Nursing your toddler

Nursing your toddler can be quite fun.Especially when they have a special word for it and can ask for it.And then there are the times, when they want you to breastfeed their favurite toy,in our case it's the monkey I've written about.It's really lovely.
However there are difficult times as well.
Right now we're going through such a phase.
D. has began to play with the opposite nipple! She squeezes it, pinches it,twiddles it and it really hurts, even though her nails are trimmed short.
All mammals do this instinctively as they want to increase the milk flow.
I'm sorry but I really can't stand it whether it's for the milk flow or for another reason.
I searched the internet and came across this link on Kellymom:
Nursing Manners

My understanding is that it's better if you can discard such behavior early on, before it turns into a habit.
I read about a mom on MDC. She let her child twiddle the nipple,she wasn't disturbed by it. One year later, she is pregnant now and has very sensitive nipples and doesn't know how to convince the child not to do it. A really difficult situation, me thinks!

It is suggested that we should give the child something else to play with.
I thought that a teat would be nice ;) We have a bottle that we use when I express my milk ( in reality we only used it a few times!)
Defne is very happy playing with it during the feeding times. And then she discovered other uses for it as well: It becomes a nice hat for the monkey! Naughty girl!

An article

I came across this fun article about extended breastfeeding last night at a forum I like to frequent:

Before giving birth to a second child, I had to get something important off my chest: namely, my daughter Beatrice. She was three-and-a-half years old and still breastfeeding. I knew I would not have the patience to nurse her alongside an insatiable newborn, so I finally decided it was time to quit. My only two questions: how do I wean her, and how in the world had I nursed her for so long?

Click here to read the rest.

Wordless Wednesday

Defne is enjoying the early summer.
16 months old:

• passionate about flowers, (can you see the daisies in her hands in the 2nd pic?)
  
• has recently become quite attached to the monkey,
• favourite toy:balls
• can't get enough of swinging!
  

My not-so-wordless-wednesday pictures ;)
Visit WW to see more!

Breastfeeding Awareness Week

Hello from a very sunny and hot England!
It's Breastfeeding Awareness Week here and I thought I'd like to tell you about an amazing mum whom I have met recently.
This mum had given birth to a gorgeous baby girl in mid Jan.They had problems establishing the breastfeeding.Little one was very sleepy and severely jaundiced.The mother used to pump her milk and fed her baby by tube.She then began to use a lactation aid.
I had read about "lactation aid" before but didn't see it.

What is a lactation aid?

A lactation aid is a device that allows a breastfeeding mother to supplement her baby with expressed breastmilk, formula, glucose water with added colostrum or glucose water without using an artificial nipple. It consists of a container for the supplement—usually a feeding bottle with an enlarged nipple hole—and a long, thin tube leading from this container.
Source:Kelly Mom

This thin tube is attached to the breast so baby gets both the formula and mummy's milk at the same time.

Why do I find this amazing?

As far as I have observed when babies don't gain enough weight, the health professionals usually tell new mums to top up the baby with formula. Baby gains weigh.However then another problem occurs: The baby is breastfeeding less and mummy's body begins to produce less milk. Welcome to a vicious circle!
What's more, the baby is having the formula from a bottle so she's having a nipple confusion.
Eventually most babies reject the breast.



Not all of us are fortunate to begin breastfeeding without any problems. We seek support when needed. This lovely new mother could not find the support she needed at the hospital but she was determined to breastfeed her baby, and she is doing it. She told me that she e-mailed to Dr.Jack Newman and he replied her mail within an hour.
Later it turned out that the baby wasn't gaining enough. They had to supplement with formula using the lactation aid. The bundle of joy is almost 4 months old now and she is thriving.
Whether to breastfeed or not is solely dependent on the mother.If she decides to give up for whatever reason, nobody will question this.However some amazing women keep strong to find a way to breastfeed their offsprings and it is just beautiful.

Happy breastfeeding week where ever you live!

Still here

It has been quite a time since I last posted.
The weather has been really pleasant in this part of the world.Trying to make the most of it,we have been spending many hours,walking,jumping,looking at flowers,feeding ducks and stroking puppies.
Here are a few photos:

You know,kids love playing with sand.We don't have a garden so here Defne is playing with oatmeal instead of sand.Very messy but provides lots of fun!




If you're a regular reader,you might remember that Defne skipped crawling.
She started to walk at 12 months.When she fell down,she used to get up on all fours and start walking again.Last weekend,at 16 months she started to crawl.Not as a means of transportation,just for the fun of it.



At these times last year,Defne was a young baby.We had to obey her sleeping schedule and spent much of the time at our town.This year she's a big girl who loves travelling.