles. He took his nap and slept fine last night but will not drink any milk out of the cup. I know if I give him milk in the bottle he will just hold out for it in the future, but I also know that he needs milk. What should I do?

I have a 10 month old son and I am 22 weeks pregnant with my next baby. After I gave birth to my son I immediately decided that I would not be having another baby. My labor was long and terrible, I started to feel my contractions at about 5 pm the evening before I delivered, and got an epidural about 3 hours later when I was 4 centimeters dilated. I felt better after the epidural and it was getting late so I wanted to get some rest while I waited for things to progress, but every time I would turn over to try to get comfortable in the bed a nurse would come in and tell me I had to lay flat on my back so they could keep the baby's vital signs recorded. I was so uncomfortable that I didn't end up getting any rest, just laid on my back wide awake ALL night. Well about 10 hours after getting the epidural I started to feel my contractions again very intensely, they gave me more medication but it was helping. It was a very intense pressure in my lower back, like I needed to push, but no one would listen to me, they just kept telling me that I needed to wait for the doctor to get there so he could break my water. They also told me that my baby was turned around and he face was pressed against my spine, they called it back labor. 3 hours later the doctor finally showed up and broke my water, there was meconium in the water (doesn't that mean the baby was in distress?) and I pushed for about an hour and a half before delivering my son after 17 hours of labor. I had no pitocen only and epidural, and I was 39 weeks and 6 days along when I went to the hospital with contractions, so I really don't understand why my labor was so long. Maybe I'm just being dramatic, but it seemed to me like things could have gone a lot smoother and less stressfully. Well they say after awhile you forget how bad labor was but for me it has only been 10months, I was not planning on having another baby and was on birth control, but I ended up getting pregnant anyways, so this is my dilemma. I am terrified to have a similar experience this time around. Does anyone have any suggestions on ways to make labor easier? I am fairly certain that I want to have an epidural again, but want to try and hold out for a little bit longer this time. I've read that not being attached to monitors and being able to move and walk around makes things move along a lot faster. But the hospital I will be delivered at seemed to want me on my back in the bed even before I got the epidural. Again any suggestions would really be appreciated.

I am 15 weeks and 4 days pregnant, I went to the doctor yesterday and he said that he can not feel the top of my uterus. He could hear the heartbeat and I had an ultra sound about 3 weeks ago so I know there is definitely a live baby in there. My question is, if he can't feel the top of my uterus does that mean that the baby isn't growing correctly? Is this something I should be concerned about? Is there anything I can do?

The I am about 10 weeks pregnant, and I have had some nausea but no morning sickness. When I was pregnant with my son I didn't have any either. My mother told me when she was pregnant with me she had morning sickness but not when she was pregnant with my brother. I was just wondering if anyone who has had both a girl and a boy had a similar experience, is there anyone who had morning sickness with a boy or didn't have any with a girl. I'd like a girl this time to have one of each, but it doesn't really matter, I'm just curious.

My son is 7 months old and has never slept through the night. I put him to bed at about 7 to 7:30 and he goes down awake and falls asleep on his own without crying at all. But he wakes up every 3 hours to 40 minutes. I feed him plenty during the day and breastfeed him, at night when he wakes up I nurse him but he isn't hungry and usually falls asleep very quickly, but sometimes he will be awake for up to 2 hours in the middle of the night. I've tried everything, co-sleeping and having him sleep in a crib, wearing him all the time and holding him regularly, letting him cry not letting him cry, swaddling and not swaddling, putting him to bed earlier and later, feeding him solids right before bed and doing it an hour and a half before bed, music, white noise, bedtime lotion, keeping the house warm and keeping it cooler, nursing before bed, giving a bottle of expressed breast milk before bed, several naps a day, only one nap a day. NOTHING WORKS!!! He has never woken up less than twice in an 8 hour period, but its usually 4 or 5 times in 12 hours. The reason I feel some urgency in resolving this problem is because I am 8 weeks pregnant with a new baby, and breastfeeding while I am pregnant takes A LOT out of my body, and I am already exhausted, not to mention that there will be another baby who needs me soon. I don't know what to do and I am so desperate for some sleep. He is a very energetic baby and is already crawling and pulling himself up to standing position in his crib and on furniture, so our days aren't mellow either. I've met so many moms with babies who have slept through the night since they were 2 1/2 to 4 months old, and hearing that makes me so jealous. I just want one good nights sleep! PLEASE HELP!

