When we went in for my daughter’s 6-month check-up, the neonatologist was shocked that I was still pumping. She couldn’t believe that my daughter was still being exclusively fed chestmilk because so many tube-fed children are put on formulas for one reason or another very early on in their tube-fed journey. But situations like mine often lead to little ones who are still getting just chestmilk well beyond the point an oral child would have started including other sources of nutrition in their diet.
Maintaining a Chestfeeding Relationship While Pumping
The chestfeeding relationship provides such a special, unique bond – one that so many parents-to-be dream about. I’ve successfully provided chestmilk to all three of my current children, but our journeys looked quite different. When pregnant with my second, for example, I never would have imagined that she would not only never nurse, but that she wouldn’t eat orally at all. Suffice to say, most parents who plan to chestfeed their babies don’t imagine that process involving a feeding tube.