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Houston Babies
Stopping BFing...more emotional than I had imagined.
This is going to be long so I'm apologizing now...lol
DS will be one on the 25th. My goal for BFing was one year and we've almost made it!! I should be proud and happy, right? Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset. I know it sounds crazy and I would have rolled my eyes at that comment a year ago but I "get it" now.
I had recently decided to start slowly weaning DS, with no pressure to stop or keep going, just follow his signs until around 15-18 months. I was still planning on pumping once a day at work (pump 2X now) for his daytime milk with meals and/or cereal and nursing at night. Nothing goes according to plan though, right? lol. Well, this past week at school DS started slowly drinking less and less milk and this weekend DID NOT want to nurse except for at night and early morning. I'm wondering if this is just a phase or self weaning. Either way is fine but boy is it doing a number on my emotions. The "books" say it's easier if a baby self weans themselves but I'm having trouble coming to grips with that idea! I should be celebrating but it happened so fast and maybe I thought I was the one that was going to have to initiate! Can you share you stories of weaning? Either by you starting the process or the baby self weaning...it might help me through this emotional time. Am I just being crazy and selfish? (it's okay...you can tell me if I am...lol)
DS is a GREAT table food eater (better than I could have ever imagined) and I have followed his lead on just about everything so maybe I should just relax!
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Re: Stopping BFing...more emotional than I had imagined.
Don't be too hard on yourself for getting a little emotional! It's quite an emotional bond between mother and baby. I feel like my son has become even more loving and cuddly since weaning. I guess he got that closeness through nursing sessions before. Now, he will show us his belly, which often means he wants to see mom or dad's belly...then he'll come up and press his face into our belly and hug us. I really feel like it's his way of getting that skin to skin feeling, and it's just precious.
I weaned very slowly - I switched to whole milk for one feeding about every month until he didn't nurse anymore. It wasn't as emotional as I expected, probably because it did happen so slowly. And I honestly do feel like he was ready, even if I initiated the weaning. He never once fussed or cried when I gave him a sippy instead of nursing him. He is very much a go with the flow kind of guy though.
Hang in there! It could just be a phase, but either way, you should be very proud of how long you have nursed him!
i know! it's very bittersweet. you've done a really amazing thing and should be so proud, whether you guys stop now or continue on.
night and early morning are usually the last 2 feedings for most babies. i would say yes, it is him self weaning BUT i can also tell you i had those 2 feedings for about 5 mos until i went OOT when T was 18 mos old. if i hadn't gone away, he very well may have nursed longer.
Awww...it'll be ok! He may just be self weaning, but that's ok - then you are just letting him take the lead. I know you won't want to hear this right now, but honestly, after you go through the weaning process, I was so much less stressed out b/c I wasn't worried about the "next time I need to pump", or "where will we be at XX time, so I can feed him", etc. It will just be a process to get to that point.
I just gradually cut down on the feedings and my pumping, and really, my supply is what weaned us out pretty fast. I didn't even get engorged by the time I quit b/c he just wasn't getting that much even with my 2 times a day (morning and night). I think you just have to be ready for it - b/c I almost weaned about a month before I actually did, and the thought of it really made me sad, so I kept going - but by the time it was time, I felt that I was ready, and it went really smoothly.
Good luck to you! Try not to stress out about it - whatever happens, happens!
When my first stopped, it really took an emotional toll. There is a hormonal shift too. I hope you feel better soon, and sorry to hear you're having to go through this. It gets better.
My second has been a turkey about nursing all along. Night nursing was our only solid time. Now, he's starting to demand bottles at night. I'm going to miss my little night turkey most of all...
Awww, I know how hard it can be to wean. I had some really hard nursing babies. My first and I suffered from misdiagnosed thrush for 10 months and I finally weaned cold turkey at 14 months. Even though it was truly necessary and I was emotionally drained and ready to end it, it was very hard. I hated the pain of nursing through the thrush and wanted it to end but when it was over I felt tremendous guilt and wanted to start again.
With my second, I had 14 different episodes of mastitis (later finding out it was because I was allergic to the antibiotic that would have actually taken care of it). It was just another long year of nursing that I hated and loved at the same time. I weaned him cold turkey when I had the last case of mastitis at 14 months. I took some different meds and when it was gone and he still wanted to nurse, we started right back up and nursed until he was 26 months. At that point I was being used as a pacifier at night and it just really had to stop for my sanity so I weaned. It has been 3 months since then and he STILL tries to nurse.
Kids are so very different. My daughter was DONE after I weaned her. She didn't want to have anything to do with nursing again. But my son still asks to nurse and would probably have kept going until he was going of to school if I let him.