Baby led weaning at 15 months. No more breastfeeding

When people ask me about breastfeeding I always say the same thing... it was sooo hard to start and soo hard to stop. Women need support, the only way I was able to push through and keep trying was from support from other moms. I wrote this blog post a while back. Weaning was soo hard  too. When I first tried weaning baby k he was about 9 months. I was forcing the weaning because I was going back to work..(to be clear baby k never took a bottle so pumping and giving a bottle was never an option) at 9 months he wasn't ready. We both weren't ready. It was really stressful on both of us. So I pushed my back to work date further out. Baby K at 9-10 months started the pincer grasp and feeding himself and was eating all his meals and less breast milk and onto the sippy cup. By 12 months he was daytime weaned. I still breastfed at night at first 2-3x then went to 2, then 1. Now last week to zero! Baby k is 15.5 months and with baby led weaning we are no longer breastfeeding. It was almost a surprise to me even though I was living it at seeing how much less he was needing it. When we were down to one time I was actually only offering one breast once a night for a couple weeks. Then that stopped too. We were not trying to wean, so I am happy that it was all baby k's choice. I just keep remembering the beginning when baby K was just born and trying to get to 3 months and at 15 months I wasn't looking for us to stop yet and little K was ready to move on.

Following my baby's queues and never forcing my ways on him has worked best for me and my parenting style. They eventually get it! They eventually learn how to sip the sippy cup, eventually learn to feed themselves, and eventually sleep through the night and eventually stop breastfeeding. At 15.5 month I actually feel that all the decisions I made so far worked best for our family and I'm not second guessing myself like I once was. I had some tough times and went against my initial instincts many times, parenthood is far from easy  and sometimes no decision is easy to make haha but if we can trust our decisions then that can take a load of stress off.

So moms do it your way, whatever way as long as you feel it's the best way and maybe it won't be at first but it will be eventually! Ha! I will need to come back and read my own words in future days I'm sure!

The Breastfeeding chapter of my life is now closed... for now :)

Weaning is tough stuff!

Baby K has another tooth on it's way and was up a lot last night. The last couple nights waking every 2 hours! Oh boy!

We are going forward and backward with weaning. If you follow my blog or twitter you know! Some days not nursing at all during the day and other days like this morning nursing was the only way to quiet him down to nap.

I took an extra month off, but now it's creeping up closer again.

The pressure of weaning baby has me a little stressed. I'm sure all parents can relate, whether it's weaning from breastfeeding or from a bottle or pacifier.. Changing up their routine is tough stuff! I also didn't know the symptoms that come with weaning too! Headaches for one as my hormones change. Moody and feeling down too.

Ugh! Trying to take it slow but it can get frustrating at times too. Needing some fellow moms support! ;)

Our Morning Routine

Here is a little glimpse of our morning routine these days.

Kris wakes up around 8am calling for me while I try and take in any extra minutes I can as he continues to play haha.

 I nurse his for a couple minutes then we get out of bed, I change him into his outfit for the day and I sit him in the bouncy as I get ready.

Since the day he was born this was our routine. I hate leaving the bedroom without being dressed even more now with a baby since our schedule is unpredictable.

He sits nicely or not so nicely as I put my makeup on and get dressed. (I do my eye makeup but my hair is usually up in a pony tail, that I don't have time for, blowdrying and straightening... Haven't done that in a while!)

We then go downstairs for breakfast.

DH makes coffee before he leaves to work, so hot coffee is always waiting for me ;)

These days I need to give Kris a cereal cookie to feed himself to get him in his highchair.

I put some cartoons on and get babies oatmeal ready to feed him in between the breathes of eating his cookie aha


And I sit and drink my coffee while playing online and feeding him all while talking out loud to him about what we will do today ha!

Today is Monday so we have grocery shopping on our to do's. If we were to stay home we would have floor playtime at this time.

We finish breakfast around 945 and make our way to the grocery store.

I carry him in the baby bjorn carrier (exercise for me) and we shop. He gets to hold some packages in his hands as if he is helping and we name the different foods as we go along. He gets the attention of a lot of people and we always get stopped so people can talk to him, Kris loves it! Smiling and talking back.

