Skip to main content

The Weaning Saga

My first baby weaned off herself within a matter of days. So when I started breastfeeding my second baby, I was floating in a confident haze that weaning him would be no problem. Least did I know what lay ahead!

There is no doubt that breastfeeding is a wonderfully rewarding experience, both for the mum and baby. But there comes a stage when you have just had enough. Unfortunately many times, your baby may not agree with you. Being a follower of gentle, baby-led weaning at 18 months I decided it was time to disengage my baby from my boob! However, my son seems to have inherited my stubborn genes and did now much like the idea.

To begin with, I started dropping a day feed, since that seemed the easiest to do. I substituted this with cow milk and started telling my baby that "mama's milk was finished." The first time I said that he looked at me askance, as though his world had come to an end. After several hits and misses, we successfully reached an understanding where during the day he wouldn't fuss for a feed.

Night times were, however, a completely different ball game. Since I co-slept with my baby from the start, most of the time feeding happened with both of us half asleep. I had figured out early on that I would much rather feed on demand than compromise my night's sleep. This also ended up being the main obstacle for weaning.

After endless nights of rocking and singing, patting and crooning, I was ready to give up and adopt other non-so-drastic methods. Then I read this interesting account of a mom on Facebook and decided to give it one last (gentle) try. The next time at night demand was made, I firmly said, "Bruno has finished all the milk." (Bruno being our huge, 8-year-old Labrador!) I kept chanting this through the night and we managed to pass one night without any feeds, and virtually no sleep.

The next morning, my 19-month-old toddles up to Bruno, taps him on the head and says "Bruno, bad boy!" The whole household had tears of mirth streaming down their face, with Bruno looking perplexed as to why he was being scolded!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 1st Step

It’s a journey which began with the news that I was pregnant.  While I was hoping for it, there was a frisson of apprehension which ran down my spine.  What next? What would I need to do now to ensure that the baby developed well? What to eat? What to avoid? How much to sleep? To exercise or not and how much? And thus began the saga of questions which is so much a part of becoming a parent. Nothing really prepares you for the months to follow. The nervous anticipation of the first visit to the doctor. The poignancy of the first ultrasound. The dread of the endless blood test reports. And of course all the horror stories of childbirth and delivery. Somewhere down the line I realised that the more I read and talked to people the more apprehensive I got. Everyone had something different to say; little snippets of wisdom which became a gigantic mass of nerves within me. Should I opt for a C-sec or a natural birth? Would I be able to withstand the pain? Should I take an epid...
1 comment
Read more

Children and the Sense of Entitlement

I went to a kids’ birthday party a few days ago. Along with mountains of food there were the usual party games. I sat and watched while the kids ran around and played musical chairs amidst squeals of excitement. At the end of the game the winner proudly accepted her prize while we all clapped. However the next minute the child who lost was also given a prize much to my surprise. Later I asked the host why this was so and she replied that the child who lost shouldn’t feel bad. I walked away feeling dissatisfied with the whole event. As I was chatting with my five year old daughter later in the day I realized that this incident actually showed what was wrong with the current generation. We talk about how kids are growing up spoilt and with a sense of entitlement but aren’t we only responsible for this? In the attempt to prevent a child from feeling bad for losing in a game, what we are doing is telling the child that it’s okay to not make an effort to do better. While the child who’s won...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Miracle

The ringing of the phone cut into Aadya's concentration. She sighed in irritation, she so wanted to finish this portion of her thesis before Ankit came home from school. "Hello? Yes, this is Aadya. Oh hello, Mrs. Gupta. Really? Today? Oh wow. Yes, yes, of course we will be there. Give us a couple of hours please. Thank you!" Aadya hung up in a daze. It was happening. It had taken five long years but they had finally got a call. She couldn't believe it. With trembling hands she dialed her husband's number. "Sunil? Its me. We got the call. They want us to come as soon as possible. I'll ask Papa to pick up Ankit. How soon can you pick me up? Perfect. I'll be ready. " Sunil and Aadya were married since 2007. They had been blessed with a baby boy Ankit who was now seven years old. One of the main things that had cemented their relationship was their shared desire to adopt a baby girl. They both felt very strongly about issues of gender discrimination ...
Post a Comment
Read more