illness

This is my sling that has lasted 10 years and 3 children. It’s my woobie.

I took all the kids out after lunch today to run errands. We made it to the post office before my almost 3 year old took the hand of my almost 10 year old in the back seat of the car & fell asleep. This is a heart exploding moment as it is.

We decided to go ahead to our next stop. I brought out my trusty sling. And then it hit me – this sling is 10 years old. It has carried my oldest as a toddler & my next 2 babies since they were newborns until they were well into toddlerhood. It has seen so much work in so many countries in so many different kinds of weather. I’ve breastfed and fed cookies (fishing crumbs out of my bra every step of the way) & had a snack for momma too. So many hours of sleeping babies in this sling. I’ve had prenatal & postnatal appointments with clients, teaching breastfeeding, babywearing & cloth diapering classes in this sling. Playdates, parties, shopping, cooking, baking, laundry, moving, packing & unpacking, pta meetings, volunteering in the classroom, support groups, vacations & walks, many many many walks. The list is endless.

I bought 2 crappy, really crappy box store excuses for babywearing devices when my oldest was born. Such a waste of money, frustration, time and fabric. But I knew there had to be something better out there. She was a baby you just couldn’t put down. I knew babywearing worked but I had tried to save money & cut corners in the wrong way. These didn’t work for us. I could have easily made my own sling but wasn’t confident enough until much later.

When I was pregnant with my 2nd baby I found the right people to talk to and the right place to look at what I call a real sling. And so, I bought my sling, my Maya Wrap. It has been, & always be, my go to. So easy to slip on, slide a baby in & just keep on going. The learning curve was minimal & within days of my 2nd baby being born I felt like an old pro. And I wore him for 3 1/2 years. The last time I remember wearing him was when we were in Rome. He was sick & we had a tour of the Vatican scheduled. We decided to try it & I would go back to the hotel if things deteriorated. My trusty Maya Wrap was at the bottom of my backpack. He decided he needed to hap as his fever ramped up again. At 3 1/2 & a good 35 lbs or so he curled up on my chest, the sling came out & he slept through the entire tour. I don’t remember how many hours it was, but it was quite a few. He woke up, his fever broke & we continued on the day.

Today, as baby #3 snoozed away while we shopped for school supplies I kissed her little head in the same place it’s been for the last almost 3 years, just below my chin. Right where all babies should be – close enough to kiss. I realize these times are fleeting & I don’t know how many more there will be, but I will cherish every single one of them. I’m so grateful that I didn’t give up on babywearing. It’s made my life so much easier, and so much easier for my children to be where they wanted to be, where they needed to be.

I’ve expanded my babywearing library to other wraps, slings, pouches & soft-structured carriers, and I love them all for different reasons. But my hand always goes back to this sling. There’s not a thread popped & it’s soft with years of use. Sure it’s a just a tad bit faded, but I know this, when I am blessed with grandbabies, this will be the first thing I pull out to snuggle the next generation of our family. Soft, warm, fuzzy little heads resting under my chin.

The principles of breastfeeding have been brought to the forefront of my own breastfeeding experience once again.

If you’re a breastfeeding mother you’ve heard all about & probably know first hand just how important latch is. It’s one of the first things taught in breastfeeding class. It can be one of the hardest things to get right. It’s objectively subjective – meaning you can give great detail about how to do it with all the evidence based information available, but how the information is taken in and applied varies from each mom/baby dyad. Mom or baby can change the equation in less time than it takes to say “OUCH!”

You know all about my most recent experience if you’ve read this post. Third baby, disastrous start to breastfeeding. She’s almost 2 1/2 years old now you’d think we’d be completely past any issues. But I’m here to tell you all it takes is one night.

My sweet girl had a cold. Not a bad one, just a cold.

And then came the first night. After we both had fallen asleep, the stuffy nose started. Suck suck suck, breathe. Frantic latch, suck suck suck, Breathe. ** lather, rinse, repeat all night.

After that first night I was sure I had woken up with a newborn who had torn my nipples to shreds. The damage was done. We used saline & the ever popular (NOT!) nose sucker but she was still very snurfly.

This has gone on for many many nights until just the last couple.

Why am I telling you this? All it takes is one time, one really bad latch & the breakdown of the nipple begins. And when that latch can’t be improved right away, well, even I started cringing at every request for a feed. And there are so many moms that would throw up their hands at this point because they don’t have the support to get over the hump and back to normal breastfeeding. Many moms simply wean.

Older babies and toddlers still gain a tremendous amount of benefits from breastfeeding, especially when sick. Breastfeeding gives a child the nutrients and antibodies they need to recover, especially when that child has decided not to eat and drink while ill. Breastfeeding may be their best source of nutrition when even a cup of water is being refused. And that breastmilk has a higher fat content at night so those calories your sweet bub decided they could do without during the day is given at night. Breastfeeding not only serves as an important physical component, but an emotional one as well. Sitting down to breastfeed a clingy, needy, sick child does more to aid your child than anything else possibly could. It’s a wonderful excuse to just sit and cuddle.

Latch is so important. If you start having pain at any point in your breastfeeding relationship the first thing to look at above all else is latch & positioning. Pain is a sign that something is not right. Pain is never normal. In this last experience of mine it did take a little time to clear my child’s airway to get a good latch & get things healed again (momma and baby). But if your child is not ill and breastfeeding is painful, step one is still to check the latch & positioning. (Does the baby have breast tissue not just the nipple, is the baby’s body facing mom’s, is mom supporting the baby’s head from the neck not the back of the head, etc etc etc) If you’re unsure about how to check latch & position or know you’re already having a hard time, please seek a breastfeeding professional, a breastfeeding counselor, La Leche League Leader or an IBCLC for help. You’re not bothering anyone, we’re here to help.

My 10 year old sling

Latch is where it’s at