The pumpaholic malaise that had settled over me when last I wrote has lifted somewhat, due mostly to advice from our awesome pediatrician. At Carter's one year appointment on Friday, I peppered the good doctor with questions about his diet, his sleep schedule, bottles vs. sippies, etc.

Her response on cow's milk vs. breastmilk: "Your milk will always be more nutritious for him than cow's milk. If you want to keep pumping, by all means, do it."
Then she suggested that if I wanted to pump less, I could put less milk in each bottle rather than eliminate one, and if I did want to eliminate one I should replace it with more food, not cow's milk. She also pointed out that the WHO advocates breastfeeding for a minimum of two years. Mind you, our pediatrician is also a lactation consultant, so clearly she has a platform here - but it was so nice to have confirmation that I'm not a crazy hippie for wanting to continue nursing/pumping for awhile and choosing breastmilk over cow's.

Her response to my concern regarding Carter's perpetual 5:30am wake-up time and Dr. Weissbluth's (AKA The Sleep Nazi - sorry Sara, I know you love him!) theory that babies who wake too early are going to bed too late, and that you should just ignore them and let them cry until they naturally begin waking later: "PFFFTTTT. His bedtime is PERFECT (7:30). He sleeps a nice long stretch, and he's probably THIRSTY by then."
I needed to hear this, because sometimes it seems that my kid wakes up earlier than every other baby I know. But even though Carter is an early riser, he goes right back to sleep for another hour after he nurses, so it doesn't seem that painful. But what to do after I eventually wean? Yikes - though hopefully he'll be sleeping later by then...?

Lastly, her response to my bottle vs. sippy dilemma: "He is not going to go to college with a bottle, and I do not advocate restricting comfort items."
Take that, AAP! My kid drinks his water out of his straw cup, and his cow's milk (when he has it) in a sippy, and that's good enough for me! Let the boy have his bottle!

Her parting words: "You have excellent instincts, and you're doing a wonderful job. Don't listen to what 'they' say."

Dr. Kramer, I love you.