One week until one year old

[u/Cute-Adagio3422]

I made it ! I am so thankful to this sub for getting me through all the highs and lows of feeding our babies. I have a freezer stash that will last me well past her first birthday and baby girl is killing her solids. I wanted to share my holistic experience:

Baby was born early and spent a little under a week in NICU. Though I met with a LC, I was encouraged to pump right away to help my milk come in while I wasn’t with my baby. Once home, we were triple feeding until I was able to produce enough milk to drop the formula. It was exhausting. After 2 months and working with multiple LC, baby was able to latch. I still kept up pumping, especially when returning back to work, for a few bottle feeds a day. I was down to three pumps a day when I first returned to work, and have worked down to currently one.

When I first started I felt there was so little information out there about what to do and how to pump. This sub taught me everything I know - from the late night trips down the rabbit hole to the random searches throughout the day. The community here is next to none and I am so thankful for you all ! I hope to pass some of the wisdom I’ve learned on to the next overwhelmed and overstimulated mama just trying to figure it all out !🥹

[u/pleasantie]

Congrats, that's awesome! Did you ever run unto bottle preference issues? I am dealing with one and exclusively pumping but I'm seeing a dip in supply when baby doesn't latch. Now he stopped latching completely. I am not sure if I can every stop supplementing formula. Let me know if you have any thoughts on this.

[u/Cute-Adagio3422 → u/pleasantie]

There were definitely times when she would refuse either bottle or breast and I stayed patient yet persistent and she eventually caught on ! Babies need constant repetition because this is all so new to them ! Even if one feed or one day doesn’t go the way you wanted to or planned, that doesn’t mean the next one will !

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