Tag Archives: breast feeding

Weaning Chhori off breastfeeding

Posted on September 18, 2016 | 10 comments

I know breastfeeding is good for the baby and it is recommended to breastfeed as long as possible up to age 2. Chhori is 18 months now and we have decided to wean her off breastfeeding.

As I have written in my previous post, we had wean her off night feed for a while now and I am so grateful to have a husband who helped me to do that. I am sure I couldn’t have handled it by myself. I felt like a zombie some days when I used to feed her at night and have a full time job.

But I thought she was old enough to have cow milk now so I decided to wean her off breastfeeding altogether. I knew it was not going to be an easy task but me and AS made the decision that it was a good time to do it.

chhori-6

Lately, I have realised that Chhori wanted to be breastfed when she is bored, not when she is hungry. She is doing well with solid food so it was our motivation to go ahead with the weaning.

In order to discourage her from asking for milk frequently, I made a paste out of turmeric powder and lemon and rubbed it around the nipples.

I told her my boobs hurt and showed her the yellow nipples. She didn’t believe me at first so she tried to drink the milk as usual. But it was not the same because of the paste so she immediately stopped. Every time, she asked for milk, I showed her my turmeric lemon rubbed boos and emphasised that it hurts. The first few days she kept on trying to drink once in a while as she forgot the taste but I kept on adding the paste so she would understand that the milk doesn’t taste the same anymore.

I guess it is easier to wean when kids are under 1 but when they are a toddler, they remember them more so it is harder to wean them.

Anyway I had to do it for 5 days in a row before I stopped applying the paste and then, I didn’t need to show her but just tell her that it hurts. By day 7, she didn’t even ask for it anymore.

hamilton zoo (13)

Today is day 16 and she doesn’t mentioned it at all. So finally she is off the boob.

We did have one night when she cried a lot – almost 2 hours on and off and nothing we did would make her stop but apart from that things are looking OK. She still wakes up some nights but she is not asking for milk, which is great. Sometimes it is hard for her to go back to sleep but I am sure things will get better as time passes.

I think more than her, I had trouble the first few days because when she want to be fed and she cried or made sorry faces, I feel so guilty. Sometimes, I felt as if I shouldn’t wean her now but me and AS had made the decision and I had to stick with it. Also I know for sure, the longer it goes on, the harder it will get for both of us. Now I can play with her for a long time without her getting distracted by wanting to breastfeed. I really love our new relationship. 🙂

Tell me your weaning story. Is there anything I could do to make her feel better?

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

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Weaning Chhori from night feed

Posted on July 8, 2016 | 6 comments

I am sure I have mentioned before that Chhori is still night feeding on a good night, she wakes up 1-2 times for a feed while on bad ones it is multiple times.

Chhori (4)

This routine didn’t bother me when I was home looking after her but since I started work, it started affecting my day. There were days when I was not functioning properly at all as I was sleep deprived days in a row.

Anyway, this was the signal for me to start looking for a solution to stop night feeding. I still wanted her to breastfeed for the next few months at least but I definitely wanted to stop night feeding.

So the solution was for me to sleep in a different room than Chhori. So AS and Chhori slept in our room and I slept in Chhori’s room.

chhori (5)

First night, she woke up the same as usual and started looking for milk. When she didn’t get it, she cried. She opened her eyes and saw her daddy instead of mummy and she cried more. It took AS a long time to calm her down and put her back to sleep. It was the same every time she woke up looking for milk.

I was in the next room so I could hear her cry and was so tempted to run, hug her and feed her. But I knew that was not going to solve my problem. She is old enough now that she doesn’t need night feeding as most kids over 1 year will not wake up multiple times at night for a feed.

The second night the story was similar but the cry was shorter and AS got better at calming her but I was still tempted to run over to hold her every time she cried. So on the third day, we decided that it is best for me to sleep in the guest bedroom which is further away from our bedroom so I don’t hear much at all. So I have been doing that for the last 5 days. I occasionally hear her cry but not much.

chhori (3)

Also according to AS, she is getting better at not crying even if she wakes up during the night. If she does cry, it lasts less than a minute and she is back to sleep.