We are back home around 1045 and Kris is ready for his nap.

We go to his room sit in the rocking chair, play his sleep sheep, pacifier in his mouth and he is out in 5 minutes.

Down he goes and I get a couple hours to clean up, put groceries away, go online for a bit and make his lunch.

We only have 5 weeks left till he starts daycare full time.I'm counting down so be prepared to hear about it in all my blog posts haha!

I think I need to change our wakeup time to 7am soon. Not so much for the baby but for me. I'll work on this soon. It's a lot of adjusting for me too! I'm not looking forward to being a Zombie Mom at work!

So far napping without nursing is going great. I'm still working on weaning him fully during the day.Taking it day by day!

The next 5 weeks we will be busy changing up our daily routine and breastfeeding schedule. Big changes are coming and it's hard work with a little one!

I'll also be taking Kris to an indoor playground weekly.  We went to one on the weekend for my nieces birthday and Kris loved it! I'm considering doing his 1st birthday party at a playground as well, although I always thought I wouldn't for the first birthday, but the kids love it and I think it will be a great first birthday party with his little friends.

My take on breastfeeding

There has been so much talk these days on Breastfeeding. Positive talk and negative. When I hear the negative I just think that people just aren't educated on the topic.

Breastfeeding is natural! Nutritious! The healthy choice! Easily digested for babies, full of antibodies to help protect against illnesses, builds a strong bond with your baby, moms burn calories too!  Just look up all the benefits!

I admit that I was I was not educated on breastfeeding. When I was younger I thought no way would I breastfeed... I just didn't understand it really. No one ever talked about the health benefits of it, and the amazing bonding experience with your child. They never taught us about it in school, our parents never educated us on it either. I'm glad I changed when I became pregnant and educated on the health of my baby and myself.

I'm also so glad to see Breastfeeding talk all over the media and social media sites. Positive and the negative. Getting everyone to understand and learn about it! It's a good thing! always was, always will be!

Breastfeeding isn't as easy as one might think, it is hard for some of us.

Put the baby to the breast and he will suck and milk will flow right!? Nope not that easy. So when mom's try and don't have a successful outcome it's stressful and some moms just can't get enough milk and have to resort to formula. Ok too! The most important thing is that our babies are eating, healthy and happy. Formula feeding isn't that easy either, it's expensive, lots of bottle washing, may make the baby gassy having to try many different brands.

My first couple weeks of Breastfeeding was tough. My baby wasn't latching that well, I wasn't sure if he was eating enough. He cried a lot, I topped up feedings with formula too. I was exhausted and felt like giving up. The great thing about where we live is that we have a free service, a hotline you can call for information about Breastfeeding and a trained nurse helps you. You can even go in and they will show you what to do. I did both. It really really helped. I also had so much support from blogger/twitter moms and RL friends. A support group is a must! (and you will, I repeat will have negative people telling you your baby is starving because you are breastfeeding haha, no he is not. He feeds more often because breastmilk is easily digested which is soo healthy for his little body, also teaching him healthy eating habbits)

Even though I read up on Breastfeeding before baby K came along there were sooo many things I didn't know!!

I didn't know what growth spurts were until I had a baby feeding every hour for 24 hours! ha!

I didn't know what a clogged duct was until I was in sooo much pain from it. Ouch!

I didn't know what over supply was until my breasts were in pain and my little guy wasn't eating that much haha. I had to pump and freeze supply which wasn't a bad thing.

I remember the best advice I had from a friend was to try it for 6 weeks and if by then it wasn't working out then decide what to do. By the 6th week it was all good! I had the hang of it. The toughest was the first 2 weeks. And of course still had little issues here and there but nothing to do with latching or supply.

I remember thinking I would only breastfeed for 3 months... Then it came and went, and thought 6 months I would wean, well we are at 9 months and still at it ;)

So if you feel down and think you may not be able to breastfeed for long, just take it day by day!

Dressing for Breastfeeding wasn't a big deal for me. I bought 5 Breastfeeding tops and tanks and button down shirts or easy to lift or pull down tops or dresses. It's easy really!
A must for me is a nursing bra, I love them.

