I have no idea how to wean this child. I’d always hoped to stick with nursing for a full year but now I’m starting to worry we might be doing it forever. Its not that i MIND it. I’m home with her. Even when ive travelled for work, its been pretty easy to manage pumping. We only nurse in the morning, before naps and bedtime so it’s not like it really interferes with life. I love the cuddles and know that once we quit we can’t go back.
Even so, now that she’s just a few weeks short of a year old I guess I’m starting to feel a little self conscious. It’s completely self-imposed. Everyone I know is still very supportive. My mom friends…though all of their kids are weaned…are all very “do what you gotta do.” JiT is very supportive. Everyone is. I guess I just don’t know what the next step is.
The “problem” is that Lil still nurses to get ready to sleep. I try to put her down while she’s still awake but we’ve never been able to break the tie between nursing (or a bottle) and bedtime. I know it’s terrible we let it go this long, but given our struggles with sleep we’re just grateful she’s sleeping thru the night at all.
Lately I’ve been trying to push it…bringing Lilly downstairs for “real” food as soon as she gets up in the morning. Cutting her off from nursing to read another story before nap. It seems to just make her furious and more clingy. Lately if JiT even tries to give her a bottle of breast milk at bedtime she won’t take it, demanding “Mommommah” and getting more pissed off by the second.
Lillian is definitely a kid who does things her way. She woke up 2-3 times a night until she was nine months old, then one day just started sleeping through the night. No warning. She was just ready. My instincts are telling me to back off and let her tell me when she’s ready for this. But what if she’s never ready?
