No More Breastmilk

Weaning My One Year Old 

I thought weaning Jellybean would be a lot harder than it ended up being. I dreaded it to no end! Not the dealing with him adjusting to not nursing, but the missing our special time together part. That's what bummed me out the most. Nursing was our time to bond and cuddle while I nourished him with a strong foundation to become a strong and healthy boy. But, there comes a time when a mom just has to pull the plug. 

While we were on trekking around the Northwest, I continued to nurse Jellybean. But I really only did it a couple times a day vs. our usual every 3-4 hours. At night I still relied on nursing to put him back to sleep quickly. But that trip was definitely our first step in the weaning process. Everything I read online said to take the weaning process slowly. Don't just go cold turkey! I can't imagine just stripping my kid of that comfort and pulling a 180 on him like that! We were most certainly going to take it slow vs. rip the growing up bandaid off. When we got back from our trip, I nursed only at night. Again to put Jellybean to sleep and then when he'd wake up in the middle of the night, and again first thing in the morning before we'd start our day. Then I stopped the morning nursing. Then I stopped the middle of the night nursing. And finally, we stopped with the nursing to initially fall asleep. Post vacation, the entire process took about 3 weeks. 

Giving up the morning nursing session was probably the easiest for Jellybean, but still hard for me. Sometimes I'd blow off making him breakfast and just opt for a longer nursing session. Now though? I am at the back and call of that kid's stomach and it no longer means getting an extra 10 minutes of sleep during the workday and skipping a real breakfast or lounging around in bed on the weekends. Now, I have to get up earlier to make his oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, whatever he eats before heading off to daycare. On the weekends, it's the same story. Not like we ever slept in anyway, but it was nice just hanging out in bed, especially when breakfast was connected to mom. 

Giving up the middle of the night session was pretty hard. That first week Jellybean would painstakingly search for mom's boob and boy did he get mad when he was denied it! It took some growing pains but he's used to it now and no longer searches for mama's milk. Giving up the going to bed nursing session was probably the hardest on both of us. It was my time to unwind at the end of a long day and his time to get extra cuddles in before drifting off to dreamland. Again, we went through some growing pains, but now he doesn't depend on the boob to fall asleep. 

As a result of no longer using nursing as a bonding experience, this kid as started using cuddling. Are you kidding me?! I'll take cuddling any day! Especially now when it's still cool to lay in bed and cuddle with mom for hours at a time. Ok maybe not hours, but I'll take as much time as he'll give me. He's become so much more affectionate with me and it melts me into the biggest puddle of goo. If he's playing across the room and I hold my arms out and ask for a hug, he eagerly comes with a big smile on his face, gives me a hug, and then goes back to playing. If we're laying in bed, he'll find that perfect spot to nuzzle his head against and just lay there with a toy in his hand. It's the best feeling EVER having your kid willingly cuddle with you because they find so much comfort in it! I'm definitely cherishing these moments that I'm so privileged to share with my little man. 

What made me make the call to stop nursing? Well, my goal was initially 6 months...then that became 6 weeks, and eventually the full year. I probably could have gone longer because my body was producing the milk just fine but I felt that it was time to stop. Jellybean had taken to solid foods really well so keeping him full wasn't going to be an issue. It just got to a point where he started PLAYING with my boobs while he was nursing and it no longer seemed like a special mom/baby bonding time because well, this kid was no longer a baby! 

Do I have any worries? Yes! Of course I do! I worry that I won't be giving him enough vitamins all the time. Jellybean gets whatever we're eating and then we load him up extra with fruits and vegetables (usually more fruits because he has recently become picky with his vegetables). But I'm pretty dedicated to ensuring that he gets several servings of healthy wholesome fruits and veggies every single day. And I'm still quite the stickler on processed junk, although puffs are another story. This kid can't get enough puffs in his life. It took him a while to like whole milk. At least, I thought it did. We would give him milk in the same container we'd give him water and he hated it, so I thought he didn't milk. But I had lunch with him at daycare one day and the kid guzzled it down! We've discovered that he's more receptive to milk when it comes out of a cup with a spout and no handles. He loves water too! He prefers water when it comes from a cup with a straw. Why so picky with how he gets his drinks? I have no idea.... Juice? Out of the question! Why would I give him juice when I can just hand him a tangerine? I'd rather get those vitamins right from the source. We also try to balance our protein and carb ratio although this kid has got a love for carbs that would make avid Atkins fans freak out! He is starting to get picky though. Things he used to eat are all of a sudden getting spit out. When did my kid stop liking broccoli???  

Weaning from nursing wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. And well....I'm only going to get a 3-4 month break anyway before I have another year of nursing and pumping ahead of me! The things moms do for their kiddos..... it's ALWAYS worth it! :)  

Kind of loving the extra cuddles he gives me. :)