If you are a little uncomfortable with breastfeeding in public, just get a cool looking nursing cover. Also great to hide distractions from the baby so he can eat in peace. I have a nursing cover so I breastfeed everywhere and anywhere. Depending on where I am, like home or family or friends house I don't use the cover of course.

I was shy at first but that quickly went away.


I just needed my baby and a bag of diapers and wipes and me and we are ready to go out. No bottles no warmers no nothing. If you know me, I hate too many moving parts haha so Breastfeeding was great for me. We just came back from a trip, and Breastfeeding was soo convenient. I breastfed in the plane, the bus. Kept baby calm and happy.



We are now on month 9 and I'm soo happy I made it this far.

I have 2 months to wean as I'll be going back to work in October. Weaning is not easy! Especially when I love Breastfeeding my baby too!

Kristian is eating 3 meals a day and nursing in between. So I've been trying to cut back. I'll start with day time weaning. I do not want to go cold turkey. And I love the benefits my baby gets from my breast milk too. So I want to first start with the hours I will be at work. So weaning from 8am -6pm is my first goal I'll start with. And go from there! Again, getting support from other moms is a good thing... I go to twitter for this and I have an amazing group of moms that give me advice.

Many moms breastfeed well over 12 months. Like I said before, I thought I would breastfeed for only 3 months. So I can't say when we will officially be weaned and I'm totally happy with my decisions so far. Both baby and I love our time together when he nurses.

So that's my little take on Breastfeeding,  what's yours!?

9 month checkup

Today was baby Kristian's 9 month checkup!

He weighs 16lbs

His doctor said he is a little on the lighter side but perfectly healthy and he is not concerned at all as is weight has been increasing perfectly for him. Kris is exactly at the developmental stage that he needs to be too, which is always great to hear.

He told me to continue feeding him all sorts of different foods and said not to worry at all and try everything!! He even said peanuts! But I'm not ready for that yet!

I asked about weaning from breastmilk within the next 2 months to homomilk he said to go ahead and do it. He said sippy cup only, no bottle. Which is fine Kris never took a bottle. He also told me not to be concerned about the reduction of milk. He wants to see his patients with less milk more foods. He has too many mothers drowning their kids appetites with milk. So he does not want me calling with concern if in 2 months Kris isn't drinking any milk Ahaha he actually said that once he weans off breastmilk he probably won't drink any other milk and I would just need to feed other things like cheese and yogurt daily. Our doctor is a little different on this topic than most books I read. But I trust him and feel good following what he suggests.

I feel much better now knowing that when I wean in 2 months Kris would have gotten all that he needed.

I got some great ideas from twitter friends on different foods to try.

So I have been changing up his meals. Mashing up foods we eat and giving him a variety.

Our next doctors appt will be at 12 months!

Happy Hot humid hump day and vlog!

Whooo! It's hot here!!!

Happy first day of summer reaching record breaking highs!

Kristian and I went out this morning before it gets even warmer.

We went to get a costco card, so now I can finally take part in some of those deals my family and friends talk about haha ;)

Kristian had a little melt down while in there and I had to distract him with my iPhone YouTube Mickey mouse video haha! Glad it worked! Whew!

Last night kris slept sooo well! He woke only once to eat.

I want to night wean this little boy, I have the feel now to know when he really is hungry and when he wants to just cuddle and get himself back to sleep. So since its Back to work in almost 3 months ;( I'm trying to figure out what will work best for us. Although I will need to change it all up as per his schedule of growth haha!

I did 2 Vlogs yesterday and this morning about my start on night weaning.

Check them out ;)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIaDy6XuJaI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUc0QY-LBT8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

A little this and that

Baby K was a little fussy this morning. I'm blaming teeth but also started to consider something else. A decrease in my breast milk supply. I'm not a 100% on that but have a feeling! So I decided to up his food intake. Our Pedetrician told us by 9 months more food less milk anyway so I'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I made apples and pears purée thicker and chunkier. Baby K loved that! Whoo