Welcome to Weaning Week. A mini series dedicated to weaning a child from breast milk! If your just now joining us, you can catch up by checking out our first post, Weaning Week: A Look Back!

Weaning your child from the breast can be harder then most people think. My husband really thought it was just a snap of your fingers and our son would be fully weaned. DONE.  He, along with most people don’t realize that the weaning process can be extremely uncomfortable physically but is also a very emotional process for the woman.

Breastfeeding is an attachment between mom and baby and when you nurse a child you are constantly with them, day and night. Many women will tell you that when they nurse they feel extremely close with their baby, it gives them a sense of self worth and need. It’s a bonding time that they really have come to enjoy.  So when you take something like that away, it’s only normal to get emotional. Just like there are Stages of Mourning, I believe there are Stages of Weaning. And after talking with other first time moms, I’ve realized I’m not the only one who struggled with the weaning process.

The Decision.

The first stage of weaning is the decision. Actually deciding when you are officially going to start the whole process. This stage can go on for a while. I know personally I struggled with this for months. I was constantly going back and forth second guessing myself about my decision. Right off the bat  I was struggling mentally trying to find the perfect time. And with all the pressure around us today about breastfeeding it can get stressful. Should I do it now?  Should I wait? Should I do it cold turkey? Gradually? Is it going to stress out my baby? Is it going to be painful? Will my baby even take a bottle? I felt like it was an all or nothing decision since once your milk is gone, it’s gone for good. There’s no turning back.

The Guilt.

Once you finally make a decision and start giving your baby more bottles and start to realize that your making less and less milk, the guilt sets in. The guilt set in so bad for  my friend Jessi that she started taking mothers milk supplements to get her supply back up because she was doubting herself so much. You start missing that nursing connection that you and your baby had and then find yourself asking Is this really what I want to do?  Maybe I could go a couple more months. You may feel like your losing your baby because you realize he’s growing up. Or maybe your child is refusing the bottle and crying for you to nurse him. There’s nothing worse then a screaming baby trying to nurse from you. It can be heartbreaking and make you want to change your mind instantly.

Acceptance.

Once you get over the guilt part and realize that formula isn’t the devil and that your baby is growing up and it is time. You’ll feel a sense of relief. You realize it’s OK that my baby is growing up. It’s OK that he’ll take bottles and feed himself. It just means he’s becoming more independent. Once you find out that the love doesn’t change and you still are as close to your little one as ever; you’ll be ready to complete the process.

The Completion.

You finally take the last few steps to finish up the weaning and you feel good about it. You’ll start looking forward to your milk drying up all the way and wearing your old bras and enjoying your new found freedom that you forgot about. You’ll look back and think WOW, I did do that for a long time, how did I do that? And you’ll almost feel a relief knowing your time is done and your moving on to the next stages of life.

At the end of the day, only you know what is best for your family and only you can make that decision. You’ll totally doubt yourself, you’ll get emotional and you too will go through all or some of these stages. Just keep in mind that it’s a natural process and they can’t be nursing at the age of 13. I mean that’s just gross. It’s got to happen one day but just make sure you surround yourself around others who understand; because it sounds so easy but it’s a lot easier said then done.

When you weaned your child did you find that you went through any of these stages?

Tomorrow we have our first guest blogger. Make sure you come back to check out Erin’s experience on weaning from the pump.

Happy Monday, I hope you guys enjoyed the Superbowl I was in bed by 8pm. I’m not kidding. Caden hasn’t been sleeping that great and I was exhausted. So, while I was snoozing away, the Giants were winning the Superbowl. I personally could care less. I know, very “American” of me.

Enough about the Superbowl, this week is the start of Weaning Week!

If you haven’t read my last couple posts your probably like Weenie Week, what? Weaning Week, silly.

Weaning Week is in honor of finally weaning Caden off of the boob and putting my girls to rest. Wow; that kind of sounds like they died. They may not be the way they use to be, but they are still alive and well. Anyways I’m dedicating this entire week to weaning.

With that being said I wanted to take a look back at some breastfeeding posts I have done since having Caden.

