Weaning

I'm currently in the process of weaning Jenna and introducing her to cow's milk in a sippy cup. I'm taking the same approach with her as I did with Ian -- drop one feeding at a time until she's weaned. I wait 2-3 days in between so that it's easier on both of us. We are officially down to just one feeding - when she first wakes up.

I was a bit taken aback when I found myself getting emotional about the prospect of her being fully weaned soon. Nursing has never been my favorite part of being a mommy, more of a necessity for both physical and financial reasons. Now that she's almost done and I realize this will probably be the last baby that I nurse, I'm kind of sad. I didn't realize until recently just how relaxing it is to go into a quiet room and nurse her with few distractions. It's a calming time for both of us.

I probably won't drop that last feeding until I know for sure that she's getting enough cow's milk to replace the breastmilk. We started cow's milk on Sunday and it's taking her awhile to get used to the taste and to the new sippy cup. Up until now her juice has been in a sippy cup with handles and we're transitioning to a cup without handles for milk. The other night while I was out running errands and Trevor was watching the kids she finally drank a decent amount (about 1/2 a cup). That's when I decided to drop the before bed feeding.

There's freedom in having a weaned baby and I'm looking forward to that. But, at the same time there's a loss of intimacy between me and my baby. The last couple of nights I've had Trevor put her to bed so that I could avoid the temptation to nurse her and tonight as he took her to her bed my heart ached a little inside - that's always been my job, that's always been our time to bond. I think I'll probably hang on to the morning feeding for a little longer than necessary. I'll try not to get too emotional about it and when the time is right I'll take the plunge and wean her 100%. But, until then I plan on cementing the images of this stage in my mind to carry with me for the rest of my life. What a privilege to be able to nourish both of my children for the first 12 months of their lives!