Reasons To Stop Breastfeeding
Welcome to my internal debate
Welcome to Baby Brain, a space where I - Charlotte, hi! - write about family life with three small children - Poppet (m, 5 years), Pickle (m, 3 years) and Peach (f, 1 year.) Those are not their real names. These are real stories from our days.
1/ My milk is a dirty scene stealer, showing off her oversupply in situations that should be focussed on others. The school nativity, for example, when she shot across the room toward the stage, trying to feed the baby Jesus (god bless you sire) instead of the baby Peach, and taking attention from Citizen 3 (Poppet) who was, at the time, sat patiently waiting for his part in the show, tea towel strapped to his head with his dad’s best tie and hastily dyed brown tee adorning his back (he did brilliantly, as did Pickle - the innkeeper/Mary’s midwife - in his nativity the next day, but that’s a story for another time. Alright fine one more thing, Mary dropped baby Jesus on his head immediately after he was born. I don’t want to mum shame, but… )
2/ I haven’t - in part thanks to nursing throughout the early hours - had a good night sleep in years and it’s starting to turn me into a cranky old hag
3/ Even when I do sleep, it’s often in an uncomfortable position in order to facilitate a sleepy breastfeed, and - to add insult to injury - if I move from that position everyone wakes up, meaning I never drink enough water before bed for fear of needing to go for a wee, and so wake each morning dry as a husk because breastfeeding a toddler takes a lot of moisture, actually, and I fear I will soon have none left
4/ Bouts of sickness on my daughter’s part always lead to sickness on my part because she overstimulates my supply to make herself all better, and my body is rubbish at re-regulating once she has flitted off and abandoned me with a leaking, swollen bosom
5/ I would quite like to get dressed in the mornings without my first thought being ‘boob access’
6/ I would quite like to get dressed in the mornings without my second thought being ‘will leakage be visible in this?’
7/ And I’d quite like to to hug my delightful, snuggly, joy of a child - even just once - without her immediately screaming for access to my tits*
Reasons to keep breastfeeding
1/ It’s good for her
2/ She loves it
3/ I don’t know how to stop.
Until next time 🥛
*(LOL, I never use this word, but it made me laugh so it stays)
I don't know how to stop either... My youngest was four in January, her sister weaned herself when she moved into her own room at 3 years 11 months without my saying or doing anything. She only feeds night times and some mornings then sometimes randomly asks during the day for no reason at which point I immediately distract!
If you learn how I'd love to know! ❤️
I fed my son till he was two and a half, by which time he quite liked cow’s milk. One evening, I asked if he wanted mummy milk or fridge milk and he said, ‘Fridge milk, please.’ I knew then we were done! It was mercifully decisive on his part!