Sunday, November 17, 2013

To Wean, or Not To Wean?

I need help, you guys!

LLL lady says to keep nursing through cold and flu season to keep giving Sprout antibodies and comfort if/when he does get sick. I could take herbal supplement (chasteberry) to help bring back my period. I am not exactly sold on the stuff. And it's contraindicated in pregnancy, so I would be obsessively testing, and that could get expensive. Speaking of expensive...I just looked it up and it is not expensive, so that won't help me decide.

A few mornings ago, Sprout was crying when he got up and after I changed his diaper I set him down for a moment to rinse the diaper and he just stood, crying, staring at me and waiting for me to pick him up to nurse. Two days later he woke up happy and I played with him briefly and just got him breakfast right away and he didn't seem like he needed to nurse. The next day he was really asking for it again. But, that was some progress towards baby-led weaning. I'm just not sure I can hold out the whole way...I REALLY want to try to get pregnant again. I mean, have I mentioned that at all yet? Ha!

I made a plan to nurse--we're down to morning and night, as of this weekend, actually! No daytime nursing yesterday or today. OK, cool!--through the holidays/end of year. Then in January I would scale back to once per day, either morning or night, not really sure, I guess eliminating night would be nice so that I can be out during bedtime on occasion (probably like never, but a gal can dream). Then I imagine that my period will return immediately and I will have another October baby. I was just saying a gal can dream. Ideally I would skip the period and just catch the first egg. Or two. Twins would be nice and give me more hope for having four kids instead of just three. So far my kids only have a 50/50 chance, so I am not about to start counting any chickens! But anyway, that was a recent thought but I still am not sure.

I would keep nursing if I could pregnant at the same time. What would you do...wean now, and maybe force it? Or wean later, when Sprout is ready, maybe after cold/flu season, but continue to wait to try for the next bebe? When I sit in a quiet room and close my eyes and try to really think this through, all I get is tick tick Tick Tick TIck TICk TICK TICK!

3 comments:

  1. I wish I knew the answer... I am in the same boat! I had a plan to start weaning, and so far it has completely failed. I am in a panic and rethinking all my plans... but, like you, I really want to have another baby, so this HAS to happen, doesn't it? The glich is that my son (10 month old) screams and cries until he is breastfed, he drinks 1 or 2 oz of formula at a time and then just cries... I NEVER thought it would be so hard!!! I just don't get it how some people can wean with no issues. This is a mystery to me... Maybe one just needs to be tougher, not so sensitive towards the crying? Sigh. Before I even started trying to wean, my friend said she did it and it took her 2 weeks, then her son was drinking happily from a bottle, which made her sad because he acted like he didn't even miss breastfeeding. Her method was to replace one feeding a day with formula, then after a few days replace another feeding, etc. until all the feedings were formula. Well, that's great, but I can't even get my son to drink one bottle of formula, so I don't know how to move on to two, etc.! Well, I understand the pressure you feel, I am feeling it too. Time is of essence! Good luck to you with this weaning business. Please let me know if you find a solution that works! I just feel so guilty cutting off my son from his greatest source of comfort and soothing. It's my magic bullet, and I can't imagine functioning without it! How will I stop the crying??? Oh, and what you say about waiting until after cold and flu season is so true! My baby had a cold, a high fever, and hand, foot and mouth disease all in the past 2 weeks, and if I were not nursing him I would not have made it through, since it was the only thing that relieved his discomfort, and probably helped him heal way faster too. So needless to say, when he was sick I put all my weaning on hold, then when I went back to it things were worse than ever, and he wants nothing to do with any bottle. I think it does make sense to wean him, though, since if you were to wait for baby led weaning that could take well past 2 years, so you are going to have to cut him off yourself eventually. I'd vote for waiting just past flu season then going for it, bracing yourself for the tears and fuss. Are you using formula at all, or are you going straight to cow's milk? Good luck!!

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    1. I feel like 10 months and 12-13 months are so far apart when it comes to breastfeeding. He may lose interest, somewhat, faster than you think! I stopped pumping at work just before first birthday, then was feeding 3 times, sometimes 2, per day on weekdays and 3-5 on weekends. But he was taking less over time. I'm pretty sure Left Boob is almost dry! We introduced cow's milk and he hated it for a day or two and now drinks it just fine. Probably took about 2 weeks to really get into it. I feel like if I weaned now it wouldn't be the end of his world! Maybe Joseph needs a few more weeks/months too?

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  2. Getting pregnant again was not on my top ten list, but I did start weaning Little K at 13 months. For me, weaning her turned into a pretty big regret - I wish I had nursed her until at least 18 months, maybe even once a day up to 24 months. Even years later, when she was six years old, I missed the memory of those sweet snuggles and the way her body would drop into 100% relaxed the minute she started nursing.

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