I am quite proud to say that, although he is nearly nine months old, I am still breastfeeding Sonny. I knew I wanted to feed him for longer than I did the girls as I felt that I made the decision to give up too soon with them; however I didn’t envisage feeding for this long. Sonny has different ideas and obviously just loves to feed from me – so much so that until recently he point blank refused to take a bottle. With him being dependent upon me for feeds I could never really leave him for any length of time, I even came home half way through a Christmas party, fed him, then went back to the party!

I tried everything from buying different bottles (see the picture of a small selection of bottles I have tried) to leaving him with my Mum for an afternoon. The health visitor suggested that I kept trying with the bottle once or twice a week, saying that he would take it eventually. A month ago he did! Now he will take milk from any bottle so I give him a formula feed just before bed and breastfeed throughout the day.

There seems to be a lot of support for new mothers who are breastfeeding, but very little at this stage. Now that Sonny can take a bottle I have been thinking about stopping. If I did I would be able to buy lovely new bras that don’t ‘unclip’, go back on the pill and even eat peanuts again (I don’t particularly that I want to eat peanuts, it’s just the fact that I can’t because I am feeding that gets to me!). On the other hand I know that I’ve now been through the worst stages, and when the time comes he can be weaned straight to milk in as little as three months, so I think it would be selfish of me to give up now. It is also so much easier to feed him myself because I don’t have to worry about making up a bottle. I think I will stick at it.

Yesterday I went on a girlie trip to London – we shopped, ate, and then went to see Hairspray (it was brilliant!). Mark looked after the kids and fed Sonny with formula milk during the day. He took it all in his stride and has settled back into feeding from the breast today. I felt as though I had been set free, it was a real treat. I did miss the kids though and am enjoying being with them today – Mark, on the other hand, is shattered!

Some of the bottles I tried

Weaning Sonny is going really well. I had to get my Lorraine Kelly’s Baby and Toddler Eating Plan out again to remind me of the foods to include and those to avoid at each stage. I’m so glad I invested in this book as all three kids have been weaned using the recipes and guides. I buy the odd baby jar for emergencies, but for the majority I make my own food for him so that I know what’s really in it. I have a bit of an issue about organic food – I have to buy it if there is the option, as I just want to give my children the very best start and I am sure that food grown without chemicals must be better. My friend is an organic meat farmer, so I now have a meat box delivered monthly – my husband went spare when I told him how much it cost and even then I pretended it was cheaper than it was.

Now that Sonny is on three solid meals a day it seems that I am always feeding someone. I still give a breast feed at 7am, 10.30am, 2.30pm and 6.30pm, and am also giving a solid meal at 8am, 11.30am and 5pm. On top of that the girls need three meals a day plus snacks. I find teatime really hard to cook a meal for the girls and prepare something for Sonny. I have a wooden toy cooker in the kitchen so that Gracie can cook along with me with bits of pasta and rice, plus I have a drawer full of Tupperware and safe things that she can play with. She loves ‘her’ drawer, so rarely goes near the cupboards with crockery in them.

I cook Sonny’s food in big batches, then I freeze individual portions in small containers with labels. It’ll be so much easier when they eat the same meal! When I had Alicia, I bought a really fancy food processor but it was a nightmare – so much cleaning and fuss. I now have a small hand blender, which is my most prized kitchen possession. I even took it with us travelling last year – a real luxury as suitcase space was short!

Alicia loves her preschool and this week she couldn’t wait to go. For World Book Day all the children went in their pyjamas for a special bedtime story session. Even the teachers sported their favourite PJs! They were given hot chocolate and marshmallows while listening to stories. The picture (below) is of Alicia and her preschool teacher. I’m so glad that she loves it and with days like this it’s easy to see why.

Despite initial reservations Sonny tucks into his first solid meal and manages to polish off a whole bowl of porridge – I’m so proud of him.