As I posted yesterday, I was struggling with the possibility that I might need to wean Zayden before I really wanted to. When I was at the JBCC drop-in today, I decided to talk to Kit, my favourite public health nurse, about the situation. She gave me some information that really helped me put things in perspective. Just because my milk supply is decreasing doesn’t mean I’m stuck in an either/or situation where I either fight my body to build up a supply or switch entirely to formula. I can do both.
First she told me, that weaning him off breast milk completely probably wasn’t the best option as long as I was still producing a fair amount of milk because he can still benefit from the milk that I have until he is well over a year. She gave me a couple of options if I felt he needed more than the milk I was able to produce. The first was to increase the amount of solids I was feeding him, so that he would no longer seem frustrated and unsatisfied when my milk ran out. But given that he already eats quite a large volume of solid food, that is probably not the problem. She then advised me to supplement his breastfeeding with formula when I felt it was warranted. She also said that I didn’t necessarily need to bottle feed him. Instead I can offer him formula in a cup along with his meals or after a breastfeeding session.
It’s not quite the breastfeeding scenario I imagined, but it feels like a better option than giving up completely…at least for now. I know that in a few months time, I will be going back to work and will have to reduce his feedings then. But I can live with delaying the inevitable a little bit longer.