On Christmas night, I guess there had just been so much going on or something, I forgot to nurse Leo to go to sleep. We had been slowing down for the last couple of months and really only nursed to go to bed and when he woke up (the morning was more for my relief than his). Anywho, I realized that we hadn't nursed when he was pretty much asleep already so I just skipped it...kind of sad but also so great that he didn't care so much. The next night I decided we'd try again- I mean at this point he was 11 months and I really had only planned to nurse him until he was a year...because I thought that is just what you do plus then every article and doctor and such says that it is the best for your child...so duh, of course that is what we'd do!
Leo didn't seem to mind that we hadn't nursed the second night either. He still cuddled up and wanted me to rock and sing him to sleep, but he didn't miss the nursing. Truth be told I was a bit sad- it is a hard thing to give up that sweet mom-and-baby-only time. Plus it sounds like I had a real easy time with nursing- Leo latched right away and never looked back and although I was definitely uncomfortably full at times, they were pretty few to be honest. I had plenty of milk, however I wasn't soaking through pads or anything. I resumed exercise about 5 weeks after birth and was fine (as long as I nursed right before...at least in the beginning).
Yet there were a lot of parts that I was not going to miss too. I will not miss nursing bras or trying to dress in clothes that I can nurse easily in (at least at the times I knew I was going to be nursing not at home). And I know that there are lots of people that struggle with weaning their child and I consider myself lucky that Leo just lost interest.
After we had gone a day or two without nursing, I was pretty full and in pain- Nick googled what to do for relief (I asked him to) and lots of sites came up with the same result...put cabbage leaves in your bra! I was so desperate that I tried it, although I don't think it did anything other than act as a cool compress...and make me crave stir fry!
So all in all Leo and I had a great nursing experience- I had planned to nurse anyway but I am grateful that it was so easy. Sure there were times I wished that Leo took a bottle- he would take one and we tried it with breast milk a few times, but I just wasn't super in to that- but those times were when I was being selfish...I wanted more sleep or to go out alone for more than an hour at a time, etc. I know that there are a lot of reasons for not nursing your child, however it is my opinion that most of those reasons are fairly selfish; it has been proven to be the best for your child and even formula companies have to state that they know they are second choice. (Notice I said my OPINION and MOST...please save your attacks for somebody else!)
There you go- not really much of a reason for this post other than I felt like it was kind of a big deal to stop nursing (in our world at least) and I had been thinking about it for awhile. The end.
P.S. Even though Leo has quit nursing to go to bed, I still have not let anyone else rock him to bed...naps, yes, but not to bed. I keep thinking one day I will let Nick try, but then I think I'd miss Leo too much...maybe after he turns 1 this week. I'm sure that will be a whole other post!
2 comments:
I'm glad it was such a good experience for you. Both of our kids were a lot like that. They nursed easily and then just lost interest and one day it stopped without a lot of planning.
But you're right. It is bittersweet. Sometimes I still miss that close close snuggling. Good luck with having a 1 year old! Leo is lucky to have you as his mom!
I am also glad it was such a good experience for you. It was SO hard feeding Cadence for the first few months, but I think that made me appreciate it all the more when things went more smoothly with Camilla and Cora.
Enjoy those bedtime cuddles with your big boy!
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