Nursing moms, gather here.

AverageAsh

I am at a strange crossroads with nursling Lu. I would love to know where everyone is at and how you are dealing. I have so many feelers right now about the whole thing! Maybe we can all talk it out together?
 

How's it going for you?
How old is your current nursling?
Are you experiencing anything new/weird/frustrating?
What are your current goals for bfing?

AverageAsh

How's it going for you? Lu and I would have different answers to this. She still loves nursing and would nurse 50 times a day if I let her. I have a hard time telling her no when she asks but it is so uncomfortable for me that I really need to limit the amount of time she nurses. 

How old is your current nursling? Almost 16 months

Are you experiencing anything new/weird/frustrating? Definitely having nursing aversion. It wells up from my toes and I want to cry. SO WEIRD. I hate it. 

What are your current goals for bfing? I thought I wanted to nurse until she was completely done with it but she loves nursing so much that I am afraid she will never want to wean. That is probably me being dramatic. So I guess my goal is to get through one day at a time.

meq124

I needed this today!

How's it going for you? meh. Do you guys feel like breastfeeding is taking an extra toll on your body??
How old is your current nursling? 12 months
Are you experiencing anything new/weird/frustrating? she's just not nursing like she used to. She essentially weaned herself from 4x/day when I first got pregnant to once before bed. And that feed lasts maybe 5 minutes (total for both boobs)
What are your current goals for being? I trialled going to bed without nursing last night just to see if she truly is ready, but she woke up at 8 all confused. We will keep on until we get back from our vacation in Sept, then I think it will be time to cut out the boobs and work through the freezer stash. I feel like my supply has tanked enough that she is ready, and it's more for comfort than anything else at this point. 

AverageAsh

@meq124 it totally feels like I'm sustaining TOO MANY LIVES right now! I hope all goes smoothly after your vacation! Is she drinking WCM?

meq124

AverageAsh said:

@meq124 it totally feels like I'm sustaining TOO MANY LIVES right now! I hope all goes smoothly after your vacation! Is she drinking WCM?

I like the sustaining too many lives comment!! It's the perfect way to put it!! She is drinking WCM, sort of. I finally got her to not immediately spit it back out, but she is still only doing about 9oz of that a day. It's progress though!

This whole things is just such a weird feeling. I want to stop, but then when I am nursing her before bed I think about how much I will miss it and tear up. Hormones suck!

Skyjewell23

How's it going for you? I am done. We are in the weaning process, but I am taking it very slow. Walker would be happy to nurse until high school.
How old is your current nursling? He will be 3 in October
Are you experiencing anything new/weird/frustrating? My milk is drying up. Walker keeps tell me that he needs to give his nuh nuhs (what he calls nursing) a break because there is no milk in them. His latch has become more aggressive too which is a lot for me to handle.
What are your current goals for bfing? We surpassed my original goal of one year. I have never really wanted to wean and allow my child to self wean. I just have zero interest in tandem nursing.

I'll reply to everyone else after my meeting!

AverageAsh

@meq124 totally with you on the weaning tears. What is wrong with me??

AverageAsh

@Skyjewell23 you are a nursing warrior! Good work, mama! That's so sweet that he wants to give his nuh nuhs a break: 

AverageAsh

I think part of my weaning apprehension is the fear of starting over. Nursing was THE WORST in the beginning. I had so many issues but I wasn't willing to compromise. It stole a lot of the joy from my first few months with Lu and I was hoping to keep in trucking to avoid that happening again.

Skyjewell23

@averageash part of the reason I have nursed for so long is because we had such issues in the beginning. Walker had to use a nipple shield for the first 9 months and my nipples were in an awful state even then. I fought way to hard to wean, but I know I am not the kind to tandem nurse. At this point its a comfort thing (which is fine), I am trying to replace nursing with snuggling. If he asks to nurse, I ask if I can just hold him instead. He is usually okay with that. He wants to feel close to me and I never want to take that from him, especially since there is a new baby coming.

I really think at this point my nipples are tough enough that not nursing for 6 months won't be the end of the world. I am hopeful that since I feel like a fearless breastfeeder and know what I am doing this time, it won't be such a rocky start.

