Bug nursing 2009 |
Monkey nursing 2014 |
Then I fed her for the first time....
Maybe it's just going to take awhile I thought, we will work at this. It can't keep hurting forever...can it? After about 6 months we finally had gotten our breastfeeding to work enough so I wasn't in constant pain. I was so proud we made it to 6 months and so proud that we were finally starting to be a team that worked.
Then she got teeth! She began biting me around 6 months and over time the biting, bad latching (we would latch fine at first but she would start to twist and stick my nipple in her molars), she began pinching my other nipple constantly, scratching and slicing it with her sharp nails.
Picture from a Photo Shoot in 2015 by HeatherLiefredPhotography |
On Saturday night, the 4th after a particularly painful nursing session, I felt like my skin was crawling, I just couldn't take one more minute. I pulled her off and went to bed. She cried and cried but I knew in that moment we were done. The next morning, after having slept on my decision, I knew I had not changed my mind. I knew this was real. We were done.
So I began looking into ways you can celebrate the end of your breastfeeding journey and help your toddler wean. The recurring theme was to write down the Story of your Journey, which is what this is. Another was to get them a gift that symbolizes growing up. I decided to get her a toy that teaches her her colors. It is a toy we got recently in my classroom and the kids all really love it. I thought what better way to symbolize growing up then to get a preschool toy to learn from. We also read a book I found on Amazon, called "I'm a Weaned Kid Now." It is absolutely meant for exactly our situation, for a almost 3 yr old or older who is weaning. A child younger than that probably would not really relate to the book. Monkey really understood the book, even saying afterwards that "Daddy and Mommy are so proud of me!", which was a recurring theme. The girl in the book is named Chloe and she drinks "milkies". I greatly recommend if you read it to your child you use his or her name and the word you use for nursing. Monkey's is "Baboo". This however made Bug laugh because he ran in to ask "does it really say 'baboo'?'.
So after 3 full days, she is starting to be ok with our choice. She understands what weaning is and that she is a big girl and we still love her the same. I am so beyond proud of how far we did make it and of her finally being ready to wean. It has been a little sad for me because she is our last child so I will never breastfeed a baby again, but that is life. Eventually you have to stop or you will have a 10 yr old nursing or 20 kids. I made it 33 months with Monkey and 9 with Bug so I spent 42 months breastfeeding out of the last 8 years. 3 and a half years. I think I did well. Life is cycles, life is journeys. My journey as the mother of babies, of nursing, of changing diapers, and midnight feedings etc... is over. Now I am the mother of a very curious, sweet and silly preschooler and a smart, sassy, creative and kind almost Tween. Life moves one, and so do our children. Time can feel cruel but also with each year brings a new adventure, so with that in mind I release this adventure behind me and look forward to the new ones.