• Boobs: What they are really for – This post I talk about the reality check I got after having Caden. Boobs now have a whole new meaning to me.
• The Real Deal about Breastfeeding  - Breastfeeding isn’t all peaches n cream. There are tons of complications that you may run into and it’s not easy at all. It’s a commitment you really have to stick to. Here I talk about the ups and downs that I faced learning how to breastfeed.
• Does Time Change Effect Your Milk Supply?   Can Time change effect your milk supply? I still don’t know the answer to this question. Maybe you can shed some light on this topic?
• Breastfeeding: Time to Wean This post I talk about How I came across my decision of when and how to wean Caden.

Take a look at these and make sure you stop by tomorrow for The Stages of Weaning! Believe it or not; weaning can be very emotional for women.

What was your favorite commercial during the Superbowl?  Truthfully that’s all I really curious about

Uh … Friday, when in the world did you get here?

If you read my Thursday night post about Caden turning 8 Months, you know that we are now officially weaned.

As you may or may not have known; I have been weaning Caden ever since we went on our Hawaii trip. Although I nursed him quite a bit there, I had started giving him bottles and worrying less about my supply. After a couple months; the girls job is finally done and Caden is taking bottles and sippy cups. It’s been a pretty peaceful transition; but more on that next week.

In honor of weaning my little guy I thought I would do a little mini series called “Weaning Week”. I’ll be sharing the stages of weaning and my personal experience with Caden. I also have a few guest bloggers that will be talking about their personal weaning methods. One of them decided to go cold turkey while the other weaned off a pump. I wanted to give you some other insight into weaning other then my own story. So, even if you aren’t going to be weaning anytime soon, make sure you stop by next week, say hello to our guests and hear some good stories.

Have a great weekend! I’m off to enjoy another gorgeous day here in CLT. This weather is really teasing me, it’s only February and I’m SO ready for spring!

What’s the temp in your area? 

Are you one of the lucky ones to catch a glimpse of spring? 

]]> http://www.reallifetravels.com/weaning-week-coming-soon/feed/ 2 http://www.reallifetravels.com/watch-me-grow-8-months-old/ http://www.reallifetravels.com/watch-me-grow-8-months-old/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:52:06 +0000 Susan http://www.reallifetravels.com/?p=5686

Guess who is 8 months old today!! This boy!

Do you know how hard it is to take pictures of an 8 month old? It’s not easy but we managed to get a few!

He is all over the place and constantly on the go. Getting up and down is second nature for him now and he’s gotten fast at crawling. Keeping up with him is exhausting; who are we kidding watching him is exhausting. He’s got so much energy; I can’t wait till he can walk by himself so we can get this boy outside to run around.

Here’s what CK has been up to:

• He is over 19 lbs. and I’m not sure about his height. He barely sits still for a diaper change there was no way I was getting his measurements .. we’ll have to wait next month for that at his 9 month appointment.
• We got teeth!! He finally got his 2 bottom front teeth and I managed to get a picture while we were in Ohio. 

• He balances for a few seconds at a time all by himself until we start screaming and clapping  he figures out he’s standing alone then he drops down to his knees. I have a feeling he’ll be walking before he’s 9 months.
• He gives High fives while scrunching his nose.
• If you give him a raspberry on his cheek he’ll give you one back. It’s the cutest thing in the world. He’s getting good at them too and makes them super loud.
• Caden kisses … god I love Caden kisses, it totally makes my day when he leans in and gives me this wet, slobbery kiss. It literally melts my heart.  But not only does he give me and his daddy kisses but he also gives kisses to his cousin, Nana, and complete stranger babies at gymboree class. It may look like he’s going to eat their heads but it’s pure love.
• He’s becoming more and more independent and wants to eat all by himself, so bad that he’s on spoon strike. It’s gotten better the last couple days but he still would rather feed himself.
• We are on to mostly finger foods. I’ve been introducing more and more foods to him. He loves it.
• Let’s just talk about sleep. He’s great during naps, but he’s still getting up pretty frequently throughout the night. Not quite sure why since he’s not nursing anymore. Which brings me to the next one.
• We’re Weaned … yay!!! (Stay Tuned for a new series on Weaning coming next week)
• His favorite Toys are his Fire Truck and his Vtech Walker

• He’s wearing Size 3 diapers, size 4 at night, 9 months pants and shirts, some 12 month t-shirts, size 3 shoes.

