Friday, August 15, 2008

Weaning is Hard


A few months ago I was having a time with nursing. My little one finally got over the biting, so I kept on nursing him. But since he recently turned one, and is starting to pull on the shirt in public, I decided now is the time.

I thought it would be hard for him, not me. But, as I found myself crying in bed the other night, I realized how wrong I was. It's so hard knowing I'm weaning my last little baby. I'm very sad about it, but I know it has to be done. If not now, later. It would stll be hard, no matter when, I guess. I am sure I will get over the sadness in time. I just am gonna miss that closeness.

I tried to give Hunter some milk in a cup, and he wouldn't drink it. So for now, he's still drinking out of his bottle. I guess it's too hard for him to loose the breastmilk and the bottle at the same time. So I guess I will wait a few weeks and try the cup again. It's weird, he will take the cup for juice or water, but not milk.

Is it this hard for everyone that gives up nursing? When my first son was 5 months old, I had to have surgery. Therefore, I didn't have a choice about giving it up, since I had to take medication. Maybe it would have been hard then, if not for that? Anyone have any advice about how get him to drink the milk out of the cup? Or should I wait?

I will be less depressed in a couple weeks, hopefully!

10 comments:

More than Survival said...

Weaning was hard for me... especially with our last. I really enjoyed the nursing relationship and was blessed by it. You have given your Hunter such an incredible gift! He will benefit from it his entire life! Some seasons are harder than others to grow out of, but there is always a new wonderful season around the corner. You will always cherish the memories you have of the infant time with Hunter. Just because that season has passed doesn't change how special it was with the two of you!!
Heather

nancygrayce said...

Bless your heart! I only nursed one of my children. He's 31. He nursed for 2 years and 3 months. Of course the last year and 3 months, it was mainly at night and naptime or when he was sick. I,too knew that I would not be nursing again and it was hard for me too! Plus that long ago, I got a LOT of flak from LOTS of people! You will find lots of other ways to be close to your baby! Nursing is really special though!

Carolina Mama said...

Best of luck to you. I did nurse the twins and when one of them teethed at 8 months and bite a couple of times I let him wean. So you are past me on that one. :) The other nursed until 11 months and it was just evening and morning and so we tappered off rathern than go endlessly since he was getting much from food and milk.

I just had a flash back - it is wild and crazy - and it is/was from our wonderful pediatritian in Mississippi then. We mixed half milk and half apple juice and put it in a bottle at first and then they drank it! :)

Otherwise, we really watched the juice and always did half water and half juice if it was just juice because of all of the natural sugars.

The milk juice bottle was tough to break and people thought we were nuts but it worked. They both have to be cold - you don't want the milk to clabber.

Lauren said...

Aww, bless your heart! It is hard, isn't it?

thediaperdiaries said...

It's been hard for me too. I think it is just such a special bonding time it is hard to let it go. Give him some extra snuugles while you both adjust.

thediaperdiaries said...

It's been hard for me too. I think it is just such a special bonding time it is hard to let it go. Give him some extra snuugles while you both adjust.

Brandi said...

Hey is so adorable! Thanks for the comment on my kids ( they are handfuls )! HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

Candace said...

I had a much harder time than Anna did. I cried for days and she adjusted after one day. Us poor moms feel that break so much more than the little ones do. It has been more than a year since I weaned Anna and I still miss it. I miss that time to snuggle and forget about everything else. That time to focus on us and forget the times when she would drive me crazy. Nursing made the world stop and everything was just right. Now we have other moments but none that you can count on to happen at least once a day ya know. Be sure to give him extra cuddles for both your sakes.

Rockin' Mama said...

We just went through this...and we're still going through this...it's so hard. My son is my first so I really didn't want to wean him but my body just gave up (my milk supply dropped suddenly and it was definitely not enough for him). We resorted to bottles because he would not drink milk from a cup. In fact he's still on a bottle at 14 months. And I occasionally nurse him when I don't know what to do. We bought several different kinds of sippy cups and just kept trying to offer him different ones. Emotionally it was so hard on me because we both didn't want to wean and it was sort of forced on us...I'm right there with you but I can say it's getting easier...

Jessica said...

bGive it time. It will get easier and both of you will learn to cope. When I weaned I was ready because of all the problems we were having. He was fine. He had had bottles. I gave myself one last pumping sessin for relieve, wrapped up really tight and then cried as I packed up the breast pump.