I hope all of you are still breastfeeding your little ones :)
Talking about the "B" topic, "Breast" and "Breastfeeding", it's over, it's the end. I have stopped breastfeeding!
The decision to quit breastfeeding was not easy to me at all and I was going through an emotional turmoil.. I didn't even have the courage to type these words on my blog earlier.. I was just too sad! To be honest, if I typed this a week ago, it was going to be an emotional writing.. Luckily I have recovered from weaning sadness & yes, I'm fine now and I can talk about it here :)
It was until a few days ago when I finally accepted the fact that formula milk is actually fine for my 8.5 month old son & he's doing really well on Similac Formula :)
The decision to quit breastfeeding is not because I'm selfish, I want to sleep more at night or I'm tired of pumping. There's another reason behind it.. I quit because I'm planning to conceive my 2nd child and it's part of our family planning we planned earlier.. Yes, I know I could delay my family expansion when little EJ is 1 year old. Yes, I know I'm still young and Yes, I know the 2nd child could wait a little longer.. But we have our own personal reason why we want the 2nd child as soon as possible/as soon as we could conceive.. I wouldn't say it's a selfish excuse!
If I could, I would breastfeed my son as long as possible because I believe breast is good (no longer "the best" in my opinion, formula is doing well on my baby too), breast milk is free (hello, $200 worth formula each month, it's crazily expensive!)
I promise, promise and promise myself I would breastfeed my 2nd child or I'd call him/her my last child (we will stop at 2nd child) as long as I could, perhaps until he or she is about 24 months old.. I don't mind breastfeeding a toddler at all!
Let's get back to my weaning process. I started on slow weaning.. Meaning I cut down my pumping session a little by a little.. It took me 2 months to quit breastfeeding totally! I started with cutting down my pumping session from 5 times to 4 times in 2 weeks time or beginning of week 1 to end of week 2 and it took me 2 weeks for my milk to reduce from 900 ml per day to 800 ml per day.. I pumped averagely every 6 hours. It didn't hurt and pretty comfortable!
Week 3 to week 4, I was down to 3 times pumping in a day and I produced about 600 ml plus a day. I leaked once only (I woke up to my wet shirt & wet sheet mid night) and it actually wasn't that bad! I got engorged a little bit but I could bear it pretty well! The problem was just I felt the way too emotional to quit! During the weaning process, I slowly added more formula to my son's diet..
Cutting 1 time pumping session meant adding 1 time formula feeding and it pretty hurt to see him taking that much formula milk at the beginning.. I pumped every 7 hours. As weeks passed by, the feeling of making him formula became pretty bearable and I started to feel okay for him to take formula milk.. After all, formula is not a poison and many babies are doing extremely great on formula!
Week 4 to week 5, I was already down to 2 times pumping session a day.. At the beginning it was a little hard to pump every 12 hours from previously every 7 hours... At 9 hours or 2 hours late of pumping, I got engorged like mad and I leaked too, so I pumped everything out! I started with every 9-10 hours in day 1 to day 3, then later, started with every 11-12 hours when I felt my milk reduced or I felt less engorged.. By end of week 5, I was able to pump every 12 hours and produced abut 400 ml per day.
Honestly, I didn't believe in reducing pumping minutes.. Example: cutting pumping minutes from 30 minutes to 20 minutes every day.. I couldn't imagine how engorged my breast would be and I wouldn't want to risk myself getting breast infection, painful mastitis or hard & painful milk blockage.. It's totally not cool, mommies!! So, instead, I cleared my milk until it's totally soft like jelly but I did cut down 1 time pumping session every 2 weeks or whenever I felt ready to cut down or I noticed milk reduction.
Cutting down pumping session worked well... At the end of week 5, I pumped only 400 ml a day, from previously exclusively pumping 900 ml a day (My son had about 800-900 ml of breast milk during exclusive breastfeeding & I produced averagely more than what he consumed a day)
Week 6 to week 7, I was stuck with 400 ml a day and it seemed like milk didn't reduce at all, so I went to my gynae to get a prescription to stop milk production..
Week 7 , I was prescribed 2 pills to stop the milk in 24 hours time.. You know what? The pills didn't work at all!! Week 7, day 1, after I drank the 1st pill, I stopped pumping or totally went on cold turkey and I got engorged like crazy.. I leaked everywhere and my boobs expanded like watermelon.. It hurt so badly :'( After that 1st pill, I didn't pump for more than 15 hours and oh man, I just couldn't take it anymore, it hurt that badly & I couldn't breath well, so I hand expressed milk in the shower, not to totally empty it but it was just to make myself a bit better or can I say, to breath better?..
