Six Months of Breastfeeding & How to Nurse a Distracted Baby

As with most of my baby’s milestones, I can hardly believe that this littlest babe of mine is almost six months old. Here we are, six months into our breastfeeding journey and I’m still learning so much this third time around.

I feel grateful to have been able to nurse all three of my babies. Even through our struggles, it’s something that I’ve learned to appreciate in this all too quickly passing first year. On the real though, as I’ve mentioned before, the happy chaos that is our every day life most definitely applies to breastfeeding my third son. All of our days are usually a blur of working, nursing and (yelling) telling my boys to settle down so that I can feed their brother. To say that we’re all a bit distracted is an understatement.

So what does breastfeeding look like at six months? Here are a few tidbits about our daily feeding schedule and a few tips on how to nurse a distracted baby.

Supply Changes

I’ve noticed in the past month that my supply is changing. We’re starting solids and I’m also past the stage of EATINGALLTHETHINGS ALLTHETIME. Naturally, my supply isn’t at its highest production, even though B’s intake is pretty much the same. To prevent any low milk supply issues, I’ve been trying to be mindful of my liquid/water intake, as well as offering him an extra bottle from my frozen stash to make sure he is still getting all of the milk he needs on a daily basis.

Feeding Times

We’re usually feeding 5-6x a day. He feeds at wake up (anywhere from 6:30-7:30) and again at 9:30/10:30 before his first morning nap. Sometimes he falls asleep before the second feeding and I feed him after he wakes. On days that he goes down after the second feed, he usually gets a bottle at wake up. Baby B still isn’t fully into solids yet, so I make sure nurse him two or three more times throughout the day. (Usually at 2:30 and 5:30 give or take a half hour or so). We start bedtime around 7:30 and we have our last nursing session around 8. He nurses from both sides, except for the morning feed. Although in the last few days, he’s been feeding from both at wake up too.

Distraction

I don’t think I need to explain this one in detail as our pictures clearly show that everyone in this family is distracted all day, every day. If there’s anything I’ve learned through all three of my breastfeeding journeys is that babies grow and inevitably hit the phase of being distracted while nursing. On more than one occasion, Baby B pops off just as my let down comes at full force. Yep, it’s not the cleanest act of mothering these days. Regardless, I’ve also learned a few tricks to make sure that he is getting his fill each time. My tips aren’t ground breaking or earth shattering. But, mostly learned through trial and error.

Eye Contact: Sometimes I just let the craze go on around us and try to make eye contact with him during our day time feeding sessions. This helps to keep him focused and also awake for the whole feed.
Move to a Quiet/Dark Room: Other days, I try to step away into another room (usually his nursery) to make sure that the environment isn’t full of noise or distractions (a.k.a. his big brothers).
(Teething) Necklace: I haven’t bought any teething necklaces, but I do wear a necklace that he likes to grab at while nursing which seems to help him stay on for the duration of the nursing session.
Switch Up Positions: During our day time sessions, I’m usually feeding him in a cradle hold. At his wake up and bedtime feed, we nurse lying side by side. I switch off between the two on days that he seems more distracted and that does the trick (most of the time).
Singing/Talking: In addition to making eye contact, singing him a nursery rhyme or talking to him helps to focus him on me and nursing. Even with all of the noise, he feeds well if I can get his sole attention.

Infant Probiotics

We are still giving Baby B his Evivo infant probiotics. I usually mix it in with his bottle from the frozen stash to make sure that he is getting his B. infantis, the good bacteria. I love that this helps to reduce potentially harmful bacteria linked to eczema, allergies, diabetes and obesity later in life. And it’s reassuring to know that Evivo is the only probiotic that’s clinically proven to restore baby’s gut to the way nature intended. I wish I knew more about it with my first two boys, but as always, I’m thankful to have learned about it now so that I can add it in Baby B’s bottles.

All Photos by Casey Brodley

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MUST HAVE PRODUCTS FOR NURSING MOMS:

Organic Bamboo Nursing Pads – Love these, helps saves my bras/shirts from leakage.
Hakka Manual Pump – Must have to not waste a drop of liquid gold. Nurse on one side, use this on the other. This has a suction and catches all of the milk from leakage.
Spectra Breast Pump – Hands down my favorite pump, over the freestyle, pump in style, etc. Hospital grade and the quietest pump ever.
Bravado Nursing Bra – Comfy without being bulky. My fave nursing bra.