My Milestone

Every month I celebrate Chubs and her various milestones, but every month marks one for me too.

From the day she was born I have breastfed her every single day. In the beginning it was difficult and sometimes painful but then it became routine and comforting for both of us. Now she’s on the move, independent and already wilful, it’s the peaceful times of our day. The time when I get my tiny baby back. To snuggle her close and feel her heartbeat, her little hands clutching at me, holding me tight. The day we brought her home

In the beginning I found feeding quite stressful. There had been no question but that I was going to do it. I hadn’t bought bottles or formula – what was the point? – I was a breastfeeder. Unfortunately Chubs had a tongue tie and a pretty but ineffective heart-shaped tongue. This meant that she wasn’t able to latch as effectively and lost quite a bit of weight in the first few days of life. She lost her lovely chubby cheeks

We were referred to the maxillofacial department at the hospital and at 3 weeks old the tongue tie was divided in a very quick and easy procedure. After that, feeding became easy, something we were meant to do. We fitted together so well, her little body curved round me.

We still had issues. I had an oversupply of milk and a ferocious let down. At least once a day Chubs would be massively sick, copious amounts of milky vomit would get everywhere, streaming from her nose and cascading to the floor. But she put on weight well and started to sleep in good chunks so I tried not to worry about it and just made sure I always had plenty of clean clothes and muslins handy! milk drunk

After about 4 months the sickness stopped and the number of feeds dropped from around 10-12 to 8. This made things so much easier. Instead of feeding every couple of hours I might get a 4 hour break! We co-slept most nights and I would doze off feeling her latched on and wake a few hours later to see her tucked up close to me, rosebud lips pursed and occasionally sucking her tongue reflexively. Blue eyes watching me

At 6 months we started introducing solids and gradually, almost imperceptibly the feeds started dropping. The more food she ate and water she drank, the less of me she needed.

dozing off

Now Chubs is 9 months old and my dreaded return to work is edging ever closer we have introduced a bottle of formula overnight but I still feed her 3 times a day. I am proud to be one of the around 20% of women still breastfeeding at 9 months (nct.org.uk) and I’m hoping to continue for at least the next three months as I know I’m not ready to stop yet, never mind the baby!

feeding last week