Comments on: “I’m Never Going to Nurse Again”

By: Cara

Cara — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:36:13 +0000

I cried. And my daughter was three! I never ever dreamed I would nurse that long — I used to think moms who did that were crazy;). I went into it with “I want to make this work for a year. If we can make it to two, that would be incredible, but she will probably self-wean before that.”. Ha! My girl had no interest in solid food until about one year old and preferred nursing over eating for ages after that.
By age three, we were just nursing at bedtime, but she was still very sad when I told her that when she “got three” (her term for it), we would be done. I walked out of her room that night and sat down and cried.
I was also grieving never doing it again because we weren’t planning on having any other children — I’m pregnant now with our surprise baby, and I am so looking forward to nursing again…and absolutely not planning on it lasting three years this time, but who knows?:)

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 20:55:14 +0000

I feel your pain or joy whichever it might be. I’ve been nursing my 3 month old since he was born. Except for 3 days in which I waited for my milk to come in. It was a challenge in the beginning not being able to produce enough. I supplemented with formula but now I’m full force breastfeeding. I enjoy the connection and bond we have but I also miss the getting up and going wherever whenever. I plan to nurse for 9 months so I hope I have the mental strength to keep going. At times I feel like a dairy factory. You have to find humor in times of frustration and exhaustion. The day that I wean off I will be glad to sit back and enjoy a nice martini.

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:12:43 +0000

Congrats on your success with your “natural” goals, @Carol.

By: Carol

Carol — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 06:35:55 +0000

I am a full time student at UT and I’m still nursing a 22 month old boy and am really not planning on quitting any time soon. I would like to believe that he will wean himself but it really doesn’t look like that will be the case. And I really enjoy our nursing sessions as well. It brings a wonderful and comforting connection. I really don’t anticipate our weaning to be an easy feat.

@Christa, I am sorry that you feel that you failed at “natural”. I really dislike that you are making a whole other category for mothers who under their own personal circumstances are abled to achieve this “natural” choice for their child. I do not believe that my vaginal delivered, breastfed, co -sleeping (till fourteen months) boy is any better than your child. We as mothers need to unite and break down these rules of whom is better for doing X,Y,orZ. At the end of the day we all love our kids and have made the choices we believe are best for them.

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:55:19 +0000

@Renee and @Deb, I was a back-to-back pregnant-nursing-pregnant-nursing for the first few years of my marriage. You just made me remember that I wrote about it 5 years ago, : http://www.rookiemoms.com/only-six-weeks-not-pregnant-or-nursing/

By: Renee

Renee — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:27:37 +0000

Thanks for your story, Deb! I’m like you- I was very ready to be done with breastfeeding when it came time to wean my second boy. By that time I had been pregnant and/or nursing for 3.5 years and I was REALLY ready to have my body back! I was ready to keep my boobs inside my shirt ALL day and not feel like public property. I was ready to buy nice bras and lose weight and enjoy my whole family. I had a hate/love relationship with breastfeeding and now I’m glad I’m done. And I’m a mother-baby nurse now, so it’s my privilege to help Mamas who are just beginning their journey!

By: Kelli

Kelli — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:13:13 +0000

@Christa, I am the mom that failed at “natural” too. My daughter was breech so I had a cesarean and I never pumped more than 2 oz from both breasts combined. She has been formula fed since 6 weeks old and she is amazing and thriving! Seeing you say you “naturally kick ass as a mom in other ways” makes me smile I feel the same way and as hard as it was not breast feeding or delivering her naturally, I know I am a fantastic mother no matter what!

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:18:08 +0000

@Christa, I’m so glad to read you “naturally kick ass as a mom in other ways”, I can tell!

By: Christa

Christa — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:06:36 +0000

I am one of those moms where I failed at “natural”. I couldn’t “naturally” have my sons, one resulted in emergency c-section and so was #2. I never produced enough milk with either. I could pump for 20 minutes to get an ounce. So yeah, 100 years ago my sons and I would have died in childbirth and if we had survived that, they would have had a wet nurse… but who cares? I naturally kick ass as a mom in other ways. I’ve got nothing but love & support for any mom whether she nurses for one minute, one year, four years or never.

By: Whitney

Whitney — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:26:03 +0000

@Jennifer PM, my boy also refused the bottle and I think I’m still scarred for life. If you read my last post, you know that he’s almost eight years old, but I still worry that he won’t eat if someone else is preparing his food. (Typing that made me realize how crazy it sounds. He does go to sleepovers and day camp and such…)

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:16:42 +0000

@Kat, I remember when I was nursing my firstborn after he was screaming his head off at the pediatrician’s office and another mom said, “Oh yes, it used to be so simple to make him happy.” At the time, I was sweaty and didn’t think it was so simple.

By: Kat

Kat — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 10:07:29 +0000

I nursed my son for 20 months. Weaning was hard for me because I hadn’t learn other coping skills. I nursed to put him to sleep I nursed him to comfort him if he got hurt… Nursing was my fix all so yeah it was hard to give up.