Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Weaning Off the Boob: Week 1

Henry’s 1 year birthday is fast approaching, and I’m gearing up to get him off the boob.  The thought of weaning really stresses me out.  Of course, at the same time I’m excited for the new freedom weaning will give us.  An entire year of being a willing prisoner to Henry’s nutritional needs has flown by, but I think we’re both ready to move on.  I’ll miss the quiet moments we have together, and I’m very nervous about dropping the morning feeding.  Every morning Henry wakes up famished and he dives head first into my chest for his first feeding. 

Henry still nurses 4 times a day (7am, 11am, 4pm, 7pm) in addition to three meals and a snack.  My goal this week was to drop the 4pm feeding.  The 4pm feeding is usually an afterthought for him, so I knew that would be the easiest feeding to drop.  Last week I attempted feeding him formula, a silly idea considering he would be on formula for 2 ½ weeks.  The thought was to gradually wean him off the boob onto a cup (without having to pump).  He gagged and spit it out.  Apparently, formula is not his favorite.  A friend recommended I try a few different brands of formula, but I accepted that it would be a waste of money and time to attempt using formula. 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the 4pm feeding I let him nurse for 5 minutes, and then didn’t push him to continue.  Monday, I skipped his 4pm feeding all together.  We played, avoided the nursing rocker, and then had a big snack of finger foods and purees.  He did not bat an eye.  Tuesday, we did the same with the same results.  I didn’t pump, and only felt slightly uncomfortable until his 7pm feeding. 

We continued doing 3 nursing sessions a day until Saturday, when we moved on to feeding #2 (11am).

One boob feeding down sans drama.  Phew and Yahoo!   

See Weaning Off the Boob:  Week 2

No comments:

Post a Comment