Wednesday, December 16, 2009

nursing a toddler - a conclusion

I'd always thought weaning would be dramatic, or painful, or heartbreaking. Thus I was thoroughly unprepared for it being unremarkable and unnoticed. The first day we didn't nurse at all was Saturday October 17. I left home early early (to go to Rhinebeck) while the wee one was sleeping, and arrived home while he was getting his bedtime bottle. Daddy did an excellent job that day, and the not-nursing that day was a non-issue. The next morning we resumed our daily early-morning nursing sessions, and I didn't give it another thought. Then every so often I'd realize that he hadn't asked to nurse in the morning, and hadn't asked after work which is his wont when the morning session was skipped. Then one weekend morning in early December I realized that we hadn't nursed once since the previous weekend. It's now December 16th and we've nursed three times so far this month.

I'm pleased that the conclusion of our nursing relationship came without a fuss, but I'm also feeling some mixed emotions. The reason we were only nursing once or twice a day was totally my demand - nursing at bedtime had become unbearable so I'd had to end that. Nursing mid-day on the weekends made me uncomfortable during the week, so I'd nixed that as well. All I'd permit was morning and after work - and soon the after work session fell away as there were so many more interesting things for a toddler to do upon returning home (chase the dog, find the motorcycle). So I'm feeling a bit like the weaning was my doing, even if it was a long time coming.

I never figured out how to manage The Octopus, and I wonder if the moms who nurse their children to 3 or 4 years old are more tolerant than I am, or if their wee ones are less active.

It's a bittersweet day when your baby no longer needs you in that way. I'm so pleased to see him acting all grown up, but fortunately (at least for now) he often reminds me, "I'm little."

1 Comments:

At 6:23 PM, December 18, 2009, Blogger Carolyn said...

Yay, I'm so happy you're back blogging!

I'm glad you are content with concluding nursing your little one. I'm sure he'll need you in more and different ways now, so the nursing need will soon be replaced with a new one soon enough!

You're an awesome mom!

 

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