I've said from the start that Birdie and I have it pretty easy. We both took to nursing like the proverbial ducks to water. We nurse on cue and we've developed a workable pattern that keeps us both happy. Birdie has always dawdled on the boob. When she first latches on for a feeding she's all business, for about the first two minutes. Then we get comfy and its:
Suck, suck suck. Oh this is nice. Snooooooze . . . Wha? Oh yeah, I'm on a boob! Suck, suck suck.
That pattern keeps us nursing for about 20 to 30 minutes a feeding. I've always thought that if she sucked through the whole feeding like she does at the beginning, then we'd be done in half the time. Her latch is good and she stays latched until the end when she pops off in her zen state.
Until recently.
Birdie is getting a little bigger and has more to contend with when it comes to our nursing relationship. She can now grasp most things, which of course includes my breast. During feedings she now gets a death grip on the breast she's feeding from and holds it like its a cheeseburger thats ready to run away. DH thinks its hilarious, but little baby fingers digging into skin make things a little more difficult than usual. I keep trying to loosen her grasp, but its not working.
Then there's the new pattern. After her two minutes of business-like sucking we start doing things. We smile at the boob and come unlatched. We relatch and then in a moment or two we start talking and cooing at the boob, and come unlatched. We relatch and then the cat walks by, we now have to rubber neck and come unlatched. We relatch and then mom sneezes, which scares the daylights out of us and we come unlatched. We relatch and then the boob strikes us as funny and we laugh at the boob (my child laughs like Krusty the clown) Once again we come unlatched, and on, and on, and on. Twenty minutes of nursing is now 45 minutes, easy.
I'm not sure what to do about this "problem." On one hand, it really isn't a problem, its just takes more time. On the other hand, I've had to learn how to cross stitch while nursing because 45 minutes of lovingly gazing into my baby's eyes is a little much for the both of us. I'm assuming its just a phase, and it is pretty cute when we smile at the boob or give it our Krusty laugh. All of the latching and relatching was making the nipples unhappy but we got the nipple cream back out (haven't had to use it since day two) and set things right. I'm lucky I'm not a modest nurser because when she gets into a conversation with the boob I'm flashing nipple all over the place. I'm lucky that I have a fluid schedule and that we can deal with longer nursing sessions but I have to admit, I miss the old pattern.
Hahahaha. This sounds so familiar. I really must admit, that as much as I tried and I wanted to, I did not have a successful nursing relationship with my daughter. So I really envy you that, and am really happy for you. So, being a mom who bottle fed, it may seem like I have no right to be offering you advice. But regardless of how we feed our kids, they all get into that easily distracted "rubber neck" phase where every tiny thing besides the feeding catches their attention. The squeezing your boob thing rang particularly true, as my daughter loves to grip everyting in sight. What really helped us to have smoother feedings was of course minimizing distractions, which I am sure you have thought of, and having something (besides my nose) that she could grab and shake. We would give it to her in the middle of the feeding when the rubber neck became more of a problem (not start the feeding with it in her hand). Her favorites are a spoon, or one of her rubber bath toys. It may work for you too, I don't know. Just wanted to share what works for us, bec I know that sometimes you can feel like all you do all day is feed and change, and feed and chage, and sometimes you just want to expedite those feedings just a little.
ReplyDeleteYou could try a nursing necklace. Just google them for ideas. It makes a really nice momento too.
ReplyDelete