Wednesday 23 March 2011

Headspace

From my point of view, expressing breastmilk regularly means freedom. It means that I can go to a movie or shopping and leave Nicholas with someone else so that I can regain my "headspace".




But for Victoria it was an opportunity for the "big sister" to do something (almost) completely by herself. When I showed her the small bottle sitting in the fridge yesterday, she was really excited and all day she kept on telling me that she was going to give Nicholas a bottle of "Oobie" milk for dinner.

So I did the same trick that I did with Victoria, held him close and quickly substituted my nipple for the nipple of the bottle. It took him a few minutes to adjust, but then he guzzled down the bottle (60ml).

I am looking forward to a "date night" soon ... there are too many good movies out there at the moment. What do you do to regain your "headspace"?

6 comments:

Karen said...

Sometimes I regret the fact that I gave up too easily with the breastfeeding, and am now exclusively expressing. I feel that I've denied myself a wonderful bonding experience.

But then you remind me how much freedom I do have. The ability to say to someone 'can you feed her? I just want to finish this'. Or at any given time I can spontaneous say 'I'm going out, there's plenty of milk in the fridge' (provided there is a babysitter of course).

When I fall into a guilt trip about it, I need to remember that looking after a baby is as much about meeting my needs as meeting theirs.

Karen said...

Oh, and to regain my headspace? That's what my sewing room is for ;)

Jennie said...

I'm trying to teach Amy to take a bottle. Zero interest. *Sigh*

Rebekah Blake said...

Call 1800 MUM 2 MUM (Australia) for all your breastfeeding needs.
Jennie, The breastfeeding counsellors will be able to give you ideas for getting your baby to take a bottle.
Karen, not too sure how old your baby is or what you have gone through, but they may be able to give you some ideas also. I expressed for a month and think that anyone who exclusively express's is amazing!

ZippyZippy said...

One of my boys would not feed off my left side properly, so in the end, I fed him off the right and expressed the left, them Peter could feed him the last feed of the night - and free me up for outings of course. I expressed a lot, none of the boys fed properly until about 6 weeks, once they got started they would not stop though!
My sewing is my head space - swimming and a lovely Saturday arvo sleep. Have a great week and enjoy that little bub

Beky said...

It is great to have that headspace. It's important for yourself and for the family. Regarding the bonding, I feel bonding can happen with breastfeeding and bottle. My mother couldn't breastfeed me as a baby due to health issues. There was no problem. I couldn't breastfeed my baby due to health issues, and there is a bond. Sanity is important, I feel.