My New Breastfeeding Story Continued

Last year on this day, I shared my last story about breastfeeding my daughter, she was three and I had a growing belly. That was likely the hardest time in my breastfeeding journey at that point. I knew I didn’t want to tandem nurse and she was three so I felt like I had given her everything she needed. She weaned just about two weeks before we welcomed my little Logan into the world. In all honesty, I still miss nursing her. Thankfully she will still cuddle with me but what a hard change that was on both of us.

Breastfeeding my son

They always say that no two children are alike and it isn’t that I didn’t believe them, but I didn’t realize how different they would be. Just about everything that Sarah did or didn’t do, Logan is the exact opposite. In just about everything but definitely in breastfeeding.

Ever since a couple days after he was born, he did not want to snuggle with me while he nursed. I loves his legs out far and usually a little twisted so that his back is flat. Thankfully he is a bit bigger now so he can still get more of the milk more efficiently. I am also thankful that all the acrobatics that I take photos of for other moms of their littles climbing all over them still does not happen with him. But is has been quite the adjustment not to simply snuggle up and nurse all day.

Biting while breastfeeding

This is another thing that has been so different. For Sarah, I used a couple tricks and she was done biting within a week and never really picked it back up again. Logan on the other hand seems to love to bite me. I have tried every trick I know from remaining calm and saying no, making a scene about it, popping him off and setting on the floor, you name it. It will seem to work for a few days and then there he goes biting again.

He has also grown in teeth so much faster than Sarah did. She only had 4 teeth when she turned a year old. Logan already has 6 and I have a sneaking suspicion that he is working on two more. Cue the tears. Hopefully soon I can add an update that he is no longer doing this but for now, I say ouch.

Oh and the pinching

I think most babies pinch to some degree, but Logan sure knows how to get that yelp. You know the one where you can’t even fight it coming. He will use his whole hand and make a little pinching fist digging all four nails in. This does seem to get more fierce the more sleepy he is so I’m learning when I need to be more cautious.

The only thing I have truly found to help is to either keep him distracted with holding his hand or my Teething Treasures necklace (I am not an affiliate just love it too much not to share). If I am wearing one of these necklaces he will usually choose to play with it instead of pinching me. It’s also been a great teether when I am just carrying him as well.

Starting Solids

We did wait until a few days shy of 6 months, to start solid foods. But boy was he ready. He seems to love to eat. Anything we give him he just scarfs it right down. We are using both purees and baby led weaning. It seems to be working really well.

Starting solids though has made me wonder on more than one occasion if he was trying to wean away from the breast and question if we would still make it to a year (or longer). What I have found is that my milk simply does not fill him up anymore but that he does still want to nurse as well. Breastfeeding is so much more than milk and he has shown that to be true. He still loves his milk, and his half way of laying with me.

Our Goals

I never intended to nurse Sarah as long as I did, but I am so grateful that I was able to. With Logan I am starting with the same goal in mind - one year. Then once we hit that, I will go for two. But after that I am not sure that I want to nurse him into three or beyond. Only time will tell. But for now, I don’t truly see an actual end in sight, even if it doesn’t quite look the same as it once did.

I would love to hear about your story, and your goals. Tell me about it in the comments below or send me a message and we can discuss if you would like to share your own story here on the blog. 

NOTE: All images in this blog are courtesy of Yelena Byers Photography.