I was a little nervous to do it because I was afraid Amelia would fight it. Plus, I have really enjoyed nursing her and I was afraid I would be sad. But it was a pretty easy transition. Early in April she was nursing about 3 times a day (first thing in the morning, before nap, and before bed.) One night she just spurned the nummies, so I decided to go with it and just put her to bed. The next day I figured I'd better take advantage and just cut out her before sleep feedings and try to reinvent the before nap and before bed ritual. She is REALLY into books and loves to be read to, so I just started reading with her for 10 minutes or so before she went to sleep. She was happy to snuggle her woobie and suck on her binky while she listened to stories.
So by mid-April we were down to just one nursing a day, right after she woke up in the morning. That one was the last to go because that was our snuggliest time when I was still in bed and she was still mellow. Then at the beginning of May I started babysitting my neighbor's 5 month-old every Wednesday. The first day the baby came, I was already up and showered before Amelia woke up, so we missed our regular routine of the girls waking me up and Amelia nursing so I could squeeze a few extra lazy minutes in bed. We just got breakfast and went about our day. The next morning when she came in for nummies, I sprung (OK, that's perhaps a bit strong) out of bed and got her a sippy cup of milk and she was fine. Over the next couple of days there were only about two or three times, when she was tired and cranky, when she grabbed my boobs and cried, "Uh-num" ("I want nummies"). I just told her, "Nummies are all gone."
So now do I officially have to stop calling her my baby? I don't think I can do it. She's still so small and snuggly and sweet. Here she is in her typical sleeping pose: fingers twirling her hair (if you look close you can see she has a strand wrapped around her finger), snuggling her woobie, and sucking on her binky.
That's my baby!
3 comments:
I have to comment on this.
My baby is 11 months old. She'll be one in June. I'm so sad to quit nursing but ready at the same time. Did your baby take to milk okay? Cold?
Also, since you nursed that long I have a question:
Did you wear a nursing bra the entire time? Nursing G's?
I'm totally done with nursing g's. They got huge and so I just pull down the regular ones. As for the nursing bra thing, mine is about two sizes too big. I refuse to spend the money on a new one. But I don't want to stretch out my VS bra either. So I have been unhooking it in the back.
Suggestions??
Yeah, I say enjoy the baby stage as long as you want. You will see when you, or both of you, are ready to move on to the next stage of independence. The snugglie stage just doesn't last long enough, so take it where you can get it. And tweny months seems fine to me. Nursing at age five would probably need some kind of intervention and therapy, but 20 months seems well within range of normal. And I think you're an experienced enough Mom that you know when to say "no" to a phase, and when it's time to move on. Love ya, sis!
Okay, I have to make this fast because I am on my way to the TROPHY store to buy you something nice for your Mantel (a big Bronze-Boob, perhaps?). 20 months? Seriously? (Do you live in South America? WOW!) No really, though, no judgement here... kudos, in fact... I can not stand nursing... although I've suffered through a combined total of 19 months, all 3 boys combined... which means that means you nursed Amelia longer than all of mine together... wow... my applause...
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