Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
My son is turning 1 on Saturday and we have made the decision to wean him in the new year. It has been a strange journey for me. It has been a combination of wonderful bonding time and seeing my son so happy and comforted by the breast and then my difficulties with breastfeeding, the main difficulty being that I just don’t like it.
I am proud of myself for managing to breastfeed for so long, but the fact is it is now most definitely time to stop! I am struggling with the lack of sleep, there are so many nights when he will only sleep with a boob in his mouth. He nibbles and chews away happily while I lie in agony, sacrificing myself for the family so they can all get rest. I am just plain tired! I feel my body has taken a big knock. I have never been so sick on a constant basis as I have this past year.
Now that I have made the decision to wean I feel sad and a sense of loss.
I have had so many mommies contact me and ask the question how to stop breast feeding. Some moms are still breast feeding 3 year olds and my toes curl up in horror at the thought of a 3 year old on my breast.
I don’t know the answer to this question and I have not been able to find anything online or from another mom yet. The only suggestion is to be parted from your child for about a week to let your milk dry up and get your child used to getting by without the boob. This is not an option for me, I have not spent one night away from my son yet and I cannot bear the thought of being away from him for a whole week. I also can’t bear the thought of my son not seeing me for a week and at the same time having his boobie taken away from him. A little rough for a one year old!
The plan hubby and I have decided on is to wait until mid January when all the festivities are over, and we are back from our short holiday as he gets very unsettled being out of home and out of his routine. When we get back our doctor is giving me pills to dry my milk within 2 days. I will move into my daughter’s room for about a week and hubby will sleep with our son. Until then I am trying to get him to drink out of a bottle, I am not trying to wean him, just offering a bottle first for every feed and if he drinks it great, if he doesn’t I breast feed.
While I don’t have the answer, I will share my experiences and hope that something helps other moms in the same position.
My little girl decided to wean herself a week before she turned 3 months.
I really wanted to breastfeed longer but nothing i could do about it.
Im not a breast feeding mom after 5 days of breast feeding It was bottle had no choice lucky for me my son latched onto bottle easy and drank better on his formula. Nearly 7 months still bottle feed noe and again as he ate from 4 and a half months eat nearly everything now.