So I wrote a post earlier about weaning my sweet Noah from breastfeeding. I planned on breastfeeding until he was a year old. I know that its so close, 4 weeks, but I still don't feel ready. I love my time with Noah that is just us. I love knowing I am giving him the best. I'm already only breastfeeding him maybe 3 times a day so not that often. He eats mostly solid foods. Its so funny how fast he can eat with only one tooth! Anyway back to the topic, weaning. I have mixed emotions on the subject. A part of me wants to stop and yet another wants to keep going. I'm not sure Noah is ready yet. My body sure is though. The last week my nipples have been so sore. Noah has become a lazy eater lately. He is used to drinking out of a sippy cup now so he has been treating me like one. Meaning he only has part of my nipple in his mouth and moves around while he eats. This has made me kind of raw and dry. Also his one tooth likes to scratch me too. Its becoming quite uncomfortable. Why have I continued? Because when Noah is hungry he will come to me and pull at my shirt like he wants to breastfeed. He clearly isn't ready. When we give him the whole milk he will only drink a little of it then come and try to breastfeed.
This morning was a game changer though. When you see blood I think thats a sign its time to stop. Sean certainly says I should stop. As Noah was eating this morning it really hurt and then reallly reallly hurt so I pulled him off and I was bleeding! I was shocked and it really was painful. I didn't want to scare Noah though. Luckly I am pretty good with holding pain (I had a natural birth so I think I can handle almost anything! haha) so I just kissed his head and handed him off to Sean while I put some cream on my bleeding nipple. Needless to say Sean took him and gave him some whole milk. He drank it just fine this morning. I guess it is time to stop. Every baby and mama are different. But I just wanted to go until he was 1year. Looks like I will be a month shy of that. For the sake of my breasts though I need to stop. Plus blood isn't the best thing for Noah drink and if I keep going thats all that he is going to get. This is going to be tough. I don't know if today is the last day or if tomorrow will be. I know for sure no more for today. Maybe they will feel better tomorrow and I can go a little longer. Have a last time that doesn't leave me bleeding. Any advice from mama's who have gone through weaning your little one?
Chronicles of the awesomeness that is our life together. Enjoy!
SO Here is my big fat mouth and a very passionate topic of mine so bear with me. The World Health organization recommends breastfeeding until 24 months or longer if mutually agreeable.Also the average age of weaning across the globe is 4.2yrs. The benefits of breast milk for immunity still continue as well as toddlers still get about a significant amount of nutrition from BMilk. Here is the big thing for mom though, latches change with every tooth and need some time to adjust. Blood can happen so the best thing you can do is keep nursing, Work on the latch, if he seems distracted try a dark quiet place with little noise. using an ice ring, clove oil, teething tablets or camilla before nursing can help significantly because then he won't be trying to teeth on you. If it is a top tooth, you can work at positions that make sure that he chin is jutting into the breast, also and this worked well for me and Betty, Take a hand and gently but firmly press your palm onto their forehead while nursing. This helps lift top teeth up so there is little to no pressure on the nipple from it.
ReplyDeleteIf you really want to wean the best way is to cut out 1 feeding at a time for a few weeks. Then another, then another and eventually you will stop producing. If you have more questions please feel free to call me