Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Breastfeeding Update: The 6 Month Mark

My lil cuddlebug breastfeeding at 6 months!
With Nia turning six months I've now reached the halfway point in our breastfeeding journey. When I think back to those first six weeks I feel as though they dragged on forever, while the past six months have actually flown by. Kelly Mom was (and still is!) such a great resource for me during those tough first six weeks and while everyone said it would get easier, at the time it seemed so hard to believe, but suddenly it did.

Now some of the challenges we're facing are:
  • Keeping Nia focused while breastfeeding - she especially likes to stop eating to stare at Uka when he enters the room or talks to me while she's eating. She also tries to suck her thumb while simultaneously breastfeeding (weird, I know!).
  • BITING! Her two bottom teeth have done a bit of damage and for those who have said breastfeeding does not wreck your boobs, they are LYING! While I can be thankful that we've made it to the six month mark, I can totally see how easy it would be to wean at this point. However, I know the past six months have gone so fast that the next six will too then I'll go into recovery mode.
  • Still wanting to eat in the middle of the night - Her pediatrician as well as everything I've researched has indicated that she can indeed make it through the night without a feeding, but she still wakes up 1-2x in the night for a snack. Usually she'll eat only 10 minutes then fall back asleep, but I really want to stop this especially if I'm heading back to work soon. We purchased black out curtains for her room over the weekend so I'm hoping this will help to make her room extra dark and cozy to induce continued sleep.
As a black mom it's been important to me to breastfeed Nia especially when 40% of black babies never received breastmilk at all. For the general population the CDC reports while 75% of U.S. babies start out breastfeeding, only 13% are exclusively breastfed at the end of six months.

I'm very proud to be part of that 13%!

Why is it so important to delay solids? Here are a few reasons as shared on Kelly Mom:
  • Delaying solids gives baby greater protection from illness (Nia has not ever been sick!)
  • Delaying solids give baby's digestive system time to mature
  • Delaying solids decreases the risk of food allergies
  • Delaying solids helps to protect baby from future obesity
I'm so glad I've been able to share this special time with Nia, and I'm looking forward to the next six months!

3 comments:

  1. Good for you Quiana! good for you, keep up the good work!

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  2. My baby is soon to be 10 months and yesterday it saddened me at the thought that in 2 months our breastfeeding journey will be over. I think I will keep her night feedings until she is 18 months. We'll see. Congrats on your 6 month mark. It is indeed an accomplishment seeing that the majority of black moms don't even try.

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