Magic Elixir

When my milk first came in for Bun, I decided to pump a little bit to relieve my discomfort. I managed to get almost 4oz of colostrum-loaded milk before quitting. I just put it in the refrigerator, figuring that I would decide what to do with it later. I really didn’t plan for Bun to drink it, since he has never had a bottle in his life and I see no reason to introduce him to one either. But I did not want to see that milk go to waste… especially with all that precious colostrum.

So I decided to slip it into Bean’s sippy cup and see if he would drink it. He had been suffering from a cold with a cough and runny nose. I mixed the breast milk with cow milk to try to mask the flavor, and then offered it to my firstborn. He tasted it. At first he looked at me with this funny expression on his face, and then he signed for "milk" — which I had to really wonder about because that was always our signal for him wanting to nurse. He ended up putting the cup aside though and refusing to drink it. I thought it was a lost cause, but I put the sippy in the fridge anyway for later (just in case). Not an hour passed before Bean told me he was thirsty, so I offered him the breastmilk-spiked drink once again. This time he downed it all, no problem.

The next day his runny nose and cough were entirely gone. They have not returned.

I think that I will pump some milk for Bean every now and then so that he gets the benefits too. I can think of a bunch of creative ways to sneak it into his diet.