We are hoping that in a few weeks, she will get better and will sleep through the night so I can go and sleep back in our room. I really hope this will work otherwise we will be back to square one.

I am loving my 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for sure but AS probably isn’t 🙂

Please, please share any tips that will help this process be easier for me and Chhori. Thanks in advance.

Take care,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

 

6 Comments

Posted in Being Mum, Our daughter

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Thank you solid food

Posted on August 25, 2015 | 1 comment

Anyone with kids knows that sleep is a luxury for  the first year of being a new mum. I am sure only a few are lucky enough to be able to say that their baby sleeps through the night from the very first week.

I am not any different either. Before Chhori came into my world I loved my sleep and tried to sleep 8 hours every night. I was always fresh and rested when I woke up every morning. But for the past 6 months, 8 hours of sleep seem like a distant dream. Like every new mum, I am juggling my new baby, home and everything else with little sleep. The sad thing is that I have so many things to do when Chhori sleeps that I cannot even catch up on my lost sleeps when she naps.

Chhori

For the first month, I had to wake up every two hours to feed Chhori. She didn’t know the difference between night and day so I had to follow her routine. Also she was exclusively breastfed so my husband couldn’t help me either even when he wanted to. Slowly she started to get better but until she was only breastfeeding, she used to wake up at least twice or more during the night.

I still remember the first time she slept through for more than 3 hours at night and I was super happy to get even that brief a rest.

chhori (3)

As I mentioned on my previous posts, I have started Chhori on solid food. I started slowly with purée and she now eats more solid. I will share more recipe on the foods I am making at home for her soon.

These days she has solid food 3-4 times a day. And I tell you she loves it too. I feel so good when she opens her mouth when I bring the spoon close to her. I am giving her a mix of home made and store bought purees. She is a good girl as she also eats pumpkins, carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips and broccoli puree too. Of course her favorite ones are mango and banana pure and sweet custards.

apple puree (3)

The best benefit the solid food has bought apart from helping Chhori with required nutrition is that it is helping her sleep longer.

Chhori used to take 20 – 30 minutes nap 4 – 5 times a day and at night still woke up 3 – 4 times to feed. The longest she went without feeding was 4 hours and that on good nights. But since she started eating solids, she sleeps for 6 hours straight and I need to feed her only 1 – 2 times during the night. Also during the day, she has longer naps which sometimes has lasted up to 2 hours.

Chhori (2)

The first night she slept for 6 hours, I woke up just to check if she was OK. I was so glad that she slept for 6 hours straight for the whole week this week. And I know, things will get better from here on so big thanks to solid food.

To all the new mums out there, things do get better as they grow older in terms of sleeping. So hang in there and do what you are doing. There is no rule and no right and wrong. Just do what you think is right and eventually you will get there. Never forget happy mum is happy baby and a happy baby makes a happy mum too.

Now my next goal will be getting Chhori to sleep through the night which should hopefully happen in the next couple of months. I will definitely keep you posted with the progress.

All the parents who have been through all these situations please do share your tips and tricks to make a new mum’s life easier. I am sure I am missing some amazing tricks. Hope to hear from you all.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO

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Homemade purée

Posted on August 12, 2015 | 11 comments

Chhori had her pasni just before my parents left; it was a fun event and I will post about it soon.

Chhori (2)

She was just over 5 months old when we did her pasni. In Australia, the midwives advise exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and that was what I was aiming to do. But after pasni, every time we ate anything, Chhori would look at us with puppy eyes, with the innocent look as if saying “I want some of it too.” So we decided that we would start solid slowly.

First we went out and bought a few varieties of organic purée. I discovered that she loves the taste of apple, banana and mango.

