…and my mouse is about reading to run! One of these days she’ll gain the confidence and be on her way, although it will be sad, I do love to see her daddy chase her across the floor, and her dissolve in giggles as she can’t quite crawl fast enough!
But, 1 year will end some other things, too, worrying about food allergies, for one, whereas this morning I’m still doing an internet search to see if I can put brown sugar in her cream of wheat, because that’s how my mommy always made it. Brown sugar is made from sugar and molasses, and molasses is NOT honey nor is it associated with honey. Whew. Now I can stop worrying about that. Bring on the honey maid graham crackers and stop buying mum mums because they’re basically just rice flour and I think she’s starting to dislike them a little bit. She has 4 teeth and she’s eating everything but the toughest stuff, like hard bits of pear, apple, etc, she has a time with meat, still, so that is probably the thing that is the most worrisome, but she seems to do well with a lot of foods, so that’s good.
In the US, a year typically broaches the end of nursing/breastfeeding as well. You get funny looks if you don’t. My friend T weaned her boy at a year and didn’t have issues, however he’d been getting cups and bottles of milk at grandma’s I think and only nursed a couple of times a day as it was. Keeley’s still at 6 times a day, but luckily, she sleeps through the night (I consider her 6 am feeding a night feeding, I suppose, but she goes back to sleep most days), and although she can be distracted for a while (I’ve tried a few times), she is very insistent about still nursing. So there’s the dilemma, since she’s still so VERY attached to nursing, do I abruptly wean her at a year just because it’s frowned upon? I don’t know. I mean I HAVE to be with her all day, so it’s not like I can get away from her if she wants to nurse. She’s taking in a good portion of food every day and I imagine if I sat down and fed her table food from morning until night, she’d eat it, and still want to nurse. Plus, I know it’s guaranteed good calories and no matter what else she eats that day, she’s still getting enough good stuff so I don’t have to worry if all I have to feed her is applesauce and mum mums, she can nurse and be happy with that until later in the day… the general pediatric guidelines on weaning are now ‘six months of nursing, and up to a year or until mutually agreeable’ or something like that. I sure don’t want to be the mom with a 7 year old nursing (that IS a little weird)…
But I would like my chest back one of these days, to sleep without a bra, shower without letting down, leaking or spraying (sounds like a garden hose, doesn’t it?) milk everywhere.
Then there’s what to do with her all day long, as the nursing tends to usher in and close out naps. What will she be like? After walking and running, what’s next, the verbal skills, I suppose and starting to work on gross motor skills and fine motor skills, and before I know it, potty training. I kind of knew what to expect from a baby. Diapers, late night feedings, crying, I don’t know what to expect of a GULP! toddler.
time marches on. If she hasn’t bitten you hard yet — that pretty much ended breast feeding for me. (:
I wouldn’t give it up just because she is a year! I breast fed for about 18 months before my oldest gave it up on her own. I was glad I did it that long because the other two never caught on and I ended up bottle feeding.
You need to come visit my time zone.
When it comes to what other people think or what other people choose to do with their children, it’s always half past give-a-shit for me.
You see, they’re MY children. Not their grandmother’s or the neighbor’s or the pediatrician’s. Mine.
No one else is raising your child. You are. The nursing relationship is between you and your child. When one of you is finished, then end it. I have yet to hear of a college student bringing mom along because they’re still nursing…
So stop worrying about the calendar and what people think.
Seriously.
You do what you are comfortable with. I wanted to go to one year (but not past, my choice) but my body didn’t give me that choice. And it was sad to end it before I was ready. Kids were ready – they weren’t getting enough when my body conked out.
My personal feelings on breast-feeding – and this may upset some people, but it’s how I feel – is that once they are big enough to get themselves situated and going on their own, they are too big. I would say that would be by 2. I had a friend whose child weaned himself at 3. I felt that was too old. He was only doing it to comfort himself at night, but my opinion is they need to be able to self comfort in other ways by then. That’s my personal preference, though. And to be honest, even though I was sad the nurding ended, it was a relief – a freedom, even – to have my breasts back. To not where a bra, to not squirt at inopportune times, to not have to plan my outfit around what would be easier for nursing. And I missed the big boobs, too!
Wow. A year old. It comes quick, don’t you think? Are you planning a little party?
Let your heart be your guide with respect to breast feeding. You and your child will both know when it’s time to stop.
This year has flown by! My daughter continued to nurse my grandson after his first birthday – I’m guessing he was about 18 months when he kinda weaned himself. He had been taking cups for ages, and he got himself down to nursing only a couple of times a day, then he eventually didn’t bug her to nurse anymore. I think you need to do what feels right for you guys – not what “the world” thinks you should. 🙂
Harper didn’t stop nursing completely until about 14 months, but with Michael it was only six months and then we were doing bottles (although those six months were a frickin’ triumph, our start was so difficult!). Do what feels natural for the two of you!