Tactics

My new weaning tactic is this: Don't put myself in a position where he's going to demand it. It's so much harder to wean him at this age than it would have been a few months ago because he knows he deserves it and he knows when it's coming to him -- early in the morning and at naptime. So now I have DH go pick him up when he wakes up at 5:30, or if I go take him out of the crib for the day, I don't take him back to my bed and try to get more sleep. I take him to the living room, pour him a bowl of dry cheerios and try to snooze on the couch. As for putting him to bed in the afternoons after school-- a very necessary procedure, it's much harder without nursing. He might take a bottle but he won't fall asleep with it like he does at night (I know, I know, it's a no-no to give a kid a bottle to sleep with but it works and we're sticking with it for now at least). On Friday when DH tried to put him to sleep, he didn't nap at all-- he rested and drank his bottle but was then as active as ever, but cranky as hell towards bedtime. In fact, he kept falling asleep as I was feeding him dinner. It was heartbreaking and hillarious at the same time to see him chewing with his eyes closed and then watch his head drop to his shoulder. I'd give him some water to make sure there was no food left in his mouth and then I was going to take him to bed but the water would wake him up enough to demand the next bite... and that's how it went.
Yesterday he just fell asleep as we came home at around eleven and he had a two hour nap on the couch. That was good, and now I haven't nursed him in at least two days. We'll see if we can keep this up, though I still have no solution to the afternoon nap.
I was good and ready to wean him, but now that it's actually happening (slowly and surely), I know I'm going to kind of miss this special bond.

I take it back

Forget it, I take it all back.
We are not well on our way to weaning. We are breastfeeding (almost) as much as ever. In fact, I have begun to feel fullness and leaking again.
Sometimes he wakes up at 4:30 am and just HAS to have boob. I mean, nothing else will do. I try to send Ilan out to get him anywhere after 3:30 am because otherwise I don't stand a chance. I try to make him wait until at least 5:30 am before I feed him because I can consider that to be closer to actual morning as opposed to middle of the night.

A Little Bit Of Weaning

I'm not sure, but I think there might be a little bit of weaning going on around here. I didn't nurse him at all yesterday, and I didn't nurse him this morning. I nursed him a lot two days ago because he was a sick little guy with an achey ear and I thought it would make him feel better. I'm not at all sure that there was any milk coming out, but he doesn't really always seem to care. I think he just loves to suck. Well, I think there is a little bit of milk in the beginning of each breast but then nothing. I asked him but all I got for a reply was 'ana? nana? ama?'
He's been staying in his crib a little longer in the mornings (pu pu pu) and so I don't feel the need to nurse him just so I can get some extra lying-down time in the mornings. I don't know what we're going to do for the afternoon nap but I guess we'll take it as it comes.
I think I'm finally ready for this step now. I mean, the thought of weaning completely still makes me a little sad, but I think that he's gotten a lot out of it already, health-wise -- I'm not sure how much more there is to gain at this point though I suppose there is literature on that subject if I choose to persue it. And I guess, well, I don't know. I'm just ready and I think he is too. But time will tell.

Weenie

The Mean Wean

My sister walked in on my the other day and said 'I can't believe a child this size is still breastfeeding.'
I was more than surprised to hear this coming from my sister, who is currently anticipating a drug-free home birth and who has rightfully become the butt of trans-fat jokes for her devotion to health food. It never occurred to me that the size of the baby determines the duration of his nursing. And of course, one has nothing to do with the other.
The truth is, I've been trying for a couple of months now to cut down on feedings. I'm aiming for a one-year wean, but Baby has a different idea in mind. He knows what we're up to and he objects passionately, especially at 3am when snuggling doesn't count unless it involves boob.
Last night, exhausted and suffering from a fever, I gave in. I don't mind breastfeeding. In fact, I love it. I love his sweet 'I only look like I'm asleep' suckling face. I love how he reaches for my mouth while he's fressing. I love making him feel warm and secure and happy. I just wish that I could offer him the same feeling without the hormonal commitment. And that's why I'm bothering to start this weaning process at all.
My sister told me that by nine or ten months, her baby didn't really care much for nursing anymore anyway. This is obviously not the case here. In fact, although he eats several square meals a day (ptu ptu ptu), I am under the impression that he wouldn't mind, at the very least, a milky dessert to each one. He would suck suck suckle all night if I let him still. I don't know what to do. If it wasn't for the fight that my body is putting up against this process then I wouldn't worry about it, and I'd just keep nursing him happily into toddlerhood and beyond.

The Sounds

Oh, the sounds that accompany feeding time!

The sniff sniff of searching for the breast.
The sad, low whine of not getting it fast enough.
The excited cooing when he knows it's coming.
The happy smack and slurp as he latches on.
The tsk tsk tsk of sucking and swallowing.
The followup throaty burrrrp.
The yawn.
The deep breathing.
And he's asleep.

Leaky Braucet

The rotten-milk smell that began when I was in the hospital persisted until about month number 2. That is, it was in my sheets and in my clothes as long as there was milk on them, which was often. I was leaking all over the place. I was going through bra pads like crazy. They would get lost every time I took them out to feed them (Ilan would get upset about finding them all over the house-- or other people's houses if we were sleeping over somewhere) and so I would just pop in some new ones.
The smell went away by about a couple of months. I guess the consistency of the milk had changed significantly enough by then. My breasts were still leaking, though. If I went a little too long between feedings, or as soon as he started sucking on one nipple,the other one would start to gush. This led to some embarrassing incidents. I learned to use my scarf or the nursing apron over my shoulder to cover the spreading stain.
Even today, at nine months, the leaking continues. Sometimes it's like a fountain. All he has to do is get in the right angle and open his mouth.
But at least the smell is gone.