I love this little guy.  Our Linebacker.  Our special miracle baby who came to us after a loss.  A baby who came despite extremely low Progesterone.  A baby who was prayed for constantly.  We were in love with him before he was born.  And as long as I am able breastfeeding is what I will do.  That being said, I do not love breastfeeding.  It does come naturally for me.  I have a larger than average chest and it takes both my hands to do a proper feeding (and yes, I have tried every aide known to mamas…slings, pillows, and various other things).  I also believe in always being covered when in public or if company is over at our house.  I always get mastitis 3 times with each baby.  If you do the math…I have already had it 11 times and should be getting it once more in the coming weeks.  Now, saying all that….there are parts of breastfeeding I DO enjoy.  The close contact with the baby.  The miracle in knowing you are supporting your baby.  Knowing their weight gain is coming from you.  Knowing it is the best start for them.  Knowing the health benefits for moms who are able to breastfeed.

However, this little baby threw a curveball in our direction.  He was born at 9.0 pounds and packed on the weight very quickly.  The doctors were very pleased with his growth.  But he was. not. sleeping.  And I was suffering.  I was not enjoying my nights with him and my days were a fight for survival.  We are home-schooling our oldest two girls, have an active toddler boy and my husband works 6 days a week.  I was hanging on by a thread.  We assumed he had colic, or gas or reflux.  In desperation I made an appointment with the doctor to rule out reflux.  I needed sleep.  I loved my baby but I needed more than 30-45 minutes of sleep at a stretch.  He was literally nursing around the clock.  All night long.  Every 30-45 minutes.  The only theory my husband and I had left was that he was simply not getting enough to eat.  His weight gain was awesome, but was it possible he was not getting enough to eat?  We did some research and decided to try some goat’s milk for him in a bottle.

We bought goat’s milk (whole fat) and mixed

12 oz. goat’s milk

8 oz. water

2 tablespoons sugar

The sugar is simply to make it taste like breastmilk but you can use something else or leave it out.  This is NOT a safe formula if you are not using infant formula or breastmilk as it is missing important vitamins and nutrients.  However for a bottle a day it is acceptable and if you research it…goat’s milk was the go-to milk for when there was no alternative to breastfeeding.

Here has been our experience:

I nurse on demand all day long with no limitations on the sessions.  Around 9 p.m. he gets into this feeding frenzy and I pretty much nurse him for a solid hour.  Around 10 p.m. I give him maybe 3 oz. of goat’s milk.  Then he nurses a little more and falls asleep.  Now he sleeps for several hours.  He wakes up around 1:30 or 2 and nurses off and on for about 1 1/2 hours.  We both go back to sleep and he wakes up around 5 a.m.  My husband gets him up and he drinks about 4-5 oz of goat’s milk.  I get up around 7 and he is usually ready to eat again and I have a great supply ready for him.

So there you have it.  Non-traditional for sure, but it works for us and he is a much happier baby and I am functioning parent again.

What are your experiences?

Filed under: Baby