I had planned in my mind that I would wean Mary at about a year. She is 10 months old now and as she gets closer and closer to her first birthday, I am having some mixed feelings about the whole thing.
Overall I have enjoyed breastfeeding. It is so wonderful to be able to hold your baby so closely. My Mom always said that she had three cuddly babies and three wirey (sp?)babies. Guess which one I was? Mary takes after her momma and her daddy too in this way. She is not a cuddler. She always wants to face out and see what is going on. Jeff always jokes that she doesn't really like my kisses (it's too bad for her then because I won't stop!) and even when she is breastfeeding she often will push her arm against my chest so that she will be as far away from me as possible.
But I have loved this time. She is so sweet. And it is wonderful to look in her eyes and connect with her and joke with her. When she was a wee infant she would place her little hand in the little pocket of my cleavage and bra. And now she will stick her little pointer finger into my mouth for me to suck. It's very cute.
Part of me is really ready to be done with nursing - mostly I just want to be rid of the excess weight. But there are other reasons too . . .
Another one of the reasons I want to continue is that neither Mary nor I have been sick once since she has been born - not even a sniffle or sore throte. I kinda hate to stop nursing just intime for cold and flu season. You know?
My doctor says that between a year and 13/14 months is best because if you go longer, kids seem to have more of an emotional attachment to it.
So it seems that I should - and I haven't even mentioned that Jeff wants me to wean too. But part of me doesn't want to . . . though I think a bigger part of me does.
I also don't really know how to. . . but I will figure it out. We are already down to just 3 times a day.
Maybe I will go through the winter . . . but probably not.
P.S. I would post a pic (a very modest one) but Jeff said absolutely not! : )Gotta love a husband who wants to protect his family.
I have such a hard time with the separation issues. I so miss that closeness with my babies. Once mobility sets in, cuddle times are few and far between and that connection stretches further and further apart.
ReplyDeleteYou have a long time to lose weight and be independent. This time will not last long. Just some thoughts. You might just be ready, and she might be ready too! When you wean, I think it is easiest to just drop one feeding at a time, gradually.
ReplyDeleteYay! I finally remembered to look at your blog while I was actually at the computer. Will wonders never cease? Don't stress about ending breastfeeding it will happen when you are both ready (or at least when Mary is). I saw no need to start weaning until my girls were 12 months. All three were completely done my their 15 month birthday. It happened pretty naturally as we cut out one feeding at a time. By the end it was just when they woke up in he morning and then before bed. Pretty soon it was just before bed and then one day we just kind of skipped it and we were done. They really didnt ask for it again and we never had to do bottles or anything like that. In my experience doing it this way also meant I didnt experience any discomfort because as my girls weaned my body got used to producing less and less milk.
ReplyDeleteMy blog is theburgoynefiles.blogspot.com