believe it or not, adam never took a bottle his entire life. shortly after he was born, i made the decision to work from home, and i was all in. i didn’t know it or plan it beforehand, but i ended up being a total crunchy mama. i was all about attachment parenting, baby-wearing, breastfeeding on demand, co-sleeping, night-nursing. sure, there were a few times when i tried to get him to take a bottle or a pacifier, but in the end, i was never away from him long enough to even warrant the need. i have no regrets with how i chose to do things with him, but in hindsight, my dedication came at a cost. i often wore myself thin and pushed myself to the limits. i didn’t take as much “me time” as i should have, and i probably made it harder on myself than it had to be.
now that my little edith is here, i still intend to parent the same way, but i am definitely feeling more comfortable letting go and giving myself a break more often. in fact, this time around, i’ve already gone on a date with brendan, and she only turned three weeks today! i don’t even think i had left the house at this point after adam was born. not kidding. and over the weekend, our entire little family packed up our bags for a picnic in the park, and i didn’t sweat it at all. i pumped a few ounces of breast milk, and took it as an opportunity to get some fresh air and to let brendan and adam get in some much-needed bonding time with the tiny new addition to our family. and it just felt so good to get outside.
obviously, i want the best for both of my children, but i think that this time around, i’m learning to strike a better balance around taking care of myself so that i can truly take the best care of my baby (and toddler). so of course, it was really great to have the opportunity to team up with my friends at munchkin to try out the munchkin latch bottle. the idea behind the design is to help baby transition from breast to bottle and back again. the accordion-style nipple stretches and bends like the breast, allowing baby to latch on correctly. and it has an anti-colic valve to keep air from traveling through your milk. and i’m happy to report that edie took the bottle on her very first try and had zero issues going straight back to breastfeeding after we got home. it went so well, that later that evening, grandma was on duty while brendan and i went out on our date!
this post was sponsored by munchkin latch.
2 comments
I was similar but with both of my children. I had worn myself thin and breastfed them straight from the breast for a year or more (depending on which child we are talking about) and always held them and never went out. . .unless they were with me, and honestly . . it is sometimes still that way. I do get out of the house more often now, but they have been attached to my hip literally for 9 and 7 years other than on a few occasions. dates? my husband and I get maybe one or two a year. . . but we do family dates which we actually enjoy a lot (my husband is a big introvert and prefers being at home most nights).
It is great you have already had the chance to go out and that you are doing a little bit of different parenting while the same for the most part. The first one tends to be more of a test subject, poor things. LOVE these photos!!!! So cute! You seem to be a wonderful mom!
yep, i breastfed adam until he was almost two. but a few months into pregnancy, i just couldn’t do it any more. i hear it’s really common to suddenly become averse to breastfeeding when you’re pregnant, although i know lots of women who tandem! but yes, adam was literally held and rocked to sleep and basically never away from me. i stayed home a lot and very rarely left without him. edith is pretty different, though. she actually seems to sleep better when i’m not holding her, and she just tends to be a lot more chill, so i’m trying to be a little less attached to her. i mean, our date was literally just an hour, but i think it helped me to clear my head a little. it’s very hard to find the right balance!