Breastfed baby
So we had our 2-month doctor's check-up with Jasmiina today.
She is 6,510 kg and 60,5 cm (so has gained 880 g in a month and grown about 2,5 cm).
(In comparison - at 2 months Adelaide was exactly 6 kg and 59 cm, in the second month Adelaide gained 1,2 kg, so compared to that Jasmiina's weight gain is already a bit slowing down.)
Yes, Jasmiina is big baby :) Perhaps looks like a 5 month old.. She's not overly chubby though, just big and has chubby cheeks. She was already born big, 4 kg, and gaining weight quickly in the first months seems to be a pattern for my children. Thankfully, nobody has yet tried to tell me that there would be something wrong with that. Because my babies are exclusively breastfed (Adelaide was until about 6 months, when she started tasting some solid food), and everyone knows the basic fact - you can't overfeed a breastfed baby. (It is different with formula fed babies, who you actually can overfeed.)
It turns out, it's not just my babies, that are gaining weight very well in the first months, it should be like that for generally all breastfed babies, that's what I had heard before - that it's very common to gain more rapidly in the first months and then slower after around 5 months - and that's exactly how it was with Adelaide. She was 8 kg around 4,5 months, and after that she gained only around 300 g in a month. At first the doctor tried to tell us that there's something wrong.. Even though it was completely normal, all it took was to look at her!, and she had become already very active and mobile, which also slows down the weight. So Adelaide was a well fed baby, but now she's a totally normal little girl, on the small side even, somewhere around 11 kg (at 21 months).
Exactly today I saw an article from The Milk Meg - Can I Overfeed My Breastfed Baby? And it says all that too.
The Milk Meg is great (lactation consultant, Attachment Parenting style, supporting all things related to natural breastfeeding, based in Australia) - I suggest that if breastfeeding concerns you, every new parent, follow her on Facebook or her blog..! She is amazing in really putting it out there - what is all normal and good, when it comes to breastfeeding, and what is not.
Because, sadly, general health specialists often are not very educated in this, women often get some really bad and wrong advice, which often can jeopardize the whole breastfeeding relationship. Even though in Estonia breastfeeding is the norm and it is normally supported, still - the number of women who fail to breastfeed or are unable to do it as long as they would have wanted, shows, that the support system could be a lot better.
I have been very lucky and everything breastfeeding related has come really easily.
But I knew even before having Adelaide, that breastfeeding my own children (for at least a year or two) is utterly important to me, I knew that all kinds of possible problems can arise, and I was determined to do everything it takes to make it happen.
What did I do, to create a good breastfeeding relationship?
She is 6,510 kg and 60,5 cm (so has gained 880 g in a month and grown about 2,5 cm).
(In comparison - at 2 months Adelaide was exactly 6 kg and 59 cm, in the second month Adelaide gained 1,2 kg, so compared to that Jasmiina's weight gain is already a bit slowing down.)
Yes, Jasmiina is big baby :) Perhaps looks like a 5 month old.. She's not overly chubby though, just big and has chubby cheeks. She was already born big, 4 kg, and gaining weight quickly in the first months seems to be a pattern for my children. Thankfully, nobody has yet tried to tell me that there would be something wrong with that. Because my babies are exclusively breastfed (Adelaide was until about 6 months, when she started tasting some solid food), and everyone knows the basic fact - you can't overfeed a breastfed baby. (It is different with formula fed babies, who you actually can overfeed.)
It turns out, it's not just my babies, that are gaining weight very well in the first months, it should be like that for generally all breastfed babies, that's what I had heard before - that it's very common to gain more rapidly in the first months and then slower after around 5 months - and that's exactly how it was with Adelaide. She was 8 kg around 4,5 months, and after that she gained only around 300 g in a month. At first the doctor tried to tell us that there's something wrong.. Even though it was completely normal, all it took was to look at her!, and she had become already very active and mobile, which also slows down the weight. So Adelaide was a well fed baby, but now she's a totally normal little girl, on the small side even, somewhere around 11 kg (at 21 months).
