I looked down at my breast feeding ticker on the sidebar today and realized that I had in fact been nursing for...
2 Years, 2 Months, 2 Weeks & 2 Days
As my ticker says, "Breast feeding is hard. God is faithful." One of the biggest lessons breast feeding Leland has taught me is to trust in the Lord for his provisions. My supply has always been very low. In the early months when I would struggle to provide even enough for just one day I would think about the story of the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 16). God told them to collect just enough Manna for the day and He promised to provide for them. By they got scared - and maybe a little greedy - and collected extra Manna against God’s command. The extra they had saved smelled and was filled with maggots. With this in mind, whenever I would become stressed about supply, I would focus on God’s promise to provide - day by day.
Interestingly, when Leland was about 4 ½ months, I had saved up a good supply of about 60 oz (enough for about 5 days of bottles for day care). I got bronchitis and was placed on an antibiotic that caused Leland to vomit (a lot!). By the time I realized it was the antibiotic that was making him vomit I had no idea which pumped milk was contaminated and which was not. (We had traveled to florida at the time and I had brought my stash resulting in the stash getting mixed together and me not knowing what days the milk had been pumped). In the end - I dumped 60 oz down the sink. To put this in perspective, because I only got 2-3oz per 30-45 minute pumping session, these 60 oz represented 15+ hours of pumping! But even after all of this - God still provided.
Which brings us to today. Currently, Leland is nursing 2-3 times per day. He would nurse about 5 times per day if I let him. Although a part of me will be sad to see our nursing relationship end, I believe I am ready. I would like to see him wean. Everyone tells me that he will do it when he is ready, but it doesn’t look like that will be anytime soon.
I do not want to end abruptly, but my attempts at gentle weaning have not worked. I have tried placing other activities during our nursing time, such as reading books. I have also got him excited about cow’s milk and drinking from a big boy cup (no lid) - and have tried to introduce this during our normal morning nursing session. And, I only nurse him when he asks. This worked for about 3-4 days. He actually went to bed without nursing three nights in a row. But then he caught on! He realized he just needed to ask - and he began asking to nurse several times a day.
So - I need advice - how do I encourage him to wean, without straight out denying him when he asks?
2 Years, 2 Months, 2 Weeks & 2 Days
As my ticker says, "Breast feeding is hard. God is faithful." One of the biggest lessons breast feeding Leland has taught me is to trust in the Lord for his provisions. My supply has always been very low. In the early months when I would struggle to provide even enough for just one day I would think about the story of the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 16). God told them to collect just enough Manna for the day and He promised to provide for them. By they got scared - and maybe a little greedy - and collected extra Manna against God’s command. The extra they had saved smelled and was filled with maggots. With this in mind, whenever I would become stressed about supply, I would focus on God’s promise to provide - day by day.
Interestingly, when Leland was about 4 ½ months, I had saved up a good supply of about 60 oz (enough for about 5 days of bottles for day care). I got bronchitis and was placed on an antibiotic that caused Leland to vomit (a lot!). By the time I realized it was the antibiotic that was making him vomit I had no idea which pumped milk was contaminated and which was not. (We had traveled to florida at the time and I had brought my stash resulting in the stash getting mixed together and me not knowing what days the milk had been pumped). In the end - I dumped 60 oz down the sink. To put this in perspective, because I only got 2-3oz per 30-45 minute pumping session, these 60 oz represented 15+ hours of pumping! But even after all of this - God still provided.
Which brings us to today. Currently, Leland is nursing 2-3 times per day. He would nurse about 5 times per day if I let him. Although a part of me will be sad to see our nursing relationship end, I believe I am ready. I would like to see him wean. Everyone tells me that he will do it when he is ready, but it doesn’t look like that will be anytime soon.
I do not want to end abruptly, but my attempts at gentle weaning have not worked. I have tried placing other activities during our nursing time, such as reading books. I have also got him excited about cow’s milk and drinking from a big boy cup (no lid) - and have tried to introduce this during our normal morning nursing session. And, I only nurse him when he asks. This worked for about 3-4 days. He actually went to bed without nursing three nights in a row. But then he caught on! He realized he just needed to ask - and he began asking to nurse several times a day.
So - I need advice - how do I encourage him to wean, without straight out denying him when he asks?
2 comments:
Have you got a La Leche League group meeting near you? They'll offer you ideas for gentle weaning. Or you could complete a help form and email it to them. LLL GB will email an answer to you if you do one of their helpforms.
I may try reaching out the the LLL.
I attended a few meetings in my old city when Leland was little but the group was small and they were not helpful at all - none of them had every really had production issues and they just kept telling me stuff like drink more water. Maybe the one in my new city will be better?
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