I've been nursing my baby girl for 8 months and 1 week. Which is about 4 months and 1 week longer than I originally thought I would. I thought I'd nurse for a few months and then go to the bottle and be done with it. It turns out that I really liked nursing my beautiful girl. I loved bringing her into the bed in the morning and spending that time with her. I love the convenience of it all, I never have to lug around formula or bottles of water, and I never run out of milk. In the middle of the night, I don't have to mess with lights and stairs and mixing things and all that crap.
I've been nursing my baby girl for 8 months and 1 week and I'm getting a little tired of it. I'm tired of being on call all the time. I'm tired of wearing ugly nursing bras. I'm tired of my boobs hanging to my knees. I'm tired of always having to stop what I'm doing when she's hungry. I've now flashed my boobs for most of the Greater Atlanta area and anyone else I seem to pass. I'm just kind of tired of it.
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests you should nurse for a year for the best health benefits for Courtney. But I think that 8 - 9 months is really pretty impressive, way more than lots of people. But I'm tired of it. Did I mention that?
So I'm thinking of weaning Courtney. I'm not sure how that's going to go. She hardly ever gets a bottle and we're actually trying to get her on to sippy cups anyway. The past couple of times she's gotten a bottle, she's just gummed it and hasn't actually drank anything from it. Formula or milk is the most important part of her diet until she's a year old so it's not like we can just quit and move her to water.
Ugh, I don't know what to do. I'm not going to do anything about it today or tomorrow but I need to make a decision on this soon. OK, I don't need to but I want to. I would miss the time we have together, just the two of us, but maybe I could get that in other ways. Maybe?
Monday, July 27, 2009
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2 comments:
my 2 cents...nursing became tiring for me at the end too, but at the same time, it was such a wonderful connection for me and the baby. I think you only do it if you want to - the baby won't be missing out on anything nutritionally if you stop. and both of my girls HATED bottles. they eventually got used to them but Makyl and Kaelyn pretty much skipped from the boob to the sippy cup.
I think you're a great mama and 8 months (and 1 week!) is great dedication. You do what is best for you, as well as teh baby. Just don't forget about yourself in theequation. We, as mamas, tend to do that sometimes...
My two cents... eight months and one week (or whatever it is now) is great. However, once you go down the weaning road, that's it. Be pretty sure that's what you want to do. Is this perhaps a phase for you? Will you still be tired of it in another week, two weeks?
I had planned on pushing it to a year and was pretty tired of it then. However, I was also very conflicted and kept it up another two months + or until my OB told me she'd only give me Clomid (and it worked so great - NOT) after I stopped. So I stopped.
Perhaps because it was not entirely my decision, and perhaps because it didn't help in us having another child, I have regretted stopping when I did. When I see others nursing under two-year olds, I think, "I wish I had kept it up until I was really, really tired of it or until Tommy weaned himself."
Also know that weaning can be difficult and painful for some. Side note...Three months after we weaned I had a mammogram and shot milk across the equipment. It grossing out and concerned the tech.
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