Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
On the 28 January I decided that it is time breastfeeding comes to an end, this is the final toll for me to escape the breastfeeding and tiredness.
This was one of the worst days, yet the one of the best too. After 3 years of breastfeeding and being used as a dummy I decided that I can no longer be pinned down and pulled apart as soon as we either sit down or even when we are visiting people.
I could never go and enjoy myself as it would always turn out with me sitting with my boob out most of the time or my son screaming when I would refuse.
On the morning of the 28th of January he woke up and we did a morning feed , without me even having a thought that it would be the last but me feeling very weak after my rough week prior to that being ill I decided last minute that this is it and I am going to pull through with it.
The afternoon we came home from school he tried pinning me down and I got up and said no more. I was thrown with shoes, hit on my legs, even bitten to the point where I closed him up in his room and gave him some timeout. The tears filled my eyes and my heart was broken to see my son in a state like that but I knew it was all or nothing this time, After the screaming and shouting and all of the rest we lay down on the bed together and I offered him a nice warm bottle of milk that he has never ever drunk. He then took it and lay in my arms.
The explaining then started that my boobies has no more milkies and that he drank it all away and now he is hurting me. He seemed to have understood that, I then also told him that I promise to buy him something very special the next day and he was excited. Every time he would ask for boobie I reminded him of his gift and the whole night he slept through.
Next morning another bit of a screaming match but we overcame it with me reminding him of the present. I then bought him a Lollo’s bag with which he has a total obsession and when he unwrapped it he was over then moon., Ever since that day all I have to do is remind him of his Lollo’s bag and then boobie is forgotten.
This has been a long, exhausting journey for me but it has come to an end finally with lots of patience and love.
aww! I know this was a hard thing on both of you as he is learning to let go. But you made the right decision and of course, you have to go with what is best for you as it’s your body. And, of course you know what’s best for your child. Please trust in that. 🙂
My daughter was same way for her bottle. She used it as a pacifier for much longer than she should have. It was not even about nutrition as she was already eating solid foods for a long time and yet insisted on a bottle.
And, then on one of her birthdays, I realized it was never going to end and so I just threw the bottle away. :/
Her cries were so sad and pitiful but I gave her milk in a cup and we cuddled and talked and watched TV and eventually things got back to normal. She’s a big girl now and I’m sure she doesn’t remember any of that. 😀
My story is a little different. We’re on 3 and a half years now and weaning gradually. I want to allow my boy to wean naturally, give it up in his own time. Last Friday I had an to go for eye surgery under general anesthetic and the eye specialist insisted that I don’t breastfeed because he had to use really strong antibiotics. I just couldn’t bring myself to stop nursing so suddenly. Plus, I know that Doctors tend to err on the side of caution. So I looked up the antibiotics on http://e-lactancia.org, discovered they were low risk, weighed up how little milk my son is getting these days and decided to carry on as normal. My son has suffered no adverse effects. We’ll continue weaning gradually.
what is the right age to stop breastfeeding? everybody is saying that I should take him of now that he is too big to breastfeed, my son is now 14 months old… at this stage I still feel its us time, bonding time just me and him. is it more difficult to take him off when he gets older, should I just rather take him off now?
Adele the first thing you need to do is to stop worrying about what other people think and decide what you would like to do for your son and yourself. Every parent is different and so is every child. If you and your son are both still enjoying breastfeeding then carry on! Find a group of people that support you in what YOU want to do – Look on Facebook for a breastfeeding group that will help you and support you in your decisions. If you are in South Africa a great group is the La Leche League South Africa group.
I stopped breastfeeding my son at 13 months but only because I was taking so much strain. However that was my personal choice and not something pushed on me by someone else. The funny thing is that I also got told by so many other people that I shouldn’t be breastfeeding my son at that age…. then when I weaned him I got an onslaught of people telling me I should never have weaned him so soon, I was cruel to force him to stop. Now that is the truth of it, no matter what you do someone is going to have an opinion when it really has nothing at all to do with them.
Thank you soo much for your reply, I definitely feel more positive and think I will keep on breastfeeding him some more.