The end of nursing
January 26th, 2008
So, I signed up for a conference in March which means I’ll be gone for 4 days, sans kiddo this time. He’s down to mostly only nursing at bedtime and at night and we’re currently working on the nursing when he comes home from daycare. It’s not really nutritive anymore, and the nutritionist suggested that the after daycare/pre-dinner nursing might be interfering with his dinner appetite. But he really likes to nurse. It amazing given all the problems and frustrations I had with breastfeeding, that now he is so attached to it. But alas, we’re weaning entirely now. I have mixed feelings about the whole endeavor. I originally hoped to wait until he was ready to self-wean, hoping that ready would be between 12-18 months. He seems to have zero interest in letting go though and now that he has opinions about things but no words to express them. Generally, he makes his wishes to nurse known by crawling all over me and head butting my chest while alternately trying to bite my shirt saying mmMmmamMamAAaa. So he is pretty adamant about not giving it up. I just don’t want to just pull the rug out from under him when I’m gone for a few days (I’m sure he’ll be unhappy enough). So next we’ll work on the nighttime feeding, and those will be a hard ones to get rid of, especially since we co-sleep. While I’m very ready to let go of being sort of leashed to him because of it, It’s very bittersweet for me. Being able to breastfeed took such an investment and its a special and unique kind of bonding that I will miss as he grows into an independent little person.
2 Responses to “The end of nursing”
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February 1st, 2008 at 09:42 AM
Bittersweet I understand. Just remember whenever you want a beautiful, happy memory to cling to, you can close your eyes and remember nursing. I will forever remember those unconditionally loving eyes looking up at me and smiling.
February 3rd, 2008 at 12:22 AM
Breatfeeding gives you such a special bond and closeness that it is hard to describe. I am happy that you are going to a conference, I’m sure it will be good for you. Avery is just so cute and such an independent little guy. He always makes me smile. Thanks for the pictures and videos!