Breastfeeding. My Own Personal Experience With It.

A lot of you have been wanting to know about breastfeeding and when to stop or how to stop, ect.

I absolutely LOVED breastfeeding Mason. It was such a great bonding experience between mother and baby. It's just so natural and beautiful and whether you aren't sure as to whether to breastfeed your baby or not, I highly suggest you try it and if it isn't for you or you don't like it, that's fine. Just try it! Guaranteed most of you will love it.

When I first got pregnant, I told myself I would try breastfeeding and see how it goes. When Mason was born, the milk started coming in and we got to nursing immediately. Most times I was nursing almost every hour throughout the day! He loved it and so did i. In the beginning it was terribly painful at times but the more I did it,  the less it started to hurt and the easier it got for both Mason and I.

I told myself that at six months, I would stop nursing him. Well six months came and I just couldn't stop. So I said at a year I'll stop. A year came and I still didn't stop. When he turned a year old though, I introduced him to Goat's Milk and and Cow's Milk (all organic) and alternated the two for him. Everyone at this point was giving me such a hard time to STOP breastfeeding him that I started to wean from all of our day feedings and just do night feedings. 

At 14 months, I tried to stop the night feedings all together. I put cold cabbage leaves in my bra due to the painful, lumpy, hard feelings in my breasts. I hated it. Neither Mason or I were done yet with nursing and I was perfectly fine with that. It wasn't like I was going to nurse him till he was 5. When he wanted to stop nursing, we would stop. Simple as that. That night he pulled at my shirt and I nursed him like we normally would. He did that for 3 more nights until one night he just stopped. He was done nursing and that meant so was I. At this point in time, my breasts didn't hurt at all.

I obviously plan on breast feeding our little girl this time around as well. For the same amount of time if not a little longer. Maybe 2 years. You'll all probably think I'm crazy but I think the child knows when it's time for them to stop and I don't plan on stopping them before that time period is up.

So for all of you asking, "When Should I Stop?" You're a mother with natural mother instincts. Do what you feel is right for you and your baby and only you can determine that.

For those of you who REALLY want to stop breastfeeding, here are some tips to wean your baby from nursing;;

TIPS TO WEAN FROM NURSING:

• Engage the child in a distracting activity or go for an outing during times that would normally be spent breastfeeding.

• Do not sit in the spot where breastfeeding normally took place, and avoid wearing nursing garments.

• Do not attempt to wean a child during an adjustment period, such as a new day care provider, or during times of  stress or change.  A child will be more resistant to giving up the comfort experienced during breastfeeding.

• If the child is younger than 1 year of age, try to gradually introduce a bottle or cup at times that breastfeeding would typically take place.  For an older child, offering a healthy snack and a cup might make the transition easier.

• Make changes to the daily routine, this will allow a mother to focus on other activities besides the breastfeeding regimen.  

• Enlist the help of a partner, spouse or friend to provide a daily distraction and take the focus off of breastfeeding.

• If the child adopts a habit such as thumb sucking or becomes attached to a blanket or stuffed animal, do not discourage the behavior, the child may be attempting to emotionally adjust to the change of weaning.