After reaching our first breastfeeding goal of 6 months and aiming to go until 9 months...I think the time has come to finally stop breastfeeding. I have no doubt that my milk supply will continue until 9 months and beyond, and it might take me more than 9 months to completely wean. However I think it's time that our lives no longer be dictated by my pumping schedule...most importantly my bedtime.
I'm really going to miss getting to eat mostly whatever I want, but I can't wait to be able to go to sleep the same time that Bryce does...if I so desire. Most importantly I'm going to miss the pride I have had for being able to provide this liquid gold for my son.
I'm NOT going to miss washing pump bottles and parts, nor have it cluttering up around my kitchen sink. I'm not looking forward to having to warm/make bottles in the middle of the night (if the nigthtime trend continues like it has), nor purchasing formula.
I do have some frozen milk stored in the deep freeze. Unfortunately not as much as I would have liked to have had when we came to the point of stopping, but right now we have at least enough for 2 weeks. I haven't completely decided yet how I'm going to introduce formula. Whether I'm going to mix it with the breastmilk and gradually increase the amount of formula, or introduce a full bottle of formula. Decisions, decisions.
I don't anticipate that Bryce will have any trouble with the taste of formula, as I have not found a single food this child will not eat. Well at least from a spoon. However, we did have one day last week that he cried after he'd get a bite of peaches, but that has since passed and he's eating them just fine now. Maybe he just didn't like his peaches with his peas.
In the end the main reason we have decided to start weaning is SLEEP. Our sleep habits have gone from bad to worse. Over the past few weeks with teething and everything Bryce has developed a horrible nightime sleep schedule. He sleeps from about 8:00 or 8:30 until 12:30 or 1:00am, then is awake again by 3am, then by 5am. Some nights there's more frequent wakings, but I can count on being awake at the top of the "odd" hours. The worst part is this child will not stop crying until he eats. He will cry for an hour in my arms, no matter what I do he will not stop. So he's got into a habit of eating several times in the middle of the night despite having at least 30 oz of milk from a bottle each day, and around 12 oz of baby food during the day. He weighs 18 lbs, so this child is not a real big baby.
So my theory is if I can get more sleep then I will be able to work on delaying and hopefully eliminitately atleast one (or two) of these middle of the night feedings/wakings. Maybe I will be able to stick to the "The No Cry Sleep Solution" book logs.
So far I'm down to 3 pumping sessions a day and have been for over a week. Next week I'm going to try to get down to two. We'll see...
I feel you about the crazy pumping schedule- I had my heart set on breastfeeding, but it only lasted 2 months. I was in so much pain, I couldn't even let a t-shirt touch me.
ReplyDeleteBut as much as I dreaded switching to formula, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Niall didn't need his bottle heated, that store brand formula has the exact same ingredients as the expensive brands, you don't have to boil bottled water, and you will get used to the stinkier poops :) Good luck with the weaning!
You're a trooper. I hardly breastfeed. I WISH I would have done my homework before the birth, I didn't realize how much work and how difficult it could be. I quit right away and I wish I'd have stuck with it longer now. I use the Target brand formula. I switched from Similac a while back, it is WAY cheaper and has the same ingredients. Good luck and props to you for keeping it up! :-) Bryce and Campbell are almost the same age - I LOVE his awesome blonde hair, what a stud!
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