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Gina’s timely comments about nursing her baby Liam reminded me that this is World Breastfeeding Week 2006 –
Aug 1 – 7th.
What a great reason for us all to celebrate the gift of nursing.
Whether you’re currently nursing or you have in the past, join us in celebration.
Tell us your story…
You can answer in the comments or on your own blog and give us the link.
Did you nurse your baby(s) and for how long?
What was your favourite aspect of nursing?
Did you ever get bitten?
What was the hardest part of weaning?
Do you have any advice to share with moms about nursing and/or weaning?
I’ll get us started…
By the way, this is Susan here… as I mentioned yesterday, Janice is away and I’m filling in for her.
I have one baby (Julia) who technically is no longer a baby. She is 15 months old and I’m still nursing her. I plan to continue for a few more months. In the photo below she is only a couple of weeks old.
My favourite part of nursing is the joy it brings Julia and me. It feels so wonderful to be snuggled together as she happily drinks and slips off to sleep. I never anticipated enjoying breastfeeding. I honestly only did it at first because it was the healthy choice. Now I’m so thankful for this precious time and I just don’t want it to end.
Yes! I have been bitten several times. The other night she chomped down and then laughed with delight. I couldn’t believe it. She did it twice in a row, and then thankfully forgot about her new game and got down to business drinking.
I’m scared to death of weaning. My little girl is a cosleeper, and I just do not understand how I am supposed to wean her. I feel like she’ll wake for her midnight snack forever. I’m welcome to advice from other cosleeping moms.
My only advice to nursing moms is if you have trouble with milk supply, seek help and don’t give up. I had trouble making enough milk in the beginning, but it was easily solved within a couple of weeks from a supplement given to me by my doctor.
falwyn says
I posted on my blog, too. Click here.
Momma Piñata says
Did you nurse your baby(s) and for how long? Charlotte was nursed for 2 months. She is almost 4 months old now.
What was your favourite aspect of nursing? The bonding, especially right before bed at night.
Did you ever get bitten? Nope, didn’t get to nurse long enough to do that.
What was the hardest part of weaning? That she decided it on her own, and after trying many many things, three days later, I had to give in, all the tears weren’t getting us anywhere.
Do you have any advice to share with moms about nursing and/or weaning? Not really because she weaned herself…but my breasts hurt a LOT!!!!
Jenn says
OHHH I was soo excited to come here and read your post! We have been doing some things to celebrate too, and added in the fun with answering your questions! 🙂
Breastfeeding is a wonderful thing isn’t it?!
http://parenting-news.hightopbabydesigns.com/2006/08/continuing-to-celebrate-nursing.html
Marie says
I also have a couple posts about breastfeeding at our blog. Here’s more answers to your questions —
Did you nurse your baby(s) and for how long?
This is my first baby & I’ve nursed him for 10 1/2 months so far –
What was your favourite aspect of nursing? The tender and loving feeling that envelopes us as I feed him. Plus, the bargain aspect of it is nice — it’s nice to be able to save money with all the other costs we’ve faced this year
Did you ever get bitten?
Yeah – a couple times — when it happens I just stop the nursing session right then, and that’s it.
What was the hardest part of weaning? Don’t know yet!
Do you have any advice to share with moms about nursing and/or weaning? It was hard in the beginning – but it’s been so worth all that work in the start — get help from LLL or the help that the hospital offers — because they really can make the difference for you. It’s worth it.
Laura says
I have nursed all of my babies- it has been one of the most incredible and rewarding times of my life.
I just did the blogathon about breastfeeding and raised money for LLL. We self weaned here, too. So I have no real advice about weaning- just listen to your heart and your baby. Not doctors and others moms.
Breastfeeding is worth any of the trouble that you may feel it will cause. Trust me.
Jess says
I loved breastfeeding! Thank you so much for doing this!
