Sleep at Last

As you know, we have had some adventures with Mathias and his sleeping pattern. After the last breakthrough, we settled into an acceptable pattern of him waking up twice to eat, once right before we went to bed and once more sometime in the 2:00 to 3:00 am time period. Things were looking good, even if I still had to get up at night.

Then he stopped wanting to nurse during the day. Sorry, Bud, but that is not acceptable. Mathias would nurse well at night, and then not nurse much until dinner time. To me, there is nothing worse than wanting to feed my baby and to have him refuse, expressing his desire with wiggles, screams and bites.

Luckily, I spoke to a wise friend at church (the wisdom coming from having six kids) who said that she had had the same problem with some of her kids and that the only way to fix it was to stop nursing them at night. Inspired by her experiences and the hope that there was a solution to the problem (that I would be happy with), we started that night.

A week and a half later, I'm happy to say that Mathias is well on his way to sleeping through the night. I started by just cutting out the second feeding, but the last couple of nights, he has cut out the first one as well. I've been getting so much sleep that I am just exhausted! And even better than that, Mathias has nursed well during the day ever since I started. He doesn't get as distracted as he used to so I don't have to shut myself up in a room and warn Anna to stay away or else.

Hurray for Sleep!

Little Nurse Maid

I've always wondered what Anna thought of how I feed Mathias. Sure, she ate the same way at that age, but like she's going to remember that! And for the longest time she would try to have her doll drink from her sippy cup. In nursery at church she rushes for the doll bin and collects all the dolls and all the bottles, and feeds them. I really don't know where she figured that one out since Mathias has only used a bottle once in his short 6 months of life.

Yesterday, we had a break through. My breastpump was lying out on the counter drying and Anna pointed to it and said "I need to punk." What? "I need to punk, Mommy. I have lots of milk."

Today was even better. I had just finished nursing Mathias and changing his diaper and came out to the living room to see this:

 

If you notice, she had to nurse on both sides (because, she told me, she had a lot of milk) and very properly burped the baby when she was done. I tell you, just seeing her gave me warm fuzzies.

Got Milk?

The other day, my sister-in-law asked me what the perks of having two children were. Not only was this a great reminder to look for the positive in this experience, but among the perks I thought of, I was reminded of how much I love nursing. Sure, nursing a baby can be frustrating, exhausting, painful, and time consuming, but I still love it.

Granted, I have been blessed to have an easy time breastfeeding. Anna didn't give me all that many problems nursing and Mathias has been that much easier. Mathias does frustrate me by falling asleep and not eating as much as I think that he should, but he certainly doesn't look like he is not getting enough, now does he?

It is hard to pin down exactly why I enjoy nursing so much, but I think it comes down to two things. First, I love the closeness I feel with my child as I nurse. To sit there looking down on my child's face as he contently nurses brings me such joy. That may be from the hormones, but I'll take it any way it comes. Second, nursing is something only I can do for my children. Hubby can't do it, no matter how many times I ask him to take care of a night time feeding. Grandma can't do it, no matter how much advice she gives. Anna can't do it, though she does like helping me pump when he doesn't eat "enough". It is a job for me alone to do and being able to do it brings a lot of satisfaction, especially as they gain weight and I know it is all from me.

Now, I know that not everyone can nurse or that people choose not to nurse for very long or at all, and I respect that. But for me, nursing brings me so much fulfillment as a woman that I will continue to nurse for as long as my children want to, within reason.