Gators&BoSox

How's it going for you? Oy... my supply has dropped so much and letdown takes FOREVER.. DS usually pops off a few times before milk finally starts flowing

How old is your current nursling? Just turned 1 

Are you experiencing anything new/weird/frustrating? Besides the letdown and supply I'm definitely more sore...and I'm just kind of done.. momma needs a break lol I know I'll miss the closeness but we can still snuggle. Plus he's starting to get uncomfortable on my blump

What are your current goals for bring? Met my goal of making it one year. Now we are just working on getting him used to WCM. He's not drinking too much ATM.

wintersong

How's it going for you? It's going okay.my son only nurses for nap and bedtime during the day. Nighttime is another story. He still nurses several times through the night. (A good night like last night is 3 or 4.)
How old is your current nursling? 18 months
Are you experiencing anything. new/weird/frustrating? Sore nipples. Ouch! Even the shower hitting them is painful. 
What are your current goals for bfing? Is really like to night wean soon. My son understands when I tell him that my nursies have owies, though is understandably sad when I say no. Unfortunately my only alternate way to calm him is walking around and swaying....which obviously can't continue forever!

AverageAsh

@ashannon3490 have you tried warming the WCM up? Lu HATED cold milk in the beginning.

AverageAsh

@longliveregina can your H go in at night so nursing is off the table? Lu still nurses at night but if we switch off going in I only have to do it half of the time:)

wintersong

meq124 said:

AverageAsh said:

@meq124 it totally feels like I'm sustaining TOO MANY LIVES right now! I hope all goes smoothly after your vacation! Is she drinking WCM?

I like the sustaining too many lives comment!! It's the perfect way to put it!! She is drinking WCM, sort of. I finally got her to not immediately spit it back out, but she is still only doing about 9oz of that a day. It's progress though!

This whole things is just such a weird feeling. I want to stop, but then when I am nursing her before bed I think about how much I will miss it and tear up. Hormones suck!

My son rarely drinks milj, even though I offer. We eat a lot of yogurt, lol.

wintersong

AverageAsh said:

@longliveregina can your H go in at night so nursing is off the table? Lu still nurses at night but if we switch off going in I only have to do it half of the time:)

Not a chance. He's tried. His body is literally in a state of emergency everytime my kid cries loudly while he's with him, like a flight of fight response. He can only tolerate it for two minutes or so. (He has such a strong reaction, like our tiny 18 month old is intentionally trying to hurt him, the I think there must be some issues here.) My son cries for me and nanas, and he isn't willing(able?) to patiently let him get out his upset and help him with his BIG FEELINGS. He gets upset himself and comes to find me, even though I've tried to be really supportive and give him tools and let hi know I trust him to do this. I'm not really mad, I've accepted it for what it is. 

My son never wakes up calm at night...he's always crying before he's even really awake. That makes it extra challenging for dh. 

That being said, I kind of feel like this is between me and my nursling...like it's a step we have to take together, if that makes sense.  I want to do this in a way that he feels so much support for the change, and keeps us close.

As for a fear of starting over, even when tandom nursing moms still have to face a lot of the hard beginning stuff: teaching baby to latch, etc. (though having a toddler nursing could definitely be handy when dealing with oversupply or overactive letdown!!) 

AverageAsh

longliveregina said:

Not a chance. He's tried. His body is literally in a state of emergency everytime my kid cries loudly while he's with him, like a flight of fight response. He can only tolerate it for two minutes or so. (He has such a strong reaction, like our tiny 18 month old is intentionally trying to hurt him, the I think there must be some issues here.) My son cries for me and nanas, and he isn't willing(able?) to patiently let him get out his upset and help him with his BIG FEELINGS. He gets upset himself and comes to find me, even though I've tried to be really supportive and give him tools and let hi know I trust him to do this. I'm not really mad, I've accepted it for what it is. 

My son never wakes up calm at night...he's always crying before he's even really awake. That makes it extra challenging for dh. 

That being said, I kind of feel like this is between me and my nursling...like it's a step we have to take together, if that makes sense.  I want to do this in a way that he feels so much support for the change, and keeps us close.