I nursed Sophia until the week of her 2nd birthday, when she told me “I’m a big girl now. I don’t need mangia anymore.” So self-weaned was the way we did it so the weaning process wasn’t hard at all. And we did the family bed, too, until she told us she wanted a “big girl bed”. We set one up in our room, then it wasn’t much longer until she was telling me she wanted to sleep in her big girl room.
I love all aspects of nursing: free, anywhere, anytime, perfect temp, perfectly made for my child. And the bond? Irreplaceable. period.
The only thing I’d say as advice is listen to your baby. The clock & your life cannot decide when your babe needs to be nourished or comforted.
Eli's Mom says
Did you nurse your baby(s) and for how long?
I nursed/am nursing Eli for 1 year.
What was your favourite aspect of nursing?
I loved the alone time I got with Eli while nursing. Even though I’m a SAHM, so most of our time is ‘alone’, nursing sessions were different. They were much more personal and ‘sweet’. I think that is what I’ll miss most as I continue weaning for the next few weeks.
Did you ever get bitten?
OUCH! Unfortunatly, when Eli first got his top teeth he did bite me a handful of times. I was quick to correct him and (luckily!!) he stopped.
What was the hardest part of weaning?
Right now the hardest part is letting go of that special time we share. I LOVE our first morning nursing session because Eli is always in such a good mood, so he’s smiling and touching my face. I’ll miss that a lot!
Do you have any advice to share with moms about nursing and/or weaning?
Enjoy nursing for as long as you can. I know sometimes it seems like all you do is nurse your baby, but remember that they’ll only be a baby (and a nursing baby) for a limited time.
Xav's Mama says
I posted on my blog just click on my name to view!
Chris says
G’day! I love this idea!
I am nursing my second child now and enjoy it thoroughly. I nursed my daughter, now 3, until she was 14 months old. Nursing became painful for me then and that’s why I weaned her, though I regretted it later. Turns out we probably had a yeast infection and that’s why I was so sore. I didn’t have a breastfeeding support network (amazingly, I knew NO other nursing moms when I was nursing her) to help me figure things out and work through the discomfort. Fortunately, since my son was born, my daughter has taken up nursing occasionally–especially for comfort after she’s gotten an “ow-y.” It’s nice to have that relationship with her again, even though it’s very infrequent. My son is six months old and was exclusively breastfed ’til a couple weeks ago…he’s eaten a little avocado (gave him diarhea), banana (likes it okay), and the best carrots my local farmer grows (not really interested, I suppose that 1/2 pound of steamed and pureed carrot ice cubes that I made will go into soup or something).
I just love the closeness of breastfeeding–looking into my baby’s eyes as he stares up at me. Such cherished moments! Even when we’re out and about, we can create our own little private world, enjoying one another’s company, staring into each other’s eyes. It’s such an amazingly beautiful thing.
My son doesn’t have teeth, but he’s teething and occasionally “bites” while nursing. My daughter also bit me some…that’s what I thought was causing me pain when I weaned her.
The hardest part of weaning was getting over my fear of weaning. I thought it would be a horrible experience, but we took it slowly (about a month from when I “decided” until the last nurse) and it really wasn’t that bad. The next hardest thing was getting over my regret about weaning so early. Weaning doesn’t make parenting any easier.
My advice: even experienced moms have trouble nursing! I thought starting off with my second would be easier, but he has a short tongue (not actually tongue-tied, but just short and not very flexible). We had a terrible time the first month or so. Fortunately, I did recognize there was a problem and visited a lactation consultant. Also, La Leche League or another support group can really help! I know lots of nursing moms now, but having a dedicated couple hours every month for talking about breastfeeding issues really helps–I’ve gotten support when I’ve needed it and been of help to others.
Randi says
I enjoy breastfeeding soooo much!! My son is going to be 7 months on the 12th and we’re still going strong. He has no teeth yet. I am so glad that I am doing this:) I pump once in the morning, he get’s two bottles during the day, and the rest of the time he get’s the breast. It’s just such a wonderful and special time to share with your baby.