These days as I am staying home looking after her, I decided it would be a good idea to give her some homemade purée. It was so easy to make one so here is how I did it.

  • Skin 3 apples and cut them into cubes.
  • apple puree (3)
  • Add half cup of water and apple cubes into a pressure cooker. If you don’t have pressure cooker, use a saucepan.
  • Cook until 3 whistles or if using a saucepan check with a fork and if it goes in easily then the apples are done. Let it cool down.
  • Use a blender or food processor to blend it. If you find the consistency too thick, add a little cooled boiled water.
  • I bought bpa free freezer and microwave safe containers to store them.
  • apple puree (1)
  • The purée is good for 3 days in the fridge and 3 months in the freezers. Mine finished in a week as she loved it.
  • apple puree (2)

Please share other food ideas for a baby. It will be a great help. Thanks in advance.

Take care everyone till my next post.

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

11 Comments

Posted in Baby food, Being Mum, Our daughter, Recipe

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Breasting feeding is an art

Posted on June 10, 2015 | 6 comments

Being a new mum, everything is new and every day is a learning experience. Before having a baby, I had never even taken a minute to think about breastfeeding but after having the baby it is my whole world.

Before Chhori was born, we went to Antenatal classes where we learned a lot to help prepare for labour, birth and parenthood. During one of the sessions, I learnt the importance of the mother’s breast milk to a newborn. Breast milk contains the right balance of nutrients for the baby. It is easier to digest than commercial formulas and the antibodies in breast milk boost the baby’s immune system.

So I decided that I would do my best to exclusively breastfeed Chhori. Though I soon realised that reading about breastfeeding is one thing but doing it yourself is something else entirely.

Having Chhori delivered via C section, it was hard for me to do anything for the first few days. It was so frustrating at times when I would see her cry and couldn’t run to pick her up instead I had to buzz the midwife and wait for them to give the baby to me. Most of the midwives at the hospital were really nice but it was still really frustrating at times.

To top things off, as the baby was just a few days old, she didn’t know how to latch properly on my breast and it was painful to watch her cry for milk. There was help available for sure. The maternity nurses do offer breast-feeding tips, starting with how to position the baby and make sure she is latching on correctly. But it is not as easy as it seems.

To make matters worse, on the fourth day I was still in the hospital when I woke up in the middle of the night soaked with my own sweat. It felt as if my breast had increased several cup sizes and it was very painful. I felt so unwell that I buzzed for the midwife straightaway.

She came and touched my forehead and went to get the doctor straight away. I had fever and the doctor told me it was normal as my body was starting to produce milk. I was in so much pain that I started to cry.  I know it sounds silly now but at that time I couldn’t control myself. The doctor gave me some medicine and took Chhori to the nursery for the next 4 hours so I could rest.

It took a few days and numerous tries and lots of help from the midwives for me to be confident to breastfeed the baby on my own and by then Chhori also learnt to latch properly.

The first week was the hardest. I remember crying from the pain when Chhori could not latch properly but now it is a lot better. It is true that mum and baby find their rhythm eventually.

I also learnt that breastfeeding made me very thirsty so I make sure I drink plenty of water during and after breastfeeding.

I am so happy that I have a good supply of milk and until now Chhori is on breast milk only and I will love to continue that until her pasni when she will be ready to start her solids.

There are lots of things one can do to help increase the supply of milk and one of them is drinking a special Nepali soup called, Jwano ko Jhol (Thyme Seed Soup). I will post the recipe soon. I swear it worked so well for me that I had to reduce the amount I was drinking as I was producing excess milk.

Apart from breast milk giving your child the best start in life, it also helps moms lose weight. I am surprised but overjoyed that I have lost most of the weight I gained during pregnancy and a huge credit goes to breastfeeding.

Chhori (2)

I know it is not easy at times but if possible breastfeeding is one of the greatest gifts we can give to our new born child. I am so happy that I am learning this special art we women are privileged to give our children.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

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Posted in Being Mum, Our daughter

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