Weaning

The weaning is progressing. We are in our last few days of nursing:-( The decision to stop was hard for me, I know I need to before my school semester starts back up again. I don't want either of us to be uncomfortable by not being able to nurse when we aren't together. Pumping is not an option for me because I've done that in the past and it is not fun for me.

Zachary was down to two breastfeeding sessions a day. This started after he turned 6 months old. Just this past week, I took out the morning feeding and that left us with the night-time feeding. I knew that by slowing down, my milk would also decrease. The first few days were very uncomfortable because I was engorged.

Sunday night, I stopped feeding him the night-time feeding. I let him empty them out on Monday morning and now that it is Tuesday morning, I feel the left one is just about done. My right breast still has milk in it but I'll wait until tonight to let him empty it out.

Weaning is giving me a rollercoaster ride with my emotions. I'm sad one minute, happy the next, crying, and etc. Like Justin said, it's just the matter of days for it to be done. In the meantime, to help with this upheaval of emotions, I have taken over all of the bottle feedings. This was a suggestion so that we can continue our closeness at feeding while we're getting use to the change.

Z's 3rd night of CIO

Zachary's 3rd night of CIO.

Gave him his bath but I switched to nursing him his last feeding of the night to see if that would help with my engorgement. It did, so that is what I will do from now on. I swapped the 6:30pm nursing/9:30pm bottle...to 6:30 bottle/9:30pm nursing.

I nursed but kept him awake. Brought him upstairs, laid him down, covered him with his blanket, put his NUK in, kissed and rubbed his head once...then said, "ni-night".

No crying.

He woke up at 8am. The end. hehe. :-) We'll see about tonight.

I'm no longer a ZOMBIE!!!!!!

Zachary's 2nd night of CIO

Zachary's 2nd night of CIO.

Same ritual...bath/bottle and then in his crib at 9:30pm. I laid him down, kissed, rubbed his head/back, covered him and said, "g'night".

Last night we were to wait 10mins before going in to "check on him". I left him...set the timer when he started fussing and he fussed for 1 min before going to sleep :-)

He woke up at 4am...and cried for 4-5 mins. Justin went to check him (I have the boobs/milk and didn't want to "tease" him with a possibility of food. He woke up again at 6am and fussed and then back to sleep.

I woke up at 8am...boobs were rock hard engorged again. I waited and Z started to fuss at 8:15am. Justin went upstairs to get him/change his diaper. He announced that Z had pooped during the night (which explains why he cried at 4am). Justin said that he smelled something in his room at 4am...but never investigated. ugggg. I explained to him that he needs to check his dipe for poo and if it is soiled, to change it...no matter what time.

Nap time.. (10:00am). Tired boy...nursed him/changed him...laid him down in his crib...no crying...just "uh uh uh", then asleep.

So far, so good! The only problem is my breasts being so engorged...they hurt so bad.

Zachary's first night of CIO

Zachary's first night of CIO. (crying it out)

We did the usual bedtime routine...bath/bottle and then I laid him down at 9:30pm. I covered him perfectly...rubbed his head, kissed him and said, "g'night"...then walked out.

He didn't fuss right away...took a min. or two. When he started to cry...I started the timer for 5mins. When the buzzer went off, I went upstairs to his room...repeated what I did when I laid him down initially. I rubbed his head (once)...skipped the kissing...then said "g'night" and walked out.

This time I was suppose to wait 10mins...so I set the timer for 10mins. He was asleep in 2mins (there was 8mins left on the timer).

He woke up at 2am, but barely fussed...only 20-30seconds.

Again, he woke up at 6am...but didn't really fuss...so he went back to sleep. There was no crying at night...just a little bit of a fuss at 2 and at 6.

At 7am, he started to fuss again...so I asked Justin to go get him as my boobs were rock-hard engorged.

Let me just say...Z did fine...I didn't. haha. Justin laughed that I need to CIO, haha. I stirred most of the night...worrying about him upstairs in his crib. Even though I didn't sleep well...I feel better than usual.

Weaning decision

Mr. Z has been pleasantly enjoying his breastmilk now for over 5 months. I usually like to wean by the time the baby is 6 months old which would work for me because I have to start taking classes again on-campus next semester. It is tough for me to quit because we have both grown fond of our breastfeeding sessions and it saddens me to quit. I know that I have to stop...and that he's growing up but that doesn't make it any easier for me.

I also know that once he is completely bottlefed that he will start sleeping through the night. This will make my days easier and less "zombie-like", so there are pluses and minuses toward weaning Mr. Z to formula...it's just a very hard transition for me:-(