Well specifically, no good milk! LOL I've been nursing dd every 3 hours and at least once a night since she was born. But I guess my body is saying it's had enough. I am still able to nurse, as long as she wants water! LOL, it's got nothing in it and she isn't satisfied at all. So it's over to formula I guess. Problem is that she hates her bottle and really hates the formula.

I don't want to do anything huge to get my supply decent as I was not planning on going past a year (this is by far the longest I've ever nursed) so I guess it was a little earlier than I thought. But I'm not overly upset about that. But I need her to like her bottle as it's so hard to be engorged with basically water yet have her scream when I offer her something that has substance in it. The past few days, she just wouldn't stop wanting to eat and was crying if I tried to put her down. The other night, we tried formula and finally got some sleep and she was much happier (with the minuscule amount of formula that she took as she doesn't like it).

It's a little sad I guess. I don't love nursing, I find it annoying in many ways. But it's always hard to stop and lose the cuddling part. Dh was pretty happy to be allowed to feed her though, as that hasn't happened much at all. So he took her and got to feed his baby finally! LOL

My boys were younger (5 months and 8 months) and never cared at all.

But it's hard too because she screams when she needs to eat because it's not what she wants. How soon will she forget?

Have you tried nursing her more frequently? Some women can't maintain a milk supply/contented baby nursing every 3 hours. My mom was one of them.

How do you know that your milk has "turned to water?" Is DD losing weight? Screaming all the time? Are you feeling like if you nurse more often to build up your milk supply that she will want to nurse past a year? How many feedings a day are you averaging right now?

Ruth, I haven't tried nursing more frequently, but she was happy at every 3 hours until just this week. I was nursing at 7-8 times in a 24 hour period (7 am, 10 am 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm, 10 pm, and once or twice at night). I didn't really consider trying to nurse more because it doesn't seem to be a supply problem. I am so engorged but I pumped it as it wasn't satisfying her and it looked like I had taken a cup, poured milk in it, drank all the milk and filled it with water. Seriously. Then because I was so engorged, I let dd nurse and she did for a while and wasn't content. She was scratching and thrashing and just really upset. Like she wasn't getting any hind milk or something. She never settled down to nurse. Even last week, she would nurse and then even if she had just had a nap, she would kind of be sleepy when she was done. But this week, she is wide awake like she's looking for the main course! LOL

DD was not satisfied at times. I figured this out Thursday I think, so on Tuesday night, I could not put her down. She would nurse for a bit and then cry. Then if I tried to sit down with her, forget it. She wanted to be walked. She's 9 months old, this is new behaviour. Then through the night, I think I had to feed her 3 or 4 times when it's usually been a max of 2. So something was up, but I thought teeth maybe. I have never ever had supply problems. I stopped nursing my other 2 for different reasons. But like I said, I also quit earlier with them.

Then on Wednesday, she was OK through the day, but that evening, it was the same thing. I would carry her and she would be falling asleep but as soon as I tried to put her down, she would cry. I tried feeding her even though 3 hours hadn't passed (she wasn't really acting hungry, just really upset), but that didn't solve the problem. Finally she fell asleep and I put her down. Again, she was up again and again through the night and not really falling asleep eating. Just really not happy. So finally about about 2 I tried a bottle. She didn't take much, but she took some and went to sleep and slept about 5 hours which hasn't happened at night for a long time.

Thursday, she didn't really want to take a bottle, but she nibbled on it through the day and was way happier. Last night, she woke up 2 times but when I wouldn't "pull out a boob" she went right back to sleep. Still doesn't really like the bottle today, but I'm hoping.

I guess I kind of made it sound like this is out of the blue and for no reason. I kind of though it was because she's been OK for as long as she has. But at the end of May, some comments were made by someone close to me that ripped me apart and made me start dieting. I am not willing to stop the diet (that sounds really selfish) as I will never allow those comments to be true about me again. But that was nearly 3 weeks ago and she was fine through that, so I thought it was going to work and bonus, all the calories burned through nursing, surely my body would put nursing first before my own health. But it doesn't look like it works that way for me. Too bad.

I'm not sure that I want to get my supply back. I've been losing the weight and she's over 9 months old. I gave it a good run and getting my body back is a bonus. Nursing bras and I do not get along, and I end up bubbling over them and it looks terrible. Funny, I was a late developer and thought that I had nothing there at all. Normally, I still don't feel like I have all that much, but nursing. Wow, as a smaller busted friend put it, I have more than enough to share! LOL Anyway, going back to regular bras and a regular size would not be something to sneeze at!

As for nursing past a year, I wasn't really concerned about what she wanted in that regard. If she kept going until Aug 22, fine, but happy birthday on Aug 23! LOL With my other two it was cold turkey and my choice alone and they were fine with it. I just figured she would be the same. But seems like it's not going that way so well! LOL Funny, they are so stubborn too yet! Oh well.