My first son is 6 months and 3 weeks old, and I have been breastfeeding him exclusively until about a month ago when we started him on solids. I had planned to breastfeed him for at least a year, or until he started talking, but I just found out that despite having the Paragaurd IUD I am pregnant again, about 8 weeks along. Is it okay to breastfeed through my entire pregnancy? My son will be about 14 months old when the new baby is born. Should I stop at 12 months or just keep going until the new baby is born? Will my supply for the new baby be affected at all? I'm also worried about weaning a 14 month old from the breast while adjusting to a new baby. Obviously this pregnancy wasn't planned but there is a baby coming regardless of our plans, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My son is 5 months and 19 days old, and I've noticed recently that he doesn't coo or babble. He used to, up until maybe a month ago. I try to talk to him, I repeat "mama" over and over and I tell him I love him and when he fusses I ask him whats wrong. When I put him in the stroller or car seat I tell him where we're going and what we're going to do. I play patty cake with him and point to his mouth, nose, etc. and say what they are. But he doesn't verbal interact with me at all. He smiles all the time and laughs when I tickle him or make a funny noise, but he doesn't coo or babble at all. Is this something I should be worried about? Is there anything else I can do to get him to develop his communication skills?

Okay so I asked a question a few days ago about my baby's sleep problems and I got a lot of answers that didn't really help, I think I wasn't detailed enough. My son is 18 weeks old, and has never slept through a night. I exclusively breastfeed him and love holding him. But he does not sleep well at all. I try to do a bedtime routine... bath, jammies, swaddle, nurse laying down, rocking the chair and singing lullabies. But no matter how early I start the routine I can't seem to get him to sleep any earlier than 10 or sometimes later. His first stretch of sleep he spends in his playpen bassinet next to my bed, and it always the longest. But sometimes it only lasts for 2 hours before he is up and crying for me. When he wakes up I only unswaddle for a clean diaper if he is wet, and I nurse him lying down in bed with no lights or noise. Sometimes he falls right back to sleep in about 20 minutes but it can also take up to an hour to get him back to sleep. He then wakes up every 20 minutes to 2 hours after that to nurse until his dad gets up for work at 5 am and bring him into bed with me where he'll sleep for about another hour and a half. We then start our day at about 7 or 8 am. Throughout the day he takes short naps, anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, but usually in my arms. He is always cranky an I'm sure its because he is tired but I can't get him to sleep for any length of time so he can get some rest. The only 2 answers I can seem to get to my problem is either to let him cry himself to sleep or to just deal with it, but neither seem like acceptable solutions to me. I love my son so much and would do anything for him, so please no judge mental responses, I know I am a good mother and no one will convince me otherwise.

So my son just turned 4 months old yesterday, and he does not sleep well at all. He is exclusively breastfed, and the only way I can get him to fall asleep is to swaddle him tightly and nurse him laying down in bed until he falls asleep then I have to gently put him in his crib without waking him up, if he wakes up in the night I have to do the same thing to get him back to sleep, even though I'm sure he isn't hungry. I try to do all the same things and gently wake him up before laying him down in his crib, but he just cries and cries until I pick him up and either rock him in the rocking chair or nurse him again (even though I'm sure he isn't hungry). My mother says I should just let him cry but I've read that its not good to do that until they're about 7 months, and I really don't think I could stand to do it right now. I've read that for a baby to be able to soothe himself back to sleep in the night its important for him to fall asleep in the same place he will wake up. I really need some advice on this, because I can't keep waking up 3 or 4 times a night with him, he is not a newborn anymore.

He is very colicky so its hard to tell if he is even more fussy because he's teething or if its just the colic, but he has been drooling A LOT and he seems more fussy than usual, all the time. Also I breastfeed him and all of a sudden my nipples hurt like crazy when I nurse him. I'm not sure if he is biting me or not but I can't think of any other explanation. Any advice?

I have a 10 week old son who is exclusively breastfeed. I don't pump very often maybe 20 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. But my husband and I are thinking of taking a little vacation, my parents would watch him from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. My first question is really how much will I have to pump to be able to leave my parents with enough milk for him for the weekend. Also do I need to pump while I am away from him? If so how often, and will it effect my milk supply negatively? Thanks.

Before I got pregnant the idea of formula feeding never even occured to me, it was just a given to me that mothers are supposed to breastfeed their babies. Because it is the natural thing I just assumed it would be easy and never researched it. But after my son was born we had a very hard time getting him to latch on, the lactation consultant gave me a nipple shield and that was the only way I was able to get him latched on, now he won't latch on at all without it. I have what the lactation consultant called a forceful letdown, so my baby is constantly choking sputtering and gulping air. I also have an oversupply of milk so the fore milk is causing him to be very gassy and colicky. Feeding him is a constant struggle and he always seems to be hungry. I don't feel comfortable feeding him in public because of the shield and because we struggle so much, so it seems like we are stuck at home all the time. I've been waiting for things to get easier, but son is almost 9 weeks old and it only seems to be getting harder. When I pump and give him a bottle he eats fine and we can go out like a normal family and at least I know that if he is fussing its not because he's hungry.

I know the benefits of breastfeeding and the bond that it should form between mother and child. But it just seems like bottle feeding would be so much less stressful on both of us and our bond could only stand to benefit. The thought of switching to formula makes me feel like a total failure, but I also feel like I am being selfish by forcing him to nurse when it is so uncomfortable for him.

Can anyone relate or give me any advice?