Now that he has gotten the idea of walking behind toys, he pushes everything he can. He’s also starting to kind of “jump” by jump I mean hold one hand out and lunge toward something; like from his walker to the couch. He’s honestly becoming so much fun and his personality is shining through. The other day I had his paci in my mouth and he thought it was the funniest thing. Watching him grow into this little boy is the highlight of my life. I’m so proud of this little man, I really am. Sometimes I catch myself wondering how lucky I got and how amazed that he’s actually ours. (I know, a little mushy … but I love this little dude; what can I say)

As you know we went to Ohio to stay with my mom while Nate was out of town. On our way back to NC we stopped in Cincinnati where my brother and his wife live. We haven’t seen them since our beach trip last summer for our Anniversary when the babies were so little.

Now look at them …

They are getting so big! We also got a chance to see my brothers team play soccer. He is the owner of Cincinnati Saints Semi-pro soccer team and also plays with them. We only were able to stay for the first half since it was way past CK’s bed time but Caden loved watching the game and all the kiddos running around. And they won!

Might I add that CK was definitely dressed for the occasion .. check out that little puma outfit!

It stinks we only had one day with them, I miss Audrey like crazy … she is seriously such a good baby!

Each Monday I post “What I Learned this Weekend” It’s pretty self explanatory. I let you in on what I learned each weekend. The good, the bad and the strange. If your interested in posting a “What I Learned this Weekend” on your blog; make sure you share your link with us in the comment section so we can all check it out!

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Now that I’m back in business with my computer, I feel like I’ve been out of blogger land for a whole week. I know, I know it’s only been 2 days but still feels like forever. But now that we are back home and getting settled back in from our long trip to Ohio; I’ll be able to catch up. But first on to what I learned …

I Learned this Weekend:

• A bag of rice can be used for something else other then eating. Thanks to Christie I learned that you can use rice to dry out electronics. I have caught CK a couple times chewing on my power cord to my computer. I didn’t even think that could be the reason it stopped working until Christie told me her story.  Let’s just say I’ll be buying a bag of rice to keep on our boat this summer that’s for sure!

• I have AWFUL posture. Uh Really? When did I become a 90 year old hunched back lady?? Straighten up women!! Proof is in the pictures, I need to work on this ASAP! Not to mention I’m white as a ghost. It’s pretty bad when your whiter then the babies!!

• Leaving at 3am for a long road trip is worth it. CK was great and slept the majority of the way. He was probably up for a total of an hour or two. It was rough on me in the very beginning. I only got 5 hours of sleep and it was pitch black out.  I was just about ready to pull over at a rest stop and sleep for 30 minutes but then the sun started coming up and it gave me a little burst of energy. But it’s totally worth in my eyes to leave early, get home before or around noon so you have the whole day to get settled back in and most importantly not have any melt downs. I’d do it again for sure.

What did you learn this weekend?

I know this post is Super late, but today has been a hectic organizational day. But that’s a whole- nother post for tomorrow.

Yesterday we went to downtown Cleveland to visit my mom at work and have lunch with her. Pretty much so she could show off her grandbaby to all her friends at work. Lets be honest.

  But it was nice to get out of the living room and be social for a few hours and meet some of my moms co-workers. Recently I’ve been feeling like I’ve been hibernating. Grant it, it’s freezing here and I don’t want to take Caden out in the cold. But even at home it’s still hard to get out because nap time is VERY precious to me these days, especially since CK hasn’t been sleeping that great. In fact he’s sleeping on me right now as I type … multi tasking at its finest.

I’m not sure what’s going on with him but hoping to figure it out as soon as we get home.

We have one more day here and then we start our journey back home. I’m really Looking forward to seeing my long lost hubby! It’s been way too long!