I am done with breast feeding. I'm not particularly sad or excited about it, I'm just done. As I've said before, I was breast feeding Luke with no set stopping point in mind. I just knew I would nurse him until he let me know he wanted to stop.
He wants to stop.
The main reason we're stopping is because his body seems to need more food to sustain him; milk alone just doesn't seem to cut it. If he gets milk (or formula) only, he is hungry again within an hour. If he gets some oatmeal or veggies before his bottle he is happy as a clam all afternoon.
The second reason we're stopping is because it's getting increasingly frustrating to nurse him, and sometimes I feel like I'm nursing a 6-armed monkey. For one thing, he's so big he hardly fits in my lap anymore. Also, the more mobile and independent he gets, the less he wants to lay in my lap and drowsily nurse. Even when he gets a bottle, he doesn't curl up in a little ball of snuggles. No, he lays on his back - holding the bottle himself, by the way - squirming, kicking and looking around the room. The only time I can still nurse him (somewhat) effectively is first thing in the morning when he's not quite awake yet. At night is a whole different story. With the cats, TV and ceiling fan all doing very interesting things, there is no way he wants to turn his back on the action and get some face time with my boobs.
The last, but still VERY IMPORTANT reason we're stopping is because IT HURTS. He has two teeth now (and I'm sure there's more where they came from) and he occasionally bites me with them. Not my favorite time of day. Even worse, he'll do this horrible, painful thing whenever he gets distracted: he will whip his head around, while he's still latched on, which causes a not-so-pleasant slurping effect. OUCH.
As bad as some of that sounds, I'm actually happy about it. The last thing I wanted was a baby that never wanted to stop nursing. I didn't want to have to pry him off with a crowbar, or explain to him "mommy loves you, but she wants her boobs back now."
So, a chapter of his childhood has come to a close, but another door will open in its place... probably the one to Victoria's Secret. Can I tell you how sick I am of my nursing bras?
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