My girls have weaned
I have been very open and vocal about my breastfeeding journey, but I realize this was primarily on the breastfeeding comm and my personal entries have been lacking as of late anyway (soz....too many things in the day and too much Facebook time ;o) Anywho, my girls have finally weaned. Yes, it was a child led weaning process. Yes, my children are four years and 2 months old. I'm very proud that my children were nursed by me, their mother, and not a cow. No, I am not bashing formula feeding mothers, but as many women in this modern age fail to make it past 6 weeks let alone 4 years, let alone TWO children, I feel I can boast a bit. Originally I intended 1 year but after reading the WHO guidelines for a minimum of 2 years plus the debate about why you shouldn't give your child another mammal's breastmilk when yours is working just fine, changed my mind. Anywho, I posted to breastfeeding so I'll just cut and paste.
Breastfed for 4 years and 1 month
It's been a beautiful journey and it ended just how I wanted it to. I was ready, but more importantly, they were ready. Last month they were having their only remaining nursing session, at night before bedtime, when Charlotte commented that there wasn't any milk left. Later she told me it taste funny, I'm assuming it was weaning milk. Rebecca claimed there was milk in her boob, but when Charlotte got upset at this I squeezed to show her that in fact, there wasn't more than a drop. We talked about it and decided that maybe we should just have stories and cuddles at bedtime instead. I also suggested letting them buy a new toy to celebrate that they don't have "mummy milk" anymore. They were really excited about this. They haven't asked since that night. I've felt a little tight/sore at times, but I don't think there was much milk left anyway, so I imagine the transition was slow enough that I shouldn't have any problems.
When my girls were born I knew I wanted to breastfeed, and I had an initial goal of 1 year. When that came and went I realized I didn't like the idea of transitioning them to formula/cow's milk just because someone told me to. It has always felt natural to nurse my children, despite the lack of cultural acceptance in this country (UK) for breastfeeding past 6 months, let alone 4 years. I talk openly an honestly about breastfeeding in the hopes that even if some people might judge me, I might inspire others to ignore society and follow their instinct. Over our journey we dealt with slow weight gain and jaundice and when the midwife told me to supplement I told her where she could stick her formula. I went back to work at 10 months and pumped until they were 17 months old. Their latch weakened at around 2 which I worked hard to fix. We then switched to nursing just when Mummy was around which worked as I work 3 days a week. At 2 we decided to only nurse in jammies, so before bed and in the morning. Just after they were 3 we switched to only nursing before bedtime.
My newborn nurslings
My big grown up girls, today, dressed up for Red Nose Day
My best advice to mums, twin mums in particular, is if anyone questions you, you remind them, this is why I have TWO boobs!
x-posted to my journal
edited because i forgot to put pictures under a cut
Breastfed for 4 years and 1 month
It's been a beautiful journey and it ended just how I wanted it to. I was ready, but more importantly, they were ready. Last month they were having their only remaining nursing session, at night before bedtime, when Charlotte commented that there wasn't any milk left. Later she told me it taste funny, I'm assuming it was weaning milk. Rebecca claimed there was milk in her boob, but when Charlotte got upset at this I squeezed to show her that in fact, there wasn't more than a drop. We talked about it and decided that maybe we should just have stories and cuddles at bedtime instead. I also suggested letting them buy a new toy to celebrate that they don't have "mummy milk" anymore. They were really excited about this. They haven't asked since that night. I've felt a little tight/sore at times, but I don't think there was much milk left anyway, so I imagine the transition was slow enough that I shouldn't have any problems.
When my girls were born I knew I wanted to breastfeed, and I had an initial goal of 1 year. When that came and went I realized I didn't like the idea of transitioning them to formula/cow's milk just because someone told me to. It has always felt natural to nurse my children, despite the lack of cultural acceptance in this country (UK) for breastfeeding past 6 months, let alone 4 years. I talk openly an honestly about breastfeeding in the hopes that even if some people might judge me, I might inspire others to ignore society and follow their instinct. Over our journey we dealt with slow weight gain and jaundice and when the midwife told me to supplement I told her where she could stick her formula. I went back to work at 10 months and pumped until they were 17 months old. Their latch weakened at around 2 which I worked hard to fix. We then switched to nursing just when Mummy was around which worked as I work 3 days a week. At 2 we decided to only nurse in jammies, so before bed and in the morning. Just after they were 3 we switched to only nursing before bedtime.
My newborn nurslings
My big grown up girls, today, dressed up for Red Nose Day
My best advice to mums, twin mums in particular, is if anyone questions you, you remind them, this is why I have TWO boobs!
x-posted to my journal
edited because i forgot to put pictures under a cut