because i don’t want to leave you with just one post after being absent for so long, i’m going to give you a quick update on the weaning process. aren’t you excited? i didn’t want to tack this on the bottom of my LBP post, because well… breastfeeding and video games just don’t go together.
aside from that one episode of crying before her nap, she’s done fine without her daytime nursing sessions. in fact, i don’t think she misses them at all. she take a great nap around 11-1. she eats regular grown up food like a champ, even though i wish she would eat just a little more. i still haven’t had any luck getting her to drink anything other than water from her sippy cup, but that doesn’t really worry me all that much. she gets plenty of calories from other foods, and gets her dairy/calcium from the massive amounts of yogurt she insists on eating every day, and a daily vitamin that smells gross, but she likes it anyways.
every night, i give her a bath, nurse her, and put her to bed. if she wakes up in the middle of the night i nurse her, but she usually doesn’t do anything but chew on me (slightly painfully too) until she calms down enough so sleep again. BUT for the past week, i haven’t had to worry about those feedings, since she’s been doing the elusive STTN. (message board speak for “sleep through the night”) i know! i can’t believe it either. 16 months old, and she’s finally getting the hang of this crazy sleep thing. she still wakes up every once in a while, but i’ve noticed that if i pump her full of food (yogurt, applesauce, a banana, or something) before giving her a bath, she’ll sleep all night long. it’s awesome. now, if only i could stop playing LBP long enough to go to bed before 12….
anyways. so we’re down to one nursing session per 24 hour period. my milk’s almost down to nil, and that’s okay. it’s time, i think. yesterday i was nursing her, and after a pretty pathetic let-down (a mere shadow of the powerful milk-squirting let down i had when she was full time nursing) she spit a mouthful of milk all over my boob. then she decided to have a conversation with me. then she bit me. i said “ouch!” she stopped biting me, and began to play with my belly button while saying “tummy! tummy!” that was the end of that nursing session.
the only thing that’s left at this point is to cut out the pre-bedtime session. i almost put her to bed last night without it, but just didn’t have the heart to. it’s something special when i can cuddle with my daughter in the same rocking chair i nursed my son in. when she stops for a moment, she looks at me with her big *almost* green eyes, talks to me in her sweet little baby babble, and i tear up because i know it’s going to be gone soon. every day she gets just a little bit bigger, and every day she gets farther from being my sweet little nursling. i’m giving myself just a little more time with her… my goal before having her was to stop nursing by 18 months, and at 16 months, i know i’ll have no trouble weaning her before then. right now, i’m just stealing a little more time with my baby….
My beautiful girl, looking so grown up.
