The Breastfeeding Blog Hop is a weekly hop dedicated to exploring the many facets of breastfeeding. Over the past year we have grown a great group of bloggers from all walks of life, each with vastly different experiences who have been supportive of each other in their nursing journey in more way that you can imagine.
This hop is hosted by Erin from The Slacker Mom and co-hosted by Marah of Happiness Redefined and Lori from The Gnome’s Mom
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| Gabby just after nursing |
Gabby has ALWAYS loved nursing, to the point that I have had to set boundaries with her the past few months. As she got older her kicks and hits started to get worse. When she was younger she would just lay there and nurse just fine, but lately she is such a wiggly worm. I have nursed her for almost 19 months and I am truly amazed that I made it this long. I still remember when she was first born and it was horrible, but I made it through and here I am 19 months later still going strong.
I started the process of weaning, so this is more of a what we are doing post then what has worked post.I am excited to see the other posts from the blog hop. Right now Gabby nurses once in the morning and once in the evening (sometimes on the weekends, she nurses 1 or 2 more times a day).
My Plan:
1. Stop nursing her on the weekends except in the morning & evening.
2. Start limiting the time that she does nurse in the morning &evening. She right now nurses in the morning for up to 45 minutes, I told her this morning "You can only nurse for a little while" I also told her a few minutes before her time was up that it was almost time. This is how it went:
Mama: Gabby, only a few more minutes and then we are done nursing
Gabby: Smile - shakes her head
Mama:Okay Gabby time is up, we are done nursing
Gabby: Sits up on my lap, crys her "I don't want to stop" fake cry.
Mama:Okay Gabby time is up, we are done nursing
Gabby: Sits up on my lap, crys her "I don't want to stop" fake cry.
Mama: Gabby I understand you are upset but we are done nursing
Gabby: Thinking....Thinking...Thinking....
Mama:Do you want to get down and play
Mama:Do you want to get down and play
Gabby:Smile "Yes"
I am not sure if it was just a coincidence and honestly I don't expect tomorrow to go as well, but really it was nice to be able to talk to her and tell her what was going on.
3. After this weekend of only nursing the 2 x a day, I am going to stop nursing her at night. Mike is going to help with putting her to bed with her sippy cup and I really think that will be easier than taking the morning one away
4. When we are down to 1x a day, then I will start to take the morning feeding away until we are done.
With Gabby if I do anything abrupt she will not do so well.
Some things that I have found so far that helped me cut back a bit on the breastfeeding are:
1. Don't sit in your "nursing spot". I usually nurse Gabby in the glider in her room & the recliner in the basement. If I get anywhere NEAR those spots no matter if she just finished nursing she is going to want to nurse. So now when we play I sit on the floor as far away from those spots as possible
2. I don't wear low cut shirts around her and in fact I usually have sweaters or zip up sweatshirts so that I can tell her that mama's milk is closed (They use the word "closed" at daycare when the dolls are away, or the kitchen is closed from play"). It seems to work well.
3. When we have been in public or some place lately that isn't convenient to nurse I tell her that she can nurse later, but not right now.It sometimes takes a few times but she gets it.
From what I have been reading about weaning you just need to be consistent. If you aren't the child will get really mixed signals and never know if she/he can have mama's milk or not.
Lastly I want to say that weaning is a very emotional and private issue. I don't mind talking about it on here, but I would NEVER tell a mama to wean her child or not. Its something that has to be right for her and her family. Whether that's 2 weeks, 2 months, 12 months, 2 years or 4 years, it's her decision and her decision alone.Many people in the US think that breastfeeding is unnatural after 6 months to a year. But honestly looking back there is NO way that I would have been able to wean Gabby before now.
What are you tips, tricks or experiences with weaning?? Share them!I would love to hear about them.
3. When we have been in public or some place lately that isn't convenient to nurse I tell her that she can nurse later, but not right now.It sometimes takes a few times but she gets it.
From what I have been reading about weaning you just need to be consistent. If you aren't the child will get really mixed signals and never know if she/he can have mama's milk or not.
Lastly I want to say that weaning is a very emotional and private issue. I don't mind talking about it on here, but I would NEVER tell a mama to wean her child or not. Its something that has to be right for her and her family. Whether that's 2 weeks, 2 months, 12 months, 2 years or 4 years, it's her decision and her decision alone.Many people in the US think that breastfeeding is unnatural after 6 months to a year. But honestly looking back there is NO way that I would have been able to wean Gabby before now.
What are you tips, tricks or experiences with weaning?? Share them!I would love to hear about them.
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