I think it's great you made it this long!

Basic things you can do to increase milk are make sure you are hydrated properly, relax, and nurse more frequently :)

Will she take a sippy cup at all? With older sibs she might like the idea of drinking like they do. I have friends with kids that never used bottles because they hated them - went right to a sippy!

If she does wean, and won't take formula, I think you need to really monitor her diet to make sure she's getting everything she needs. Breastmilk provides so much that it's impossible to completely replace! Even formula, when looked at in a scrutinous manner, you'll see cannot provide everything mom's milk can because breastmilk is individually formulated based on babies' needs. Formula has definitely come a long way since the days of adding corn syrup to cow's milk!!! [claploud]

One last thought - think about rice milk instead of cow milk. If you are at all close to a Trader Joe's, you can get organic rice milk for almost the same price as cow milk. Commercial cows are in scary conditions, and fed and injected with you don't even know what. Also, it's more ergonomic? because a cow has to consume 100 calories to produce 10 calories worth of milk. Very inefficient. (yes, I'm a treehugger, LOL)

Just a word from someone who never nursed...you said you'ed miss the snuggle time...I couldn't ever produce milk, so we had to go the bottle route with both kiddos and we just made bottle times all snuggly and tender too! So you don't *have* to lose the snuggles! Good luck, any change is hard! I hope you find a way to switch gears to make you both happy and cared for and still get those invaluable snuggle sessions! ;-)

Ah, I think that you might have nailed the nail on the head. It could be diet related. If you are not taking in enough nutrients, it could very well affect the quality of your milk.

However, I don't think that you necessarily need to stop trying to loose weight. There are plenty of healthy, diet-friendly foods that will build your milk supply, rather than compromise it.

For example, cattle produce an awful lot of milk. How do they accomplish this? By eating green leafy things! Salads with lots of dark green veggies are awesome for making good milk and are very low in calories also, while providing superior nutrition. Other veggies such as broccoli can be lightly steamed and eaten with some sort of healthy dip. Other things include fresh fruits, yogurts, whole grain bread, while minimizing empty calorie, white flour, and sugar.

Even if you do go forward with weaning, more nutrients couldn't hurt! :D

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Eating a bowl of oatmeal everyday makes my milk supply go insane.

Also have you been taking vitamins and supplements? To keep up nutrients?

Remember if you stop nursing, you will be burning less calories than if you keep nursing... ?

Maybe what you are eating is affecting the taste of your milk or something? Because it sounds very odd for her to not be satisfied if you are getting engorged... is it possible she is going through a growth spurt?

You mentioned not seeming to have hind milk... if you are on a very low fat diet, maybe that could affect the fat content of your milk.

Have you checked out coconut oil? Healthy fat that boosts your metabolism and actually does help you lose weight. I eat a spoonful after breakfast and i can't believe how full it keeps me... like i don't even feel hungry... and i have so much energy after eating it.

http://www.coconut-info.com/weight-loss.htm
http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/article10612.htm

Supposedly coconut oil also boosts certain properties of breastmilk to give the baby superior protection against bacteria and viruses ... the first week i did coconut oil i think i dropped 5 pounds without changing my diet at all (took a huge spoonful after every meal). it's pretty amazing stuff.

Wow, what good advice.

Ruth, I think my diet is pretty healthy. I eat lots of vegetables, fruits, and I've been making my own bread and so that's the bread I'm eating. As for protein, I've been eating boiled eggs some and maybe some beef or chicken depending on what I make for supper. It's not a lot of food that I'm eating though, which is probably part of the point.

Nichole, I know, if I stop nursing, then I don't burn those calories. I suppose I could do both, nurse first for as long as she will then offer the bottle if she wants it. Then at least if my supply levels out or something, I'm good to go. Tell me more about this coconut oil. Does it taste OK? I hate coconuts though, so hmmm. Pill form? LOL I'm all natural as you can tell! LOL I'll check those links.

Rach, that's my biggest worry of all this. I went the baby-led weaning way even though I intended on weaning at a year. But it means that she's not eating all the stuff that mainstream 9 month olds are eating. I want to make sure she's getting all her nutrients and stuff like that. I've never heard of Trader Joe's until just this week, not even sure if it's a brand or a store, but if it's a store, then we don't have one here and if it's a brand, don't know who carries it. We have Safeway, IGA, Sobeys, and Save-on-Foods here. We also have Costco but I don't have a card and Walmart but I don't shop there.

