Wednesday, March 14, 2007

What, teeth and all?

I was sitting in a waiting room recently waiting for my psychologist - first appointment, somewhat daunting - and I fed Baby while there, because she was hungry. The receptionist walked by - "Awww!" she said, "How old is she?"

"Gosh, seven months now, I keep thinking it's only six but it's seven now. Wow."

"And you're still feeding her?"

I was so shocked I just blurted out "I'm still feeding my three-year -old, I'm not going ot stop feeding this one."

"What, all those teeth?"

"If I'd stopped when the three-year-old had got teeth I'd have stopped at three months; she'd have starved."

The receptionist was pleasant, but it was only afterwards that I remembered that actually quite a lot of people stop before three months, because there are alternatives out there. It honestly didn't occur to me at the time.

The psychologist is very impressed with my peanut shell sling, approves strongly of cosleeping, and was flexible about working around the fact that I have a separation-anxiety-phase breastfed baby to deal with. Nice lady :)

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Sick, sick, sick

Toddler is sick. Baby is sick. Baby is over 6 months old and can't handle solids. They both have head and chest colds. Twice Toddler has soothed her sore throat with a long, long feed, then coughed herself sick. Once Baby has coughed herself sick.

Nights are getting harder. I'm alone in the night with both children, because I'm visiting my mother. Toddler wakes homesick and ill and cries, whinges, shouts and kicks - this wakes Baby. They both object to the other being breastfed in the night, though neither expresses any disgruntlement during the day. We're all in one room, which is likely to be part of the problem.

The night before last I started to shake Toddler. PMS and my own illness and a screaming Toddler waking a previously peaceful Baby was too much for me. I'd wean her if it wasn't that weaning would make life more difficult in the short term.

I'm so so tired of this. She's two years and 10 months old now. Baby is six months old. Sometimes I love feeding them, together and seperately, and sometimes I'm just too tired and I hate them both.

Perhaps it's PMS - my cycle appears to be coming back on a 7-days-of-21 routine which I can't handle either.