As for a fear of starting over, even when tandom nursing moms still have to face a lot of the hard beginning stuff: teaching baby to latch, etc. (though having a toddler nursing could definitely be handy when dealing with oversupply or overactive letdown!!) 

So wise. It is good to hear all of these perspectives!!

ihateusernames*

I just finished nursing my 18 month old about a week ago. It makes me sad. I had nothing left other than a few drops because I think the pregnancy hormones helped to dry me up (and the fact I'm super nauseas and hardly eating). 
Anyway, he's adjusted well and snuggles me with his sippy cup now. He gets extra snuggles all the time
 
when the next baby comes the boys will enjoy breast milk sippy cups since I usually have a huge over supply in the beginning. 
Bye bye breast feeding for now 

Gators&BoSox

@AverageAsh i haven't ..I'll give that a shot tomorrow thanks!

nursemama-2

How's it going? We are down to 1 session a day before bed and he still seems pretty attached to it.

Baby boy is 16 months old

I'm really not enjoying nursing with empty breasts, but I can handle it 1 time a day.

Current goal? Likely 18 months and hopefully wean before baby comes.

AnonnAni

My LO is almost 2yrs old and I plan to keep going as long as she desires and my supply holds up.
Have seen a dip in my supply since I pump while at work but trying to keep up pumping and nursing at home to stay stocked up on my frozen supply. I do fear my supply will keep decreasing and she wont deal well at all. 

AnonnAni

The idea of tandem nursing doesn't full me worth huge amount of excitment as my LO doesn't really eat food around me maybe a piece of cheese tiny rice portions or a boiled egg something minute, so her still trying to just nurse for all her meals AND a newborn doing the same. Not sure I could keep up.

Scarlett830

What I hoped was just a nursing strike a couple weeks ago turned into cold turkey weaning on Henry's part. I think it was partially the fact that my supply was dropping, and partly because he's eating so much more solid table food now. He's not even 1, but my kid is an eating machine!

I cried a lot about him not wanting to nurse, but it was his decision, and I've made my peace with it. He's still eating really well, and has adjusted to formula as well as WCM.

He actually has been going to sleep really well at night too! He'll finish a bottle and then just snuggle into me with a few little yawns, and then is usually right out. He's still waking once at night, but I think it's more out of habit and the need for snuggles. Overall, now that my sadness over weaning has passed, I'm thrilled to be free of my pump for a while!

wintersong

ihateusernames* said:

I just finished nursing my 18 month old about a week ago. It makes me sad. I had nothing left other than a few drops because I think the pregnancy hormones helped to dry me up (and the fact I'm super nauseas and hardly eating). 
Anyway, he's adjusted well and snuggles me with his sippy cup now. He gets extra snuggles all the time
 
when the next baby comes the boys will enjoy breast milk sippy cups since I usually have a huge over supply in the beginning. 
Bye bye breast feeding for now 

Any tips for what helped ease the transition? My son still freaks out when I deny him nursing, though he handles delays ok. And I'm clearly dropping in supply which frustrates him but he dry nurses on...

wintersong

@Scarlett830 Yay to no pumping for awhile, but I totally get what you mean about being sad...an era has ended, it's ok to grieve even while being happy. I wish my son would decide not to nurse any more, it would make this whole weaning thing a hack of a lot easier. 

meq124

longliveregina said:

meq124 said:

AverageAsh said:

@meq124 it totally feels like I'm sustaining TOO MANY LIVES right now! I hope all goes smoothly after your vacation! Is she drinking WCM?

I like the sustaining too many lives comment!! It's the perfect way to put it!! She is drinking WCM, sort of. I finally got her to not immediately spit it back out, but she is still only doing about 9oz of that a day. It's progress though!

This whole things is just such a weird feeling. I want to stop, but then when I am nursing her before bed I think about how much I will miss it and tear up. Hormones suck!

My son rarely drinks milj, even though I offer. We eat a lot of yogurt, lol.

I forgot to respond to this, I was talking to my Pediatrician about her not drinking lots of milk and she was saying the concern is with the vitamin d, not the calcium, so she recommended we keep up her vitamin d drops.