to wean or not to wean, that is the question...

[LilandVivsMom]

So this is more of a need for support/vent than anything else. DD is almost 15 months old and we breastfeed. The majority of her diet now comes from solids. I work out of the home, so she eats breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks at daycare, then bf’s when I pick her up, once more around dinner, eats dinner, and then bf’s to sleep and maybe once or twice in the night or early morning before I leave for work. Lately, however, she’s been refusing a lot of her table foods. I understand that kids go through stages where they’re not interested, and I have no issue with this, I just keep offering and keep bf’ing to keep her fed. But it’s starting to drive me a little crazy. Some days I absolutely love breastfeeding and don’t want to stop until she self-weans. But others, like today, I’m worn out and feel like with her recent drop in appetite, I’m back to bf’ing constantly, but since she hadn’t been nursing as often I’m not making enough and she’s frustrated at the boob. And it makes me want to just wean so I don’t have to deal. And then I feel bad for considering that as an option! I really don’t feel like going back to pumping to boost my supply. It’s nice to be able to take a lunch and not be in the bathroom, plugged in the whole time. But I really don’t want to force her to wean either. Last night, between being tired, her teeth hurting her, and my milk supply not being what it used to be, I switched her from one side to the next so many times to keep her from freaking out, that my husband took over for me and let me go to bed. He was able to get her to take a bottle for him and eventually fall asleep. I just don’t know what to do. I’ve definitely exceeded my bf’ing goal of a year, but I never intended to force wean. Plus, how else will I get her to go back to sleep when she wakes up to nurse at 3am!

Well, thanks for reading and I would be cool with any ideas/support you have to offer.

[mommieofpees]

Maybe try to just cut back a little more, at night she is not waking up because she is hungry it is more of a comfort thing. Maybe before you totally wean her get her use to just cuddles when she wakes up then, that way she will eventually just stop waking up. And when you do wean her that wont be an issue.

[tibeca]

You hit it on the head when you said her teeth hurt. The teething will let up soon and things will be back to normal. You can do it mama!

[LilandVivsMom]

And you know what just dawned on me, after the fact as usual? Today is right about my mid-cycle, and my supply always drops right now. I'll just breath, relax, and keep at it. The man can always give me a break if I need one (or 5).