I felt good after hand expressing & I was back to my normal routine :) It was a big relief! 2 reasons for hand expressing even though my gynae said "NO" , "you can't pump or express milk after you consume those pills" Reason no. 1) I didn't want to risk infection. Reason no. 2) Tell me, who can walk with super huge watermelon boobs that prevent you from breathing properly?
Honestly, it was sad to hand-express so much milk out but it all went to my toilet drain :'( I couldn't pump & give milk to the baby as I was on medication and it wasn't safe for baby :'(
Week 7, day 2, I still hand-expressed milk twice in the shower, just to make myself less engorged.
Day 1 and Day 2 of weaning was the hardest. It was so painful! I also needed to use a pair of double breast pads inside my bra to prevent leaking embarrassment. Although technically I didn't leak that badly, I was just too scared I might embarrass myself in the public
Week 7, day 3, I didn't have that "engorged" feeling anymore but I felt my milk got stuck a little, so hand-expressed out once in the shower
Week 7, day 4 onwards, I noticed my breasts were light and soft.. so, I stopped hand-expressing! I guess my brain has told my boobs to stop producing milk
Week 8 ~ I finally stopped breastfeeding! Sometimes, there's still a little milk showing on my nipples but it doesn't bother me as I don't leak anymore, feel painful or uncomfortable. So, I'm good right now! I'm at week 8 right now and my breasts are light & soft although they absolutely look bigger than before I got pregnant.. I heard that when you stop breastfeeding, your breasts go back to the normal pre-pregnancy size, but it didn't happen to me.. My boobs are still one size bigger compared to my pre-pregnancy size.. Not only that, my boobs look kind of saggy too, they don't look pretty anymore, but no regret at all!! I was able to breastfeed my little one until he was 8 months plus and it was already one of my greatest achievements as a mother! Mentally, I feel so much better feeding my son formula milk and I'm no longer feel guilty about it :)
The positive sides of formula feeding are I sleep longer, I don't have to waste so much time in pumping & washing & I have more time to play with my son, spending my quality time with him as well as enjoying his babyhood before I come out with another exciting baby announcement :)
Here are my formula feeding essentials:
1) Water ~ my baby has his own water jar/bottle and I make sure to boil & change his water daily.. Keep it clean and hygiene!
2) Hot water in water thermos ~ to keep it hot, so, his formula milk can be made anytime
3) Similac Intelli-Pro Formula milk, 1800 grams.. It costs me $97 for 1800 grams and $51 for 900 grams, so it's cheaper to buy a bigger tin, talking about saving a few bucks, yeah?
4) Milk Powder Container ~ it's a must item whenever we go out! Even at home, I use milk powder container to make milk.. I normally put 2.5 scoops milk powder in one layer milk powder container and I prepare up to 6 containers every day. That lasts me for 6 feedings. The reason is because it's more hygienic to open the formula tin once a day (and to prevent bacteria going in too) & divide milk powder into many feedings that can last for one day. Another reason is when baby is very hungry, he can't wait that long until you finish washing & drying hands properly.. Having half wet hand going into formula milk tin is not cool at all!
I just love milk powder container and mine is PUKU brand.. I find this milk powder container is very good.. It has lots of layers, I can even layer up, up to 6 layers and each layer, it has its own colorful cap, so after I finish one layer/container, I can close it tight with its own separate cab and I can go for the next layer without getting the bottom part dirty with some leftover formula powder :)
I normally prepare 160 ml of warm water, then add 2.5 scoops formula milk powder and it comes to about 175 ml of milk per feeding. Sometimes, he can finish it but sometimes he just can't.. He drinks formula milk 5 times a day (with 3 solid foods along). When he was on full breast milk, he drank milk 6 times a day.. I heard formula milk is more filling and it's kind of true!
P/S: 2.5 scoops are actually equal to 150 ml of water (60 ml per scoop) but I add extra 10 ml of water because milk powder can be pretty heaty and I heard it can cause constipation too when formula fed baby doesn't drink enough water.. Plus, when adding that half scoop milk powder, sometimes I may scoop the "half" more than a half, so I like to play safe by adding extra 10-15 ml of water :) I also try to feed my baby at least 100 ml of water daily to prevent constipation.. So far so good, he poops every single day :) Of course, not forgetting to feed him with balance solids too :)
Until Next Sharing, fellow mommies! (If you plan to quit breastfeeding, don't feel guilty at all because it's not worth it and you know what is the best for you & your baby, just don't let others judge you!)
~Netty (Baby EJ's Mommy)~
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