After nursing for two years and seven months, we have finally weaned. I expected Aaron to put up a big fight to keep the last feed he had. But, it all ended peacefully. I knew he would never have gone along with me explaining why it was time to stop so I opted to use some strategically dabbed echinacea. He said "Thats not nice! Something is wrong." and accepted my explanation that its what happens when milk runs out.
I am glad that I persevered through the misery of the early weeks. And now, I'm proud that I can say Aaron was exclusively breastfed for the first six months. He also never touched a drop of formula milk until he was nearly two years old when I gave him a bit in the morning. He never liked the taste of it. Now, he just drinks regular milk.
He was a small baby and I received constant comments and advice along the lines of me not being able to provide him with enough nutrition. I ignored it all and now, he has caught up and is comfortably around the 70th percentile for height and weight.
So here are some of the good, the bad and the ugly of breastfeeding:
Good
- Obviously, it is the most nutritious and the ideal baby food.
- I estimate that I have avoided spending approximately USD2800 in formula. I don't even know how to estimate the cost of bottles, teats, sterilizing tablet etc
- Fuss free take offs and landings on around twenty plane trips.
- I could put him to sleep anywhere.
- When I accepted Aaron's wakefulness, I nursed him 4-5 times a night without getting out of bed and without fully waking up.
- Tantrums could be put under control within seconds.
- SUPER metabolic rate. I could eat LOTS of ANYTHING and not gain any weight.
Bad
- I was the only person that could put him to sleep.
Ugly
- Blood blisters
- Nursing bras
When you're a first time mother, it is sometimes hard to maintain the "exclusive breastfeeding" and "extended breastfeeding" because of the pain, perceived inconvenience and frequent advice from health professionals/friends/family to supplement.
My advice is to have confidence in yourself.
8 comments:
Onward nursing mom! I love your gym story, some people don't know limits! The gym has so many different body types and ages, it has endless comment possibilities. Stay comfortable in your own skin.
God Bless,
Cheryl
Well done Amanda!
Good for you sweetie!
I managed 3 months...with twins! ;-)
Amanda Amanda Amanda. This is one of those posts where I have to keep saying to myself, "DON'T GO THERE MIKE. LET IT ALONE. Amanda's having a mommy moment. Don't ruin it."
So, good job mommy.
HOLY CRAP! THAT IS AMAZING to have lasted that long! We stopped at 14 months so I can't imagine - you are AMAZING Amanda.
Well done, Amanda. It's not something I know a lot about, but did very well.
congratulations! for a job well done and for the smart weaning procedure.
I made it six weeks and to say it was the most painful six weeks of my life is an understatement. My son had latching issues or some such thing and without going into details there was a lot of cracking and bleeding and tears (mine and his). I would cringe when I would see him start to wake up and cringe even more if he would start to get fussy. It got to the point where I would just want him to sleep and I rarely enjoyed just having him because I knew that any second I would be required to feed him- and I was terrified of the pain to come. :(
Kudos to you!!!
And I LOVE your stopping technique.
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