is BFing affecting my LO's sleep?

[maggieruth]

i really love bfing my ds, especially as lately he is all big grins and cuddles when i offer the boob and i don't want to loose this closeness that we share PLUS i am committed to bfing him through at least his first mmr jab and then beyond (though beyond might involve me not busting my butt three times a week to do a lunchtime feed at nursery)
the four days a week i am off work, ethan feeds early am, once or twice through the day and once before bath and bed.  we have just dropped the DF when i fell asleep on the sofa and realised he could go without it  , i miss it and love the freedom all at once but thats another story...

here comes the problem (thanks for putting up with THAT intro)

ethan doesn't always wake up the three days i leave the house early (i leave at 6:45, last call at the milkbar is 6:30am).  so i wake him.  now he doesn't always feed back to sleep like he used to, more often than not he looks at me lovingly and bashes me in the head! 

so do i have to choose sleep or feed?  (btw, this rotter won't take a bottle- that would be too easy!!)  he usually only drinks a couple of ounces out of a cup at once.  if i DO have to choose i think i chose feed- i can't not feed him til night (expressing during the day) and sustain that mondays, tuesdays and fridays can i?  and could i if i were to get pregnant (we are ttc)

Help please!  its one of those things that seems oh so difficult right now.... TIA

[daisymelan]

I will do my best to help.  Congrats to you for keeping it up this far!

If it were me, I would wake him.  If that is the option, then wake him and start his day at that time consistently.  But I'm not a sleep mod, I only understand how the supply issues works kinda. 

I'm not sure if I understand the last part of the puzzle.  Have you menstruated since you delivered Ethan?  I conceived and never had a period.  You can keep bfing and be pregnant at the same time.  We have a thread for support on this board. 

I think you have to pump to keep up the supply on those days.  Especially if you want to stick with nursing on those days.  Alternatively, you can wean those feeds and just nurse twice a day.  But some mamas can't do that or cant' keep that up for long. 

I hope this helps.  Let me know if I missed anything.

[evelyn]

Hi maggieruth,
i too work 3 days a week (7.30am til 8pm yuck) and wake the lo up at 6.30 to feed her,  it is going ok, our only problem is that lily still has a couple of feeds a night, so sometimes isnt that hungry at wake up time!  Sleeping has never been her strong suit and on my days off she wakes between 6 and 7am.  Personally i know i couldnt go to work without having the morning feed....and those cuddles set me up for the day.
She isnt too hot on the bottle front either, but will now take 4 to 5oz from a haberman, it might take an hour but she will do it, the poor lamb practicaly dives on me when i get home....it feels like she has to plug in to recharge!!  Im finding the pumping at work a strain and have varying success and just pray my supply doesnt dwindle, its hard work but worth it.
i guess you should persevere with the cup, and im sure he is well established on solids, and it depends what hours you work too, as to how long ethan can wait for his feed!!

[maggieruth]

thanks everyone,
daisy- i have got my period back but i remember from the last time i was pregnant (i m/ced in january) that my milk supply decrased so thats where the whole ttc comes back into it... i know that some of the most gung ho bfing sahms end up chucking it in when they get pg again (and also that many don't) but given that i have working as another strike against me....

evelyn-thanks for sharing your experience with bfing and working (heck THIS could be a thread too!) geez i thought my 7 til 5:30 days were long, you win! i am stocking up on ebm now so that when i eventually do stop going in to feed him at lunch (which would allow me to not do lunch lieu time and be gone between 4 and 4:30!)

i guess i need to harrass some sleep folks too and see what they think! (probably didn't bug them first because i want to be encouraged to keep feeding.... 

[daisymelan]

To be honest, I couldn't sustain my supply.      I think pregnancy was one part of it and I had weaned my son to only 2 nursings a day and my body just couldn't handle everything I demanded of it.  But as you said, lots of moms have done both successfully.