Exactly today I saw an article from The Milk Meg - Can I Overfeed My Breastfed Baby? And it says all that too.
The Milk Meg is great (lactation consultant, Attachment Parenting style, supporting all things related to natural breastfeeding, based in Australia) - I suggest that if breastfeeding concerns you, every new parent, follow her on Facebook or her blog..! She is amazing in really putting it out there - what is all normal and good, when it comes to breastfeeding, and what is not.
Because, sadly, general health specialists often are not very educated in this, women often get some really bad and wrong advice, which often can jeopardize the whole breastfeeding relationship. Even though in Estonia breastfeeding is the norm and it is normally supported, still - the number of women who fail to breastfeed or are unable to do it as long as they would have wanted, shows, that the support system could be a lot better.
I have been very lucky and everything breastfeeding related has come really easily.
But I knew even before having Adelaide, that breastfeeding my own children (for at least a year or two) is utterly important to me, I knew that all kinds of possible problems can arise, and I was determined to do everything it takes to make it happen.
What did I do, to create a good breastfeeding relationship?
- I had my babies put on my belly straight as they came out of me - skin on skin - and tried to latch them almost immediately, as they were showing the wish. Soon enough, somewhere in the first hour after they were born, they were at the breast and eating.
- I was always near the babies (no nursery) after the birth, co-slept already in the hospital, offering the breast immediately as the baby seemed unsettled. I didn't wake them up on purpose, but when awake, they would spend a large amount of time at the breast. Adelaide was attached to my breast for 8 hours straight the first night out from the womb! Thankfully there was a midwife, who assured, that it is completely normal. Jasmiina always has been a little less attached to the breast.
- I fed them on demand, meaning - whenever they would seem unsettled (of course, when there is nothing else wrong or to be done) - as the same Milk Meg says - always offer the breast, and 9 out of 10 times that is what they will want! I never have counted any times between the feeds, or how long the feeds are (with Adelaide I actually did for one day, to check, but it seemed to fit an average normality, so I didn't do it anymore), I haven't tried to overthink it, what the baby wants.. Because, truly, most of the time, if something is wrong, the breast is the answer! It seems so completely logical to me, that I can't imagine thinking anyhow differently, but my experience from an internet mommy-group showed, that women can be so different in this.. Have such weird opinions about breastfeeding, all kinds of agenda against it - too long, too frequent, using me as a pacifier... Pff. That's why - I say again and again - follow such inspiring people like the Milk Meg and try to do, what is so normal and natural!
- And yes, our children don't use pacifiers, I simply don't see the need.. Adelaide used it a little bit around 6-7 months, more as a chewing toy. It is suggested to not introduce the pacifier for the first 6 weeks at least.. Until the breastfeeding relationship is steady and going well. I have no idea, why people introduce it earlier..
- Oh! And - very important - I ignored all the bad advice that you can hear and read in so many places, I kept true to my believes (which originally came from this article - why African babies don't cry, please read it if you haven't) and tried to spread them and help those, who were in doubt, even if it annoyed some others.
That's what we did, and it has worked perfectly. I realize that not all women are so lucky and many might have problems.. If you do, please turn to a good lactation consultant, fight to solve the problem, as almost always they actually can be solved.
When it comes to sleep.. Then the experience with Jasmiina has shown me, that you really can't influence the baby's sleep much. It's just how they are, how they have been made, and the best is just to accept it and go with it. Adelaide was not what you would call a good sleeper, I guess.. Even though it was fine with me, as she didn't cry, she just needed the breast in 4 hours and then in every 2 hours at night, sometimes more. Jasmiina sleeps perfectly and eats perhaps like once a night, some nights even not at all.. And there is nothing that we have done differently, they just are different.
I am passionate supporter of breastfeeding, obviously, and same as the Milk Meg says - it has nothing to do with shaming those who can't or don't breastfeed, it's all about wishing the best to everyone and hoping that all the women could do it, get all the support they need and there wouldn't be anyone, who would be let down or fail to feed their babies as they wish.
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