After my unproductive Internet search to figure out how much cow's milk I need to give Kai if I'm still breastfeeding, I did what I should have done in the first place and called a lactation consultant. I won't tell you how many times I breastfeed Kai in one day because you would think I am crazy. I will tell you that apparently I'm feeding him enough to give him approximately 20 ounces during the day. (Geesh, no wonder I'm so thirsty all the time and eating twice as much as Charlie at every meal). Also, the lactation consultant told me that the milk I'm providing is far superior to cow's milk***. So I guess I'll just keep feeding him.
Last time I entered in to the world of extended breastfeeding I obsessed over it on a daily basis: should I stop, should I stop nursing him in public, should I limit him to just before bedtime, should i stop admitting to people that I'm still doing it, etc., etc. People are so opinionated about it. My favorite quote came from a friend of mine, who said that if the baby is old enough to ask for it, then the baby is too old for it. That sounds so clever, but it's not that easy because most parents want to give their baby want they want, and if that's what the baby wants, and it's a healthy option, then, well, what is a mama to do?
This time I think I'm just done obsessing about, done trying to explain it, done analyzing it, done. There are just so many other things to obsess over, like preschool and potty training, and a million other things I could list here, but I won't. It's liberating really to have the mental space available to worry about so many other things.
Wait a minute....
***Don't think I didn't try to rephrase that to try to avoid comparing myself to a cow.
2 comments:
I agree! Too many other things to worry about. What can be harmful about letting your babe drink your milk anyway? It's not like you're going to breastfeed him until he's 12! Do what feels best for both of you and ignore the comments. :0)
I breastfed MJ until she was 16 months old. At that point I was in my 2nd trimester with Marshall and she gradually stopped showing signs of wanting to nurse at our usual nursing times. I have heard that pregnancy can make the milk bitter so it acts as a safety valve for the Mom - shuts off the one outlet so that the growing baby in the womb can get more from Momma. I imagine I would have kept going otherwise... This time I stopped nursing Marshall at 10 months because my latest pregnancy made the act of nursing so heinous to me that I couldn't emotionally handle it anymore.
Our bodies are so weird!
You'll know when to stop - when one or both of you doesn't want to do it anymore.
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