My son is 4 months old. He has been exclusively breastfed since he was born. I do work part time (Tuesday-Thrusday from 7:00am until 3:30pm) He gets fed at 6:30 before I leave for work. He wakes up around 9am and the person watching him gives him some of my pumped breastmilk, but he only will take about 1oz or so. I come home on my break at 11:30 and nurse him for about 45 minutes until he falls asleep. On a normal day, he'll take about a 3 hour nap and by the time I get home from work (Around 3:45pm) he's hungry and ready to eat again. So I nurse him the rest of the day until he goes to bed. Occasionally he gets some rice cereal that's mixed with breatmilk (MAYBE 3 times a week and not in place of a nursing session). He was for a very short period of time getting one 3 oz, half and half (2 oz breast milk and 1 oz of formula) for maybe 3 weeks but then we stopped when we realized he was just as satisfied with the plain breastmilk. Does this mean I'm exclusively breastfeeding?
2007-10-24 08:03:33 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
((So basically, out of 3 weeks of his life he was giving a half and half bottle 1 time a day only 3 days out of the week but he stopped doing that weeks ago and now he's only getting breastmilk and like I said, ceral maybe 3 times a week just to get him used to it. Plus he loves it.))
2007-10-24 08:04:32 · update #1
I ask because I think I'm ovulating again and thought it was weird that I'm ovulating because according the everyone I'm exclusive...but I thought when you were exclusively feeding a woman rarely ovulated...guess not and I better be careful!!!
2007-10-24 08:13:54 · update #2
I was also thinking about stopping the cereal until he's 6 months old because I really enjoy just nursing him. I started the cereal because i thought it seemed like he was extra hungry, but then I realized I just needed to nurse him more often because he was going through a growth spurt. And no, he hasn't had any formula for weeks. Just breast milk!
2007-10-24 08:23:19 · update #3
I really don't think it matters if it's exclusive or not. Some women consider breastfeeding to be only when the baby is actually nursed at the breast. Others will say you can never be "exclusively bfing" because you gave him formula once. They're just a bunch of words and it really shouldn't matter whether it's "exclusive" or not. You're breastfeeding your baby and your baby is a breast baby, which means you're being a great mom and giving your baby the best you can.
2007-10-24 08:10:16 · answer #1 · answered by Astragalo 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well, you haven't "exclusively" breastfed because you did give him formula for 3 weeks. But you are doing very well with the breastfeeding. I'm glad to read that you stopped the formula. You should also stop the rice cereal until he's 6 months old. It's recommended babies be breastfed exclusively for 6 months and then you're supposed to continue nursing and slowly introduce things like rice cereal and eventually pureed veggies, fruits, etc.
But you should feel very proud of yourself that you're breastfeeding even while working! So many women, sadly, give up.
2007-10-24 08:18:10 · answer #2 · answered by Libra lass 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If a baby is taking in anything other than breast milk than he is not exclusively breast fed. Because he gets cereal, even though it's occassional, your son is not receiving breast milk exlusively. Anything that goes into the baby's tummy is going to take the place of the amount of breast milk he would ordinarily have taken in even if it is not given in place of a regular nursing. It is unreliable to use breast feeding as a means of contraception unless the baby is exclusively breast fed around the clock, and even then, it is not a 100% effective method. If your baby is doing any extended night time sleeping, that, too, will lessen the chances of prolonging ovulation. If you are not interested in getting pregnant right away you will want to use another form of birth control along with the breast feeding. As the milk supply decreases, this signals the body to resume ovulation.
2007-10-24 09:13:41 · answer #3 · answered by sevenofus 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Exclusively breastfed means that the only substance your baby ingests is breastmilk. So if you are supplementing with formula and/or infant cereal, your baby is not exclusively breastfed.
To prevent ovulation it is also important to nurse or pump 8-10x per day (every 2.5-3 hours)....so while you are at work you need to pump or go home more frequently if you want to control ovulation.
2007-10-24 08:24:30 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
No. Not since the introduction of the cereal (why...?).
Prior to that, he was exclusively breast-milk fed. Prior to that, he was not exclusively anything, with the formula.
Wait. Actually, I'm not sure you can call him an "exclusively breast-milk fed" baby wtih the formula in there at all. It does make a difference; see
“Just One Bottle Won’t Hurt”---or Will It?
http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/supplement.asp
The "yes, because he's only getting his MILK from you" answers are wrong. If your paediatrician asks, "Is he still exclusively breast-milk fed?" to answer "yes" would be incorrect; the question is not of where the milk is coming from, but of the entirety of the diet.
I was sure I saw a brief mention of "exclusively breastfed" and "exclusively breast-milk fed" on http://drjacknewman.com/ , but of course can't find it now...
2007-10-24 08:20:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
relatively "unique" potential that the toddler has in no way had something different than breastmilk as nourishment. as quickly as a toddler starts off solids they might not be employing formula yet they're now not completely breastfeeding. An occasional "breast bottle" could be in the scope of unique breastfeeding, yet somebody who pumps each and every of the milk and the toddler does not feed on the breast could be seen "completely pumping". Even a bottle or 2 of formula in the wellbeing facility disrupts the needless to say present day probiotics that are present day in the babies digestive gadget. In some predisposed infants this might set the toddler up for later nutrition hypersensitive reactions. in the truest provided that neither of my very own infants have been "completely breastfeed" for this very reason. as a result my 2nd toddler suffers diverse nutrition hypersensitive reactions.
2016-10-04 12:20:22 · answer #6 · answered by carouthers 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, if he's JUST getting breastmilk, then yes! That's 'exclusive'! But since you WERE supplementing with formula and cereal at one point, that may have been what made your menses return. But since you've switched back to soley breastfeeding, if you ARE ovulating, it may stop again and you may not get a period for months.
I WAS going to start regularly starting Illyana on cereal starting today, but I have a huge book called 'The Baby Book' that said all the risks in giving solids before 6 months...so I'm gonna wait too! Illyana can sit up, but kind of slumped over! I'm so excited!
2007-10-24 08:47:54 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
No, you're no longer exclusively breastfeeding because you started cereal.
As for ovulation, it's rare to ovulate while you're exclusively breastfeeding but it's not impossible! I started having my period again about 2 months after I introduced cereal to my babies.
2007-10-24 08:44:56 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are doing a good job, no matter what you call it. :)
Keep up the breastfeeding, throw away the formula, and I think its okay to keep the cereal on the menu. He is going to have to start eating solids in the next month or so anyways, and as long as he is doing ok with it, you're doing a good job.
I don't think you're exclusively breastfeeding once you introduce foods.
2007-10-24 08:38:29 · answer #9 · answered by amber 18 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, exclusive breastfeeding means that nothing else is being fed but breast milk. Since he eats rice cereal, it is not exclusive.
2007-10-24 08:17:20 · answer #10 · answered by iamhis0 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