Guest Mom: Weaning
Like most moms, I believe I have an incredible daughter but have found juggling motherhood and working full-time to be very challenging. With my chatty 15 month old and a career I love, it’s hard to find a balance.
The other morning while nursing my baby, I looked down and realized she wasn’t really a baby anymore. Teetering on the fine line of infant/toddler, it started to occur to me that this weaning thing I’ve been thinking so much about actually needs to start happening. A friend explained to me that the best way to wean is to literally disappear during nursing times. So during the bedtime routine, I should leave the house (she kindly offered to leave her own two children for the evening and meet me at a bar). In the morning, my husband should bring our baby downstairs and feed her a full breakfast instead of bringing her to me to nurse. Both evening and morning routines will now require my husband’s full involvement for at least a week in order to break the nursing habit.
RSS
6 comments:
Good luck weaning. I found when weaning my daughter at 14 months that she suddenly did need more cuddle time, and it was a great side benefit. Now I am embarking upon the process of weaning my year-old son. I'm there with you...maybe we should meet for a beer ;)
My girls' are 18 months and I've held on to one feeding - evening. I weaned down to the 2 feedings by the time they were 15 months, but kept the morning/evening until they were 17 months. At that time it felt right to eliminate the morning feeding. I've held onto the bedtime feeding and just can't seem to give it up. My girls' enjoy the Mommy time (and I of course enjoy the baby time) and when I'm away one night per week, they are ok with Daddy. You don't have to give it up completely, wait until you or baby are really ready.
I found as a working mom, I was so happy that we did not wean right away at one, I treasured those nursing sessions.
How are you doing now??? Was Dad able to step in and help?? I am finding it very difficult to wean my 15 month old boy. He will do fine when I am not around, but he wants to nurse the minute he sees me!! Even if it is just for a minute or two...
It's a success!! It hasn't been easy and in fact the first few tries my husband was really quick to hand my daughter back to me because "she really wants you". Luckily we had an appointment with our pediatrician a few days after I started trying and I asked her for advice in the presence of my husband. She turned to him and firmly said "you need to put her to bed for at least a week, no matter what!" That night, my wonderful husband took the advice of the pediatrician to heart. He took my daughter out of my hands, had her give me a kiss and off they went into her bedroom. It took awhile that first night and I of course felt incredibly guilty waiting for him downstairs while he put her to bed, but it's been successful! It’s really nice to have the extra time to myself (even if the plan is that we will take turns every other night). I do miss nursing, but I plan to have more children and know that wonderful bond with my baby will happen again!
I had been giving formula to my daughter since I started working (3 months old), she didn't want the frozen milk but she also started to take solids. I would nurse her 4 times a day: morning, come back to feed her at lunch time, after work and in the evening. When she was 10 months, my husband would give her a bottle after bathing her and she would fall asleep right away so I stopped breastfeeding her. I guess it depends on the child, my daughter seems quite independent and she was ready for the weaning since she is ok with the bottle. I do spend the time feeding her dinner and cuddling in the evenings, I think that the quality time is more important than breastfeeding or bottle feeding. Good luck to you all!
Post a Comment