Deacon is another story and the youngest of three. Since I have no intention on having more children I may baby him a little more than I care to admit. I feel so blessed at the fact I have been able to nurse him exclusively the whole first year but now I have come to the hard question, when to stop?
Obviously breast milk is the best nutrition you can give your baby and it's free! But that doesn't mean you don't pay a price! The time and preparation that goes into nursing or stress that follows isn't easy especially when two toddlers are needing your attention as well. Not to mention the tole it takes on the ta-ta's! Mamas should receive a metal, and a lift after it's all said and done! Haha. Jokes aside, it's truly been a wonderful experience and well worth it.
I'm unsure who will have a harder time beginning to wean, me or him. With 365 days and counting of nursing all through the night, I'm ready to call it quits. However, then I'm admitting to myself my baby boy isn't just a baby anymore. (Tear) The one of many perks to nursing is the bonding time with your baby and those amazing snuggles I want to hold on to forever!
Deacon typically goes down around 7:00pm for the night but like clock work he gets up for the first time around midnight. I go into his room to nurse him for 10 minutes or less and he's back to sleep and I lay him in his crib and go crawl back into bed only to turn around and do it again around 3:00am. On a good night he will get up twice but sometimes I have to go into his room three and four times to feed him which is exhausting!
At his 12 month well visit his doctor suggested I wean him. Mainly because he isn't sleeping through the night. The Doctor's best advice was the (cry it out method) which I just smiled and nodded like I was going to comply- but believe me Deacon can be pretty vocal when he wants to get his point across so that would result in two angry little girls being woke up in the middle of the night. I attempted letting him "fuss" a few times in the past and the fussing quickly turned into a high pitch scream letting it be known he wasn't falling back asleep anytime soon. Plus I hate letting them cry it makes me feel awful.
When I start to wean him we will eliminate our nursing session at nap first. I will give him a sippy cup of breastmilk before hand in place of nursing and rock him before laying him down. In the evenings before bed I'll give him a sippy cup while we read books with his sissys. Then go into his room where he knows its time for bed and rock together for a few minutes. This way we aren't just stopping cold turkey and can ease into the whole transition. As for the nightly nursing sessions, I plan on water bottles which I've slipped him in the past and had a 50% success rate so I'm hoping he settles for this eventually. I will console him if need be and try to break the habit of taking him out of his crib to hold him. None of this I'm fond of so I'm sure he won't be either, but I believe it's best for us both in the long run.
This will all be trial and error I'm sure. I know some people may frown upon still rocking him to sleep every night because that can become a habit where he won't be able to fall asleep otherwise, but who doesn't love to snuggle and rock a baby?
Dress: Free People // Blanket: Swaddle Designs
Stay tuned for how it all works out and wish us the best! Props to all the mothers that have been able to nurse and stick with it (although it's not for everyone) for whatever reason some mothers can't or just choose not to. Every mother knows whats best for her and her baby. I will say I have no regrets and enjoyed every minute of it.
xo
-Holly
No comments:
Post a Comment