I definitely didn’t have enough supply and definitely unwittingly starved my baby, which soured me on breastfeeding as a whole pretty early on. I stopped when it became obvious that continuing would be a lot of extra work to get maybe one bottle a day, so 3.5-4 months.
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Absolutely this. When they’re really little, other than exposures they can get close to home (sunlight! Wind! A Texture! A Sound!) they really don’t need much, and developmentally they don’t seek much peer socialization until 2.5-3. But of course it’s not all what the baby needs! So whatever fills your cup, while helping them have exposures to life (sunlight! Wind! A Texture! A Sound!) is absolutely awesome.
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With my first, we took a lot of walks and went to the library and the grocery store - we didn’t go anyplace that cost ) because we didn’t have any. I don’t think she cared. LOL
With the other two, we went everywhere because we had stuff to do, and I also don’t think they cared.
There was an adorable very small baby in a stroller at the first grade musicale last week, and at first they looked at all the kids and kicked heels and seem d excited and then they’d had enough and the little eyelids drifted shut. It was very cute!
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I remember my baby staring at the wall at one point for a solid few minutes. The beige wall. I wonder if maybe his eyes had just tuned in enough to see the texture or something? It was not unlike when a cat stares intently at a spot on the wall and you start wondering if they’re seeing something you don’t, lol.
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Latte was big into shadows haha. Under trees in the summer was 10/10 focus. Babies are hilarious.
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Oh yeah, i pumped at work but Duckling never took a bottle and my boobs don’t respond well to pumps, so if I’d gone back at 6 months we would have been on (non-dairy, more CMPI babies over here) formula and feeding from a sippy cup
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Thank you all for sharing your experiences!! They are super helpful to read. I don’t know if I have a “goal” or any clarity on when we will stop but I feel good about knowing that I don’t have to know that right now.
I like @LadyDuck’s emojis because the levels are real. For the friend asking because they know nothing about babies, I’m happy to discuss because it’s not judgement on their end, just genuine curiosity about having a baby. For the people who want to judge or give input to our choice they’re gonna get the 
faces. He’s not even 3 months old yet so there has not been anything cruel or pushy yet but I’ll be ready for it when the time comes.
For activities, @Bracken_Joy the wind has been one of the feelings he hasn’t loved but everything else has been fun! I feed him outside a lot and then we walk around the yard and touch rocks/trees/leaves after. So far he loves staring up at the leaves on trees.
I’m so much more comfortable breastfeeding in public now and it feels freeing and fun for us to do stuff outside of the house. More for our sake than his.
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The biggest takeaway on reflection- it is okay to have feelings about being asked this question and I am under no obligation to answer or provide a reason or explanation for our choice unless I want to. We get to do what works for our family and that is that.
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My NUMBER ONE HACK is put the one set of pump parts in the fridge (I use a wet bag for this but a ziploc is fine too) and do not wash it in between pumps. It’ll be fine in there, as you know fresh BM is fine in the fridge for 3ish days let alone 8 hours so nothing will be contaminated or spoil, and you save sooooo much time.
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Plus I was always hot when I was pumping (in part this was the fault of my cubicle neighbor, who didn’t dress for the indoor temperature and had a heater on all the time) and those refrigerated pump parts felt so nice!
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FACTS
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l had a lot of weird exceptions with Spore that made this less practical (preemies have shorter storage recommendations – I think they didn’t want more than 1h at room temp?, pumping at hospital so no access to fridge) but in many cases this would be ideal!
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Yeahhh the preemie risk of NEC means they need to take all feeding hygiene reccs way more seriously. Such a pain to have the additional restrictions though.
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I’m realizing now how many minor details just work more easily with a full term baby. My preemie was too floppy and small to use a Boppy; he needed a special buckwheat nursing pillow to hold him in the correct position. My giant baby can nurse wherever on whatever pillow, or even directly on the bed or in my lap. Hygiene, storage, sterilization, weight tracking, and more… and this is just from my n of 2. I imagine there are as many combinations of needs as there are babies in the world!
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Ticks!
I’m not panicking, but trying to figure out what to actually do practically speaking. So if the smallest deer ticks are size of a poppy seed, how am I supposed to do a hair check for a 4yr old? Give him a buzz cut and hope for the best? Or not worry about it?
We just went to a national park and romped around. Tried to avoid high grass but you know he’s 4.
We did have DEET, 7%, which maybe more is recommended but that’s what we had.
It was 79 degrees so we did have shorts, which maybe was dumb, but everyone was sprayed and socks and hiking boots too.
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Ticks like crevices. So they’re more likely behind the ears than randomly in the hair. You can also use a fine comb to create parts in his hair and just check over his head that way.
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+1 crevices, like groin, armpits, etc.
Socks pulled up over lightweight pants if you can stand it. Light colored clothing in general makes it easier to spot.
There are inexpensive tick combs that you could use for more certainty (similar shape to head lice combs).
A tick needs to be attached for 2-3 days before transmitting Lyme, so I usually do a thorough check at that evening’s bathtime rather than trying to rush it e.g. before getting back in the car.
Your kid is almost old enough for the Lyme vaccine trial (5-17): https://www.lymekidstudy.com/
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Thanks guys! I used the comb method and he’s squeaky clean as far as I can tell, which is all anyone can do 
Thanks for the vaccine trial info, I’ll keep that in mind!
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I thought I had my baby carrier choices all dialled but turns out new baby disagrees with his brother’s preferences. He’s also five inches taller so his head bops my chin in many of our old favorites.
The Lalabu carrier (semi wrap style) was a favorite. It worked last week. He hated it today.
Do I have to start the experiments all over again? Is there any relationship between size of baby and type of carrier/device that’s ideal?
Signed,
Babies are cute but also hot messes
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My baby didn’t like any carriers except when his father wears him in the ergobaby he is almost to big for 
I hope this is not your experience lol
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