Jessica says
Breastfeeding can be a great thing for baby and mom (they can bond even more during feeding time) and then it’s healthier for baby!
Waya says
I’ve nursed my first son until he was 8 months. My other two children until they were 6 months. I’ve written about it here in my blog. Love to share it with you. I think breastfeeding is so good for your children and such a great bonding experience for me. And all the people who were offended by that infamous picture of a baby being nursed on the cover of “Baby” magazine, I have to say “get over it”!
http://www.beforebaby.com/waya/2006/02/04/breastfeeding-your-baby/
Susan says
Again, thank you all… what wonderful stories!
I wanted to also add that “O Mama Mia” at http://omamamia.com/ has a couple of great posts about breastfeeding right now.
She links to many wonderful sites including:
http://momsmilkanywhere.blogspot.com/
Heidi says
Love what you’ve shared and the picture. My last post is about one breastfeeding experience and I’ve posted a picture there as well. I will start by saying that my son (2 in two weeks) was also a co-sleeping, nurse to sleep type. We tried a few times to night wean him, I wanted to to let him ultimately wean himself but I was ready to sleep more than 3 hours in a row at night. When he was about 17 months old my SUPER HUBBY really took over nights. We left him in his crib for the entire night but my hubby would go in to comfort him. After a few nights it got better and better and after a week or so he would rearely awake at night. That’s how we did it.
To answer your other questions, we nursed until my son was 22 months old.
My favorite parts about nursing were just about everything about it, I like how natural it is, not that it’s easy but just heathy and bonding and cuddly. I like how it made me stop and adore the precious bundle that God gave to us to parent.
I did get bit at times but it never became a major problem.
The hardest part of weaning I though would be the night weaning that I described before, but now that we are completely done I think the hardest part was right at the end. I generally tried to be a nurse on demand mom and after he was night weaned then he nursed in the morning and after nap. He gave up the mornings between 18-19 months and soon after the afternoon nursings became spuratic. He would go for 2,3 sometimes 7 days without nursing and then ask again. After two months of such on again off again nursing I was pretty well done and I figured if he could go a week or at the end 10-12 days he certainly was done and just holding on to something that was nice. So now we just cuddle and rock and read books.
Jay says
What a great idea! Thank you for sharing your experience and for encouraging other moms to do the same.
I have shared my story on my blog. Come and check it out!
http://and-then-there-were-four.blogspot.com
A close friend of mine used the following website to night wean her co-sleeping, 14 month old and she said it was great. A very gentle way to go about it.
http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asp
Christina says
Love the picture. I breastfed, but with all of them except one of my sons I kind of did both. I think it is great that people are doing this more often. Years ago when I had my first, she is 22 now, it was more of a push for bottle feeding. I guess because so many woman worked and it was kind of the in thing. When I lived in Germany, my husband is in the Army, in 1996 everyone was breastfeeding and my German friends said that in fact some babies were breast fed up until they were just about 4. They don’t have any of the same fears as Americans about nudity, breastfeeding, or even what people think about them nursing so long. I say “way to go!” As long as mom and baby are comfortable I think it is awesome.
Stephanie says
I posted my comments on my blog. Clicking on my name should take you there.
Adventures In Babywearing says
I HEART BREASTFEEDING!!!
*I have nursed all my babies- my first two weaned around 13 months, but I had them on some sort of schedule then (and regret this!) so with Grayson- 9 months, I plan to nurse as long as he wishes.
*I really do love everything about nursing- it was one of the # 1 things I looked forward to when having my babies! I love the way they naturally latch on and that look in their eyes like it’s “soooooooo gooooooood” and when they fall asleep at the breast… and the fact that I am providing nourishment for my child… I could go on & on!
*I was going to add that I don’t necessarily enjoy getting bit, but they all only did it for a short time- usually when teething at first and it always got better!
