Last Thursday evening marked the end of an era for Sebby! At bedtime he was too hyper to settle down to nurse, he kept running around on his bed and shouting. After having him wriggle out of my arms for a few minutes to jump around the room, I knew that he wasn't going to nurse that night. Darren came in to put him in to bed and sing him a few songs. Shortly, he was asleep.
I was surprised at how after 17 months of nursing before going to sleep for the night, he fell asleep so easily!
On Friday evening, I gave him another opportunity to nurse before going to bed but again, he was too busy wriggling away and jumping around to be interested. Again, I left the room and he went to sleep after Darren sang him a few songs.
At that point I decided that it would be worth capitalizing on this phase of evening hyperactivity to wean him off his before-bedtime nursing sessions. Due to his ongoing issues with dairy, I intend to continue nursing him until just before his little sister is born because I don't think that he would not be a happy tandem nurser but I do want him to get the maximum nutritional benefits of breastmilk especially because of his eczema and sensitivities to various foods.
I thought I might feel sad giving up these nursing sessions but I was fine with it. It is a big change after all these months to pray with him then go out of the room while Darren puts him to bed. But it's really freeing to know that I don't HAVE to be there every evening at bedtime. I might even to start doing a regular evening activity like a workout class or even occasionally going out with friends in the evening. When I was nursing Sebby before bedtime, I wasn't guaranteed to be free until about 8pm so it meant showing up late to evening activities if I bothered going out at all.
The new plan is to continue nursing him twice a day (after he wakes up in the morning and after his nap) until September if he's keen to continue. So far, he's done well with the change. After the first two nights of disinterest, he has asked for milk while we're praying as a family and cried a little bit when I tell him that he can have milk in the morning but he goes to Darren and stops crying within a minute of my leaving the room. Tonight he went to sleep in about 15 minutes.
We say it almost every day now. Our little Sebby is getting so big!
3 comments:
It's interesting isn't it? That they can transition from nursing so 'smoothly?' I remember feeling like it was so anticlimactic. I thought it should somehow end in a bang but Silas just stopped nursing before bed one evening and then, that was that. I'm enjoying the time nursing with Toby this time around even more knowing that these minutes and hours spent are so special and intimate and so fleeting! So excited to see the little girl you add to the world! p.s. will you be delivering in Scotland or back on Canadian soil?
Yea, I thought he would be throwing tantrums and crying for hours. Needless to say, I was quite relieved it wasn't that complicated.
Our little girl will be born here in Scotland. SO excited as I'm on track for a homebirth. Hoping the pregnancy goes well to the end so we can follow through with that plan!
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