Breastfeeding Dilemma
My son, Sweet Pea, is now thirteen months old. Since he has been born I have had a real love/hate relationship with breastfeeding. I hated the late nights that only I could handle, I hated only being able to go out for two hours at a time, I hated that my husband could be gone the whole day. On the other hand I loved snuggling close to our baby and loving him in a way that no one else could and I loved our relationship the first year and how it was constantly changing. Quite the contradiction, huh?
Anyways, I figured I would be jumping up and down with joy the day we finally stopping nursing. I would finally be free! So right after a year we started weaning. It felt a little strange to be denying my son the one thing that he wanted the most, but we pressed on and about a week ago he had his last feeding. I was crushed. I cried and was very emotional for a few days. It did not help that I could still feel milk coming in and my only desire was to pick up my son and snuggle in bed to watch him nurse. Day after day I felt myself regretting it. I talked to my husband about it and he reminded me that it wasn’t to late because I was still producing milk and we could just pick right back up if we wanted to. I thought and thought. I knew that if we started again I would be committing myself to another year or two of breastfeeding. Is that what I really wanted?
So this morning I thought to myself why not? Let’s give it a try. He may not even want it after a week. So I grabbed him up and snuggled with him on the bed just like we used to. He seemed a little confused at first and I could tell the wheels were turning in his little head. He knew this position was familiar, but why? All of a sudden he broke into a huge grin and leaned down and started nursing. It felt wonderful. It felt right. I guess our days of nursing are not quite over yet. We shall see. I do not know what will happen because he still only nursed the one time today. I will keep you posted and let you know what tomorrow brings.
Hey Momma…through the encouragement of my La Leche League, I breast fed for at least 2 years for each of my kids…except for Micah. I went back to school when he was a year old and Scott gave him a bottle at night which became the easier thing to do even when I was home, so he weaned at about 1 year. I always enjoyed the 2nd year of nursing…more emotional attatchment than nutritional need. I hope you enjoy it too!
I know this post was from a long time ago, but I breastfed both of our children until about 15 months old. I totally agree about the love/hate relationship. One the one hand, I loved the relationship it forged and the amazing dynamics that went with the whole nursing thing. On the other hand, it was SO hard because I was the only one who could do nighttime feedings and I was so tied to my kids. Other moms were going for nights out with the gals, day trips away from the baby, and I couldn’t do any of that.
With my daughter, I got pregnant with our son when she was about 15 months and that really speeded up her weaning. She had already started to lose a lot of interest, but once I got pregnant, I don’t know if my milk just dried up fast or if it tasted different, but she didn’t want it much at all, and by then my nipples were so sore I could hardly stand it anyway.
The same thing happened with my son, although I wasn’t pregnant. He stopped being very interested at about 15 months and it ended up being really easy to wean him. I just cut out one feeding every few weeks and he honestly didn’t even seem to notice. He just drank his little sippy cup and that was that.
I think all kids are different. I have friends who nursed their kids a lot longer than I did and loved it. I felt like my kids gave me all the signs they were ready and I went with it. But I’m SO happy I breastfed. Now that they are 4 and 2, and no longer nurse, I really look back on those days with fondness. Although it’s sure nice not to have to breastfeed in the middle of the night (or, several times a night!!!) anymore.