So I belong to an online forum/advice thang with different moms asking for advice in a daily emailed newsletter. It totally paid off when I discovered sunflower-nut butter in place of peanut butter (Allergic) for the Honey. I think giving him back PB&J's in some form or another will ultimately trump his big fat surprise party as the best gift of his fortieth year. He eats one every.single.day. for breakfast.
Now on this forum, moms run the gamut. Some are dumb as a box of rocks, some are literally rocket scientists. I think overall everyone provides supportive comments and that encourages hesitant moms to ask questions that they really need help with.
mmmkay. I've given you my touchy feely supportive spiel. Now let me get down to it.
The question was about weaning her three (almost four) year old from the breast.
I had a miserable time trying to BF Big O. It hurt enough to make me cry and devastated me that I had to give it up at three months because I would sob through the whole feeding--have we met? Because I don't really DO that kind of drama. I wanted what was THE.VERY.BEST. for my beautiful boy. I felt like a failure.
When Little O came along, it was such a breeze I thought someone had replaced my nipples in my sleep. Because these worked MUCH better. As much as I loved nursing her, at about 7 months, when I had to go back to my job, I gradually switched over to the bottle. There was no guilt, because my beautiful boy was fine. So was my beautiful girl. I made the choices that worked the best for me in my life. Really, I think that's the way it should be for us all. Had my schedule and life allowed for a longer time on the breast, I would absolutely have done it--until my kids could ask for it by name. But again, my choice, my life. Whatever floats your nipply boat, man (ma'am).
The email in this forum explained that her husband and his family were mad at her about dragging it out, and so her husband refused to help her in the weaning process, telling her she had made her bed. She had her kid down to the bedtime booby, but it was beginning to hurt her. Oh, did I forget to mention that her milk stopped about three months ago?
Three months ago?
What the fuck?
Am I just completely insensitive to the la leche movement? Can that possibly be standard practice? CRSE, help me out here--will you be seeing this boy in his later years? Of course I mean aside from the dicky daddy who seems a terrible match for granola and homeschool earth momma, but she's been dry for THREE MONTHS!?
Just ew.
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I tried. I really did. I wasn't going to touch it with a ten foot pole. but it's been spinning through my head since it showed up in my email on Monday, and I couldn't blog about anything else until I got it out of my system.
4 comments:
Going on FOUR????!!!! Sorry. I'm a two years at the most person. I only managed 7 months because of a car wreck. After I got off the pain pills and could resume, ZBoy wasn't interested. So much for that. But if we HAD continued, and he was still interested, I'd have weaned at two. After that, they're just too big (in my opinion).
Whew! I'm so glad someone else found that creepy.
I DO find that creepy. I would say about two years max, although I weaned my kids from BOTTLES and PACIFIERS before 18 months.
I've seen some mothers do that and it's been not so much the "Earth mother hippie" thing, it seems they had some sort of attachment to it themselves. Not that they shouldn't, but I mean more like, they had an identity or esteem problem. Or another chick I knew, she totally did not want to work and convinced her husband that she HAD to breastfeed her 3 year-old. She thought it was funny.
I'm in the 2 years max club, for many, many reasons! Mainly their mental and emotional health.
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