Breezy, dd took a bottle pretty good this afternoon. Finally. But so much for snuggling. She's figured this all out! She wants to look around not at me with this new toy! LOL. I had to start standing up and then could sit down, but she wanted to sit straight up and look around. But PTL, she drank some because I was getting stressed out that she wouldn't take a bottle. How much should a 9 month old eat at a feeding anyway? I thought I remembered an ounce per month or something, but she's eaten maybe 4 ounces all day today and is happy.

You could get the juice of a young coconut and put it in a smoothie. Then you wouldn't taste it as much.

I know that nutrition has always been a big concern of mine. Similar situation, in that at 9 months, she was definitely not eating 3 square meals a day. I think that part of the reason why I'm still nursing is that I'm lazy, lol, it's an easy way to make sure that she's getting what she needs.

Thanks Ruth, that's a big load off my mind. Because I was doing the baby-led weaning route, she was only eating a little bit off the table at meal times, but just to taste. Dh thought that she was hungry, and since Thursday, she's been eating like crazy. She can't get enough food. She was gobbling down waffles when we had them the other day, then she was chowing down on her cereal and some yogurt that dh gave her, and cheerios. Oh, and dirt on the floor... gourmet to her LOL. So I was really feeling like mother of the year as I had not been giving her meals per se, just nursing her and letting her have tastes and I find out I'm starving the poor kid. However, I had been pretty sure that I could keep nursing like I was and that she was getting enough. Until the whole supply problem cropped up.

So last night I was pretty upset. I couldn't nurse her and she would not take a bottle. She would just scream. I was in tears. Dh told me to take a walk but it was windy so I went for a drive. I took my Bible and I drove to a lake somewhat nearby that wasn't busy and just read my Bible for a few hours. Then I drove home. I didn't feel a whole lot better about the whole thing, nor did I feel much better at 1 when dd started to cry. Again, she wouldn't take a bottle. But dh looked after her (she just went to sleep for him, no bottle or anything) and this morning woke up so happy. She was in her highchair and dh was giving her some cereal. Then she drank from her bottle. Plus I tried her with a cup and she liked that too. So it looks like she's ready to be a real table occupant. She didn't even get me up at 7 like normal, but slept in until 8, after not eating since about 8 the night before (and I didn't do that feeding, so don't know how much she got).

So now I guess I pull out the blender more. I was being lazy and trying not to do that. It was nicer to just give her the textures she could handle, but we don't always eat those foods and she's eating lots. So I guess I can at least get a mushier meal for her that she can eat and that is the same as us. She chokes on hard pieces of food like apple pieces still. But if I made an applesauce, then it would be better. Or I could cook them... which is less work? LOL

As for the coconut, I checked those links that Cheeseburger gave me. I'll have to do some more research. Thanks again ladies.

Oh, yeah, nothing wrong with them not eating tons of food at 9 months at all. I have a very healthy, happy active toddler who simply didn't eat 3 squares a day until 15+ months. As long as they are getting plenty of breastmilk, that surpasses any table food they could get.

One note on breastfeeding longer, though:

Around 17-18 months, nursing was very demanding. I was thinking about weaning, because it was so draining. But I decided to keep on going. Now at 21.5 months things have totally changed. Nursing really isn't that big of a stressor and my reasons for wanting to wean just aren't there anymore. She's sleeping through the night in her own bed a lot more frequently and just less demanding overall. She still loves to nurse, but I feel like things have mellowed out quite a bit.

So I feel like there are times and seasons in each nursing relationship and you may totally get past this rough time and nurse for a few months longer. In other words: Right now is not forever. :D

Trader Joe's is a store and a brand...

http://traderjoes.com/


avocados, bananas, peas, beans, I preferred at that age with my own - I could smash it with a fork at the table. [clapping]

they also have little food grinders at my Babies R Us, more manageable size, but I don't know how practical. I made babyfood on Sat mornings for the upcoming week.

Have you heard of the baby safe feeder? http://www.babysafefeeder.com/
I think Sassy makes one, too. I've seen them in all kinds of stores... put whatever in, and no worries about smashing it - her own teeth and gums will do that. If you go with this, don't put naners in, they are too hard to clean out of the mesh!

I'm glad to hear she's perking up for table food! Hang in there! :mrgreen:

It looks like a compromise. She likes my milk. What can I say? After 6 hours of no wet diapers, I was a little worried, so figured at least she'll get "water" from me, so I fed her. Oh, that relieved a lot of pressure! LOL

Anyway, so we are continuing with lots of food but I'm also nursing for now. See how that goes. She seems happier with the whole thing, and wetting diapers so it's all good!

I've heard of the mesh baggie thinks Rach. Thought they were a gimmick though I have friends who swear by them. Maybe I'll check it out a bit more carefully. They do look kind of cool.

Anyway, I hopped on here to find out what movie I had been watching and I told dh I was coming to bed. See you later!