The end of nursing: it’s time
This morning marked the end of my nursing relationship with G. As much as a part of me wishes we can go on, it’s our time. My body is continuing to decrease the amount of milk I’m producing (and my current period sure isn’t helping that any) to a point where he’s really not getting anything out of me. I produced a whole whopping 2 ounces in the span of 6 hours yesterday, so I know that our morning and evening nursing sessions are now more of a routine than a nutritional experience.
I’m a bit sad, but also content. I started off this experience worried that I wouldn’t be able to breastfeed at all; then hoping I could make it to 6 months, and then a year. Well at 14.5 months, I’ve accomplished my goal and thrilled to know that I could battle a family history of, as well as my own body’s poor supply and win. I have no regrets of what it took to get here. The Fenugreek that made me smell like maple syrup, the Reglan, the Domperidone, the lactation cookies, the obscene amounts of water I’ve been drinking daily? They were all worth it.
I will miss my morning/evening snuggles with my boy, but I’ll tell you what I’m looking forward to:
- Going back to regular bras. There’s a few lacy numbers S and I need to get re-acquainted with.
- Sleeping in on the week-ends. Yeah, now S will be just as capable of getting up at 6 am on a Saturday and get G his breakfast. Oh, week-end sleep-in, how have I missed thee!
- Not having to take a pump to/from work each day. Each morning, packing up my car for the day, between my bags and G’s bags, you’d swear I’m moving out or something.
- Getting out of the house faster in the morning. It takes me 20 minutes to nurse. In contrast, G can suck down a bottle in about 5 minutes. Have you any idea what I can do with those extra 15 minutes?
- Sleep, for starters. I can snooze my alarm. Twice!!!
- Shower. Oh, morning shower, I’ve missed thee too!
- Reclaiming my freezer space (we’ve had to result to a second freezer, borrowed from our neighbor, to store the overflow of frozen milk)
So there it is. The end. It’s bittersweet.
P.S. The water thing though… I’m kind of addicted, so I think I’ll continue drinking it as I have.
Congratulations on nursing for so long! Enjoy the extra time.
You really gave it your all for so long, congratulations on making it to your goal and then doubling it and then some!
How have you stopped nursing? Does he seem sad when you refuse it at morning and at night? Jasper is SOOO attached to nursing now I’m very worried about weaning!
You know, becoming-mom, G has never asked to nurse. I know they are some kids that will come up to their moms and tug on their shirt and make it clear they were hungry/thirsty/etc, but G was never one of them. I always felt I was taking him away from whatever he was doing to nurse. As such, he’s pretty ambivalent to the change. He’s actually more excited to see a bottle delivered to his bedroom in the morning (and grunts for it), than he ever was to see me sit down and prepare to nurse. So no, he’s not sad.
In terms of how we stopped, for the most part I just took out feedings over time. When he turned 1, on the week-ends I stopped nursing during the day, and we ultimately stayed with just two sessions since then: one in the morning, one at bedtime. My supply leveled out within a week or two, as did his expectations.
If Jasper isn’t ready to stop, and I think I know you’re not, don’t rush it. You’ll find a way that feels right to you.
so when he wakes up to nurse in the morning, what will you give him instead? I am not to the place yet, but just curious. We give Brighton soy milk (he is allergic to dairy), so will he just get a sippy cup of that and go back to bed? Or should we give him his full breakfast? He now nurses and then goes back to sleep for anywhere from 3-5 hours!
maydaygirl, at this moment, I still give him a bottle of breastmilk. I continued to pump while we transitioned to WCM. I have enough BM to give him a morning bottle for the next 2 months. After that milk is through, I’ll just give him regular WCM (or in your case soy).
He gets his bottle around 6:30, and then I give him some fruit purees at 7:00am once we get to daycare. I’ve found the 30 min gap gives him enough time to accept solids, and he eats better at school where he can flirt with the teachers and show off 🙂