Nelson decided her was done nursing on Saturday - cold turkey. Ouch, on so many levels. We have been tapering down, replacing some feedings with bottles etc, but I really felt like we were doing well and were on our way to a nice gradual over several months weaning. Not so.
Aside from the physical pain of producing 24 plus ounces of milk that is not wanted and trying to get my body to figure out the whole don't make any more, I am feeling really sad (like crying while putting away waffle irons sad). Truthfully, I was already feeling sad about being kicked out of the pregnant club, now I'm out of the nursing club too. I guess I was just hoping for a more gradual release from my last intensive infant mothering role. I find that when nursing ends my relationship with my baby changes and they get more and more sucked into the chaos of life and since Nelson is my last it makes it that much more FINAL and hard.
Thoughts?
4 comments:
bleh. sounds like a nursing strike http://www.motherandchildhealth.com/Breastfeeding/Becky/strike.html .... if you are really wanting to continue I have read some articles online about it and it might help you to research.... but i am sorry... it hurts my heart thinking about frank not nursing and he is my first. especially hard since he went cold turkey. i have been gradually working on giving up nursing... i think it affects the mom way more then the kids. I have been holding onto it and fighting more then frank I think. I do half formula half nursing because he was just always hungry and i just don't think i was making enough. I have been fighting it for months with herbal teas and oatmeal. just this week i decided it be okay if i dried up. so we will see when that actually happens. but i totally get where you are coming from. frank is sick today and a part of me enjoys that he is just relaxing and actually hugging and cuddling with me instead of acting like a monkey. i guess we just have to connect different ways now.
Oh Marian I'm sorry! I know your kids have had this issue before and you were doing so well with Nelson! I think this is the first of many "lasts" for you (or rather pregnancy and childbirth probably were). I always have a hard time with the end of things- you're allowed to grieve a little for each of these "lasts"- too bad we can't keep them from growing up so fast. I want to keep them at every sweet stage but I'm always so excited to see what little person they will change into next! Good luck coping! No words of wisdom to help- just sympathy of feeling the same way when something I love is over.
As one who does not nurse....but still loves her kids, I understand why this chance is making you sad -- your hormones aside. I'm not too keen on the growing up James has done and the growing that Jeffrey is doing.
I wouldn't think of it as "getting kicked out" but rather the end of a chapter and that you get to move on to different chapters of Nelson's life. Just think, now that he's growing, he can join in all the fun you guys have.
If you are just going to let him go on his own, and you need to dry up, get the cold packs. Use them 4 times a day for relief, and if you have a pump, just pump to wean yourself from milk production.
And you can always rejoice in having your body back as well... :)
Good luck.
I feel every word you are saying. I still look longingly at pregnant women and new babies. Although given the choice (I have the choice) I still wouldn't join those clubs again. You get to join other clubs now....like the wet blanket club, with all those daughters things will certainly start to get more emotional and they will need someone to cry on. So they will always need you, just in a different way ( you already know all this...I am mostly just reminding myself again for the zillionth time). Change is good...it usually means there is progress and hooray for progress right! Nelson is so cute and just progressing into an even funner stage....
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