the road to relactation
Posted on August 29, 2007
A few months before Mateo turned six months, our little guy refused to nurse from me. I would offer my breasts to him at every opportunity and yet he'd turn away from it. As if he was disgusted. LOL. I initially approached the situation with much determination – Mateo WILL feed from me.
After a few days and numerous frustrated words, the little one made me cry in surrender. I tried to convince myself that six months of breastfeeding is more than enough. I was saddened thinking that my boy is indeed growing up. I finally made a conscious decision to wean him from my breast. I was resigned to letting him drink ounces of formula milk. I was prepared to shell out more money to buy more milk. I started looking forward to freedom from breastfeeding, like being able to leave Mateo for more than a few hours or finally going on a diet I've been planning since I gave birth.
Mateo has other plans though, almost immediately after I made that decision, he decided otherwise. He started rejecting the bottle and nursing from my breast until my nipples hurt. As if trying to make up for the times he rejected me. As the days went by, he'd take less and less milk from the bottle even when I'm not at home.
Nowadays, he'd take an average of 2 ounces from the bottle. He rarely finishes a whole bottle now but would eagerly feed from my breast when offered. This has prompted me to work on getting my milk back. A lot of work is being done by the consumer with all the sucking he's been doing. I've been helping him by drinking Anmum Lacta, Natalac, iron supplements, and calcium supplements – all prescribed by his pediatrician. Most of the time, I feel like I don't have enough milk especially when I try to pump. But my baby is very active and looks very healthy so I'm not very worried. Plus he drinks hungrily from me every time which can only mean that I have milk, right?
Just when I thought that my milk supply is diminishing and my breastfeeding days will soon be over. It's quite the opposite actually since Mateo has never really rejected the bottle before. So now, I can't leave him for long lest he starves himself by rejecting the bottle. A small part inside me is happy though. Happy that he'd continue getting breastmilk which is best until two years of age. There's even a tiny egotistic side of me that's happy because my baby still wants me. Hehe!
I never thought I'd be able to successfully breastfeed him for this long. Looks like the two of us will be aiming for the 12-month mark. After that, we'll see…
» Filed Under Breastfeeding, Mateo, Motherhood Tags:
good for you sis. Would you know why he went on a nursing strike?
Galing mo sis to be able to breastfeed after that. Few are that successful kasi.
my sister never breastfed my nephew… pero super close at healthy pa rin nya….
anyway, congratulations on your breastfeeding vocation..sana ako din kaya ko ng ganyan katagal…
congratulations on the breastfeeding. I’m looking forward to enjoy this with my son as well
Nice – Idol kita sa pag-breastfeed no! Hehe! Galing mo kasi, hangang ngayon breastfed pa din si Andrei and to think na working ka, galing talaga!
Hindi ko pa din alam kung bakit sya nag-nursing strike although me mga suspetsa ako… teething or baka kasi I went back to work part-time. Actually, si Mateo talaga ang magaling, hehe! Kasi parang give up na nga ako but he decided otherwise for me 
Thet – Breastfeeding can be quite a challenge talaga. Kaya ako ang stand ko e bf if you can but if not, okay lang din… you’re not less of a mother if you don’t. Actually kasi marami ang hindi nagiging successful because of lack of knowledge pagdating sa breastfeeding. So if you’re set on bfing your future baby/babies, kayang-kaya yan basta prepare for it
For the mean time… isipin mo muna ang kasal mo. Haha!
gailey – Thanks! I’m sure the two of you can do it!!!
you are just so lucky Andrea. inggit talaga ako sa inyo ni Nice!
Litzie – matigas kasi ulo ko at mapilit pa. Haha! Di bale, Dustin is very healthy naman. Super chubby pa nga. And you can always try sa next baby. It might be easier kasi kahit papano you know na what to expect.