I have been undergoing a mental/emotional tug of war about weaning.
If you have read my blog for a while you might remember that breast feeding has been anything but easy for us. There have been so many tears and many times I have wanted to just give up all together. My original goal of 12 months dropped to six months and at the time that was a stretch. Now at 9 months we have had to make a decision.
My little guy has always been a biter and he has had two bottom teeth for a while. He is currently cutting a top tooth and has been using mom as a teething toy. I thought we might be able to move past this but it is not happening. He is biting me between three and six times a day.
I have been so torn about what to do. I love knowing that my baby is receiving all of the many benefits of breast milk. We have this very sweet and snugly time together to be close and bond. Who would want to give up all of that? Everything changed the other day when he bit me so hard that I couldn’t speak for a few minutes. The pain lingered for about four hours and I changed my mind about nursing.
Then there is the other thing. For about a solid eight days now he has been sick and teething. Both of which have seriously curbed his appetite. He is eating way less (although not dangerously so) which has caused my production to decrease.
After much discussion and even more research we decided on day time weaning. Meaning I will continue it nurse at night when he is sleepy and much less inclined to bite. We are doing Formula during the day as of yesterday and nursing through the night. I have has a little bit of discomfort the past couple of days but it has not been unbearable.
This story is to be continued as it unfolds.
We have fought the good fight with breastfeeding, eh? Nine months is nothing to sneeze at. You’ve done well, Mama!
Thanks. You are so right, 9 months is not too shabby. And your previous comment about choosing battles is very true. Breast feeding should not be a battle every time. My anxiety levels during nursing were through the roof in anticipation of when he would bite. That just is not an enjoyable or sustainable experience.
He is so cute!!!!!
Thank you!!
I’m so sorry about the biting.
It is NO JOKE, I know!!! I had a painful experience (more than one, actually) and I was on the verge of weaning with the first one because it was so bad, and it wasn’t the actual biting part, but the cut part that was scaring me! Don’t know if it’d be of any healp to you or your readers, but here’s my experience on how to heal after a bite: http://atlantamomofthree.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/healing-from-babys-bite/ My son was NOT doing it over and over, mind you – I can’t imagine! 
Don’t feel bad for doing formula during the day. *Hugs* to you, hon. 
Thanks for your empathy and for sharing your experience. I wish my guy would only have bitten once so we could continue exclusive breastfeeding
I know.
Unfortunately we’re on the third time of biting/being cut!! It happened at 12 months (as I shared in that post), again at 14 months when he was sick, and just last week in the middle of the night for no apparent reason (and I’m still healing now). Yikes, I hope this isn’t going to be an every 2 months thing!! :/
I am totally amazed that you have continued to breast feed. Kudos to you! I hope that there are no more biting incidents!
Honestly, there are a few reasons I have continued: HIM (I really don’t think a child has ever loved nursing as much as this kid! and I have two older children whom I b/f until 14 & 16 months), I’ve never made or given formula so it’s intimidating to me!!, and because I look at the discomfort as temporary and would hate to end our beautiful experience on a bad note. I know there are situations where it IS necessary (in fact, my older son was weaned quickly, when I wasn’t expecting to) but because I know how to heal this, I want to continue. <3 That being said, I am starting night weaning…a 10 night process, TONIGHT!! I'm using a gentle approach and I will blog about it when we're done.
Best of luck with night weaning. I look forward to reading about your experience. I know we will eventually have to night wean as well.
I need all the positive thoughts I can get!! He has now decided to climb out of bed (ours) at night and request getting “down? down? down?” repeatedly!!!! Oh dear…
Oh yeah, that is not good. How is it going over there?
Hmm, maybe I’ll post on it. It’s a bit long. But short answer? It’s going great!
Thanks for asking!
So Cute !
Thank you very much!
nursing is such a beautiful thing…and when the topic of weaning comes up, it can be difficult for so many people. whatever nursing you give him – even if it’s just bits at night – are still so important and wonderful. trust your instincts, trust your heart…
Thank you so much for the supportive words. Trusting my maternal instincts is my focus right now. It is so easy to be influenced by the endless amounts of information and opinions out there.
oh yes, i know! keep trusting you
you’ve done super, imho, for bf-ing for so long! i introduced formula to my LO at around 8/9 months as well, mostly because i went back to work right around then, but continued to bf him morning and night (and overnight) until about 11.5 months. it was not so emotional for me to give up just one feed but i definitely felt sentimental when i decided to wean him off completely.
your’e doing great!!
Thank you so much! It is a hard decision to wean. There is so much pressure to nurse! I wanted to as long as possible but sometimes things don’t work out the way we wish them to.
I can’t imagine how hard it would be to continue nursing once you return to work and are away from them for hours at a time.