She's 8 weeks today, she's had a similar pattern a while, but the not nursing times have extended recently (normal, I know). She fills plenty of diapers, yellow seedy poops, no supplement, gaining 8-10 OZ a week, but we haven't done a weight check for a few weeks. We don't vax, so we're doing a modified well-baby schedule. She's definitely growing well, and she's probably at the low end of the charts, if she's even on them yet because she was 4#13oz at birth. I'm mainly worried about my supply maintaining with her mellow nursing style. She feeds every couple hours during the day, with greater frequency by late afternoon. Duration of nursing session extends by late afternoon. Even at birth, she latched right on, nursed 22 ml, then was done. It took her at least two weeks before she'd nurse longer than 3-5 minutes a session. She's very different from dd#1, who nursed all the time...we made lots of homemade formula when she ran out of breastmilk donations!

Hi Tamara,

All appear well, thank you for your update. I just want to clarify something. At birth, babies do not take in a whole lot. This changes after a few days and within a couple of weeks a regular feeding pattern emerges.

If you are concerned about maintaining your supply, it would be a good idea to pump after some feeds and freeze your milk to use for supplementation.

I'm curious. What kind of home made formula are you talking about?

I'm also curious about why you're not vaccinating? I know it's a controversial issue in many areas of North America and I'm curious to have your viewpoint.

Best,

OK, I pretty much figured I'd have to keep pumping a bit. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> I was sure looking forward to being done with it. I can barely get the diapers washed, let alone pump too! Thanks so much for getting back to me.

We made formula for dd 1 and planned to make it this time around too. It's pretty much the Nourishing Traditions recipe, with a few addiutives our ND recommended. We used goat's milk in the recipe for dd1, so we had to adapt a bit. Now we have a good raw cow milk supply, so we planned on using that. If anyone wants other recipes with lots of research behind them, e-mail me at campbeta@efn.org We prefer live foods and I just couldn't give a powdered formula to my child...and if you think about how the formula companies get the lowest quality oils, etc for their formulas (babies can't taste, right <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />), homemade sounds best.

On vaxing, we believe (through a great deal of research) vaccinations cause more harm than good, and we don't trust what all that bombardment of the immune system is doing to their immune system. Add to that the fact that almost all of the research saying vaxing is good is coming from the pharmaceutical companies making an enormous amount of money on the whole project, and I want no part of it. When we travel in Africa, we will do a few, just because care for the particular diseases will be sub-standard. Until then, we're staying clean <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Here's an update for anyone interested...I've quit pumping altogether and all is fine. I just feed on demand, which varies from day to day. We just returned home after 3 weeks camping and festing and I am so glad I did the protocal! No tubes/homemade formula, just give sweet babe access to the breasts and she did her stuff. If only food for the four year old was so simple!

That is wonderful news. Thanks for sharing <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Tamara,
Good job! Could you tell me how much milk you were pumping during week one, two etc.... I am on day 11 of pumping and am getting only 4-4.5oz /24 hrs. I am thrilled to hear that you are feeding your baby only breast milk. I am wondering what pattern you followed to get there.
Punky

Hey Tamara,

That's WONDERFUL. I'm so happy to hear that your trip went well and that you and your baby are enjoying your breastfeeding relationship. You made my day!

And Punky,

After 11 days, 4 oz!!! You're doing GREAT! Better than I did and I ended up with over 30 oz in 24 hours.

Keep up the great work ladies! You're an inspiration to us all.

Best,

Good to hear Lenore and as I mentioned in the other post.. thanks , I needed to hear that. You are such an encouragement.
Punky

I agree with Lenore...4 oz is great! It took me about three weeks to get to 30 oz a day. I've heard that the Motherwear catalog is great inspiration for pumping. Once I had a supply saved up in my freezer, it helped a lot to know I was sharing milk with a little guy whose Mama had to postpone breastfeeding to fight cancer...She's now using my milk in the Lact-Aid!