Weaning??

My pediatrician told us what to expect with weaning at our last well-baby checkup, and he mentioned that the nighttime feeding would be the first to go.  I thought he was weird because so many blogs mention that the nighttime is one of the harder ones since it’s so connected to calming/soothing for the end of the day. 

Well, I guess Moses heard the doctor and decided he would start the process on his own.  He has not taken me up on my offers to nurse for four nights in a row.  He has gone to bed without nursing!  He’s fussed a bit in the going-to-sleep process after he’s been in the crib for a little while, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s related to the milk or not. 

So now, he’s nursing only before meals, so down to three times a day.  It’s a little bit weird.  But honestly, I’m thinking of riding this wave of weaning, since I’ll have to anyway if I go back to work… I don’t intend to pump at work.  Not only because of the hassle and possible impossibility, but also because I genuinely find pumping to be quite dreadful.  I called my pediatrician office and asked if I can start him on whole milk a couple of weeks early so I could wean him to that instead of messing with formula.  I got the green light, so I bought a gallon of whole milk at the store today.  I feel a little bit weird.  It’s partly a deep sadness in the pit of my stomach.  Partly relief thinking about having my body be my own again (hello caffeinated beverages, and goodbye nursing pads!). 

I built up a store of pumped breast milk in the freezer over the last couple of weeks, so I think I’m going to start Moses on that mixed with whole milk… maybe even tomorrow at lunchtime and see how he does.  My pediatrician office recommended going slowly, like ¼ whole milk to ¾ breast milk one day, the next day moving to half and half, and the next day ¾ whole milk to ¼ breast milk.   I dunno.  The thought of such a huge change is so weird to me.  I wonder how he’s going to do… I hear the baby usually does better than the mom.  We’ll see how it goes, I guess.

I did some online research about weaning, and as with all things baby-related, there are widely diverse opinions about how it should go and what the best thing is for the baby.  The most vocal are the folks of La Leche League and other breastfeeding enthusiasts, who (possibly inadvertently) make those who end up weaning before age 2 (to age 5!) feel guilty and selfish.  I'm finding that the more extreme your opinion, the more divisive and off-putting your advice can be, especially when it comes to baby stuff.  Too bad.  

Maybe it's all the hormones talking, but I'm feeling rather blue about the whole thing.  Our little baby is growing up.  

Lovelove,

me