*I was sad to lose that bond and that they didn’t “need” me in that way anymore. Sometimes you just need that private snuggle/bonding time where you are forced to sit down, chill out, relax- and nursing provides for that!
*My best advice would be nurse when baby wants to eat (not on a strict schedule) and to not be afraid to take baby to bed with you… for a nursing mom it helps you get SO MUCH MORE sleep! I love it, and I love having baby close.
Glass Half Full says
Gina’s experience is so true!
I am thankful that I was able to nurse my two boys. It is healthy for both baby AND mommy. Plus, it was a bond that cannot be dupicated. 🙂
Susan says
Thank you all for sharing…. your comments reminded me that I should share what the start of my nursing experience was like.
It was hard!!!!
I expected nursing to be difficult. I had seen how painful the first week of nursing was for Janice, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
When Julia was born she was on the small side and had a rather bad case of jaundice, so the doctors wanted her eating. But, for the life of me, I couldn’t get her to latch. I had about six different lactation consultants see me over five days in the hospital.
Julia refused to open her mouth!
So I had to pump and we had to supplement with formula for the first week. I was disappointed to have to supplement, but I saw that she needed to eat.
I was so determined to breastfeed but it was terribly frustrating that Julia would not open her mouth and wouldn’t latch.
Thankfully, the day I left the hospital, one of the lactation consultants suggested a nipple shield. And it worked! It did the trick to get Julia nursing and then after only a day or two we took off the shield, and she kept nursing. It felt like a miracle.
The first couple of months still were hard nursing. I had to pump as well as nurse and the whole process was long and exhausting. I didn’t have enough milk, but luckily my doctor gave me a supplement that fixed that problem perfectly within two weeks.
Once I got past those first few months, it was easy as could be.
I encourage moms to try hard to get past the first three months because that’s the hard part. After that is when it becomes simple, convenient and heart warming.
Nikkie says
Thanks for sharing! My little guy was born 6 weeks premature. I wasn’t able to breastfeed him for the first little while. I had to pump do they could feed it to him by pushing a little tub down his throat so the milk would go directly into his tummy. When he got stronger we started to nurse him. He was too weak to to it with out help and I had to use a nipple shield. What I didn’t know was that prolonged use from a nipple shield leads to a decrease in your supply. I wrote about it in a old post, so instead of writing it all out again I’ll suppy the link 🙂
http://purplesnickers.blogspot.com/2006/03/afternoon-break.html
mommy says
Thanks for sharing! I’ve linked to you from my site where I shared my story.
Julie says
I nursed my first (half and half due to supply issues) for 9 months. My second I nursed almost exclusively (after another rough start) for 21 months. I confess I was MORE than ready to wean her as her 2nd birthday got closer and closer. Both girls bit me, sometimes even drawing blood, but a well placed shriek usually took care of it.
Congrats on your success!
Cheers!
Julie
KellyC says
This is a great conversation. My first baby came 3 weeks early and we had trouble getting her to eat anything, let alone anything from my breast. So I gave up.
My second baby was really strong, huge (11 pounds at birth!) and took to breastfeeding right away. I nursed him for a year. I pumped and worked full time.
I wish I’d known how easy it was for me to pump. I would have done that for my first, but I never thought of it.
Today’s the last day to enter a post for the Pass the Torch contest. Would you mind reminding your readers? THANK YOU!
Susan says
I just wanted to add…
Since Janice is away, (as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I am minding the fort in her absence), I thought I’d answer these questions for her. Being twins, I think I can guess what she’d say.
Janice nursed Jackson until he was 18 months.
I think her favorite part was also the bonding time. It’s of course also wonderful that they’re getting such great nutrition.
Yes, I remember her hollering when Jackson gave her a big bite. I think he did it a fair amount actually.
I think her weaning experience was actually rather easy. I hope my experience is as smooth.
I’m not sure what advice she’d give… so I’ll skip that part.
But I know that she really loved nursing and like me I think she was suprised by how much she enjoyed that special bonding time.