Nipple Confusion

It's 9:48 p.m. Do you know where your baby is?

Attached to my boob. The baby is attached to my boob from 8pm to around 11pm every single night.

What happens when I take her off? All Hell breaks loose. They call it “fussy evenings.” They say she’s cluster feeding. It’s her new thing.

You know what? I don’t even mind because the trade-off is awesome. Most of the time, after 4 hours of snacking, she’ll sleep the entire night. I think it’s a pretty fair trade!

Of course, there’s a part of me that feels a little stuck. While our struggles with the nipple shield seem to be coming to an end, baby won’t take a bottle. Which means I can’t stray too far from home without the baby.

This is hard for our families to understand, but one thing I can safely attest to is NIPPLE CONFUSION DOES EXIST!

I have seen nipple confusion with this baby. Again and again. I can say I am at least grateful that it’s my breast she wants, not the bottle. The week we spent feeding her my expressed milk by bottle was horrible. Whether my nipple is bear or covered in a shield, she will take it and only it. Daddy’s days of bottle feeding are on hold. Nana’s too (sorry Mom).

But one day, I’m sure, baby will take the bottle. If someone says to me then, “It’s 9:48, do you know where your baby is?” I can say, “Yes, fast asleep in the arms of one of the six grandparents who are just dying to babysit.”

For the time being, I’ve promised to enjoy every single moment that this baby is glued to my breast. Seven weeks have flown by and I know seven months and seven years will too. One day, I’ll be crossing my fingers that my baby’s baby can figure out how to take a bottle so I can babysit.

Maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself…