juniper is 8 months old. she is breastfed exclusively, and i don't have a pump any longer or bottles.
we initially thought our issue was confusion due to pacifier... but i think i was wrong.
i'm new to realizing that my supply is insane. i was an exclusive pumper for the first 2 months instead of nursing (and a monster producer, sometimes overfilling the 6 oz bottles per breast), but went back to nursing after i quit my job. for 6 months, i have been cursed with a fussy nurser. she never asks to nurse, even if it has been 8 hours since she last nursed. once i lure her to the breast, she must be really sleepy to nurse. once she sucks to let down, i spray her in the face, she coughs, chokes, and squeals to get away. i give her a pacifier for a few minutes until we both calm down a little. it usually takes a dance like this that takes about 30 minutes to get her to nurse. i'll bet she only nurses actively for 5 minutes or so, and she is full.
she sleeps after every nursing session.
she has horrible gas.
a little daytime fussyness.
a few days between poops still, but normal orange poops. no green froth.
she spits up a few times a day still.
she gets the hiccups frequently.
she has dinner with us, normally 2-3 tbsp pureed peas or yams or something like that.
she only nurses 4-5 times a day.
6:00am
10:00am
3:00pm
6:30pm babyfood
8:00pm (sometimes!)
11:00pm
so i'm pretty sure that this all says that i have oversupply, right? i mean, she gains well well, and her poops are loud but normal. i'm guessing these things are because i force her to finish the breast to get hindmilk.
she is 8 months, should i bother correcting our issue if she will be weaning in 4 mos anyway? i have about 2 months BM in the freezer i am thinking of weaning to bottles soon so we don't have to deal with this. am i giving up too easily?
i am so desperate. i feel like i can't do my job right. i don't want her stomach to hurt. i feel really stupid that i can't get this right. we've worked so hard to get here, and it still is failing. i am so sad. i wish it were as easy for us as it looks like everyone else has it... nursing in the middle of the mall, peaceful baby... i've got the "why me?"'s.
anyone have some insight? should i wean a little early?