Two years, 3 months and 18 days. That is the amount of time I have been nursing baby J. However, it has been five days since baby J last breastfed. It was not voluntary on her part to discontinue latching on, but my decision to start weaning her.
Since I found out that baby number 2 is coming, I have started trying (half-heartedly) to wean baby J. This was met with a lot of tears and frustration from baby J. So, in the initial phase, I eventually gave in to the demand to latch on. Because I wasn't home in the afternoons, it was easy to cut off the afternoon feeding. So, she would only nurse at night and before she woke up in the morning. These two times were the most important for her, mostly just for comfort and not really for feeding since she has been eating food very well the entire day.
But these two times were the most challenging for me, weaning-wise. Every time I tried to withhold either of those feedings, she would get frustrated and cry until I gave in. I thought I would never be able to wean her off, which frustrated me at times and caused a lot of physical discomfort brought about by breast tenderness due to pregnancy. So, I decided to explain things to her, on why I wanted her to stop nursing soon. I told her about the baby in Mommy's tummy and the pain nursing was causing me.
My baby is so mature in a lot of ways. I believe the adult-speak we have always used on her is helping in her maturity. She understands our explanations most of the time. In this instance, I believe this helped me wean her.
When I tell her that I am hurting from the nursing, she would then bargain with me and tell me that she will only nurse "fast". So I would allow her to do this and when I tell her it's hurting me already, she would stop and request for "the other side". We had this routine for a few weeks. Because we have been nursing for shorter periods already, she would then request for her milk after nursing. She would then ask me to hug her or tap her until she fell asleep. Until 5 days ago, when she didn't ask to nurse before bed. She just cuddled up to me and promptly fell asleep. The morning after, she also didn't ask to nurse when she woke up. We just went directly to the breakfast table.
In a way, I guess this was also baby-directed weaning for us coupled with gradual weaning. Since she would nurse for comfort before going to bed, I just made sure that we cuddled a lot before bedtime and kept her close as she drifts off to sleep.
Baby J still asks to nurse every time I put her to sleep. But when I tell her that we don't breastfeed anymore, she doesn't put up a fuss anymore. She would just cuddle up to me until she fell asleep. Personally, I think she only does this to try her luck and see if she can get lucky. That's how cheeky my baby is! Haha.
After months of trying to wean her, I have finally succeeded! And this is a very sweet victory for both of us. I did not rush baby J, I waited for her to finally be ready. Surprisingly, I was not saddened by this sudden loss of intimacy with baby J. We still do a lot of cuddling before she goes to sleep, possibly even more cuddling now than ever before.
So, moms out there, don't get frustrated when you try to wean your babies/toddlers. They will do it when they are ready, in their own sweet time. Good luck!
Since I found out that baby number 2 is coming, I have started trying (half-heartedly) to wean baby J. This was met with a lot of tears and frustration from baby J. So, in the initial phase, I eventually gave in to the demand to latch on. Because I wasn't home in the afternoons, it was easy to cut off the afternoon feeding. So, she would only nurse at night and before she woke up in the morning. These two times were the most important for her, mostly just for comfort and not really for feeding since she has been eating food very well the entire day.
But these two times were the most challenging for me, weaning-wise. Every time I tried to withhold either of those feedings, she would get frustrated and cry until I gave in. I thought I would never be able to wean her off, which frustrated me at times and caused a lot of physical discomfort brought about by breast tenderness due to pregnancy. So, I decided to explain things to her, on why I wanted her to stop nursing soon. I told her about the baby in Mommy's tummy and the pain nursing was causing me.
My baby is so mature in a lot of ways. I believe the adult-speak we have always used on her is helping in her maturity. She understands our explanations most of the time. In this instance, I believe this helped me wean her.
When I tell her that I am hurting from the nursing, she would then bargain with me and tell me that she will only nurse "fast". So I would allow her to do this and when I tell her it's hurting me already, she would stop and request for "the other side". We had this routine for a few weeks. Because we have been nursing for shorter periods already, she would then request for her milk after nursing. She would then ask me to hug her or tap her until she fell asleep. Until 5 days ago, when she didn't ask to nurse before bed. She just cuddled up to me and promptly fell asleep. The morning after, she also didn't ask to nurse when she woke up. We just went directly to the breakfast table.
In a way, I guess this was also baby-directed weaning for us coupled with gradual weaning. Since she would nurse for comfort before going to bed, I just made sure that we cuddled a lot before bedtime and kept her close as she drifts off to sleep.
Baby J still asks to nurse every time I put her to sleep. But when I tell her that we don't breastfeed anymore, she doesn't put up a fuss anymore. She would just cuddle up to me until she fell asleep. Personally, I think she only does this to try her luck and see if she can get lucky. That's how cheeky my baby is! Haha.
After months of trying to wean her, I have finally succeeded! And this is a very sweet victory for both of us. I did not rush baby J, I waited for her to finally be ready. Surprisingly, I was not saddened by this sudden loss of intimacy with baby J. We still do a lot of cuddling before she goes to sleep, possibly even more cuddling now than ever before.
So, moms out there, don't get frustrated when you try to wean your babies/toddlers. They will do it when they are ready, in their own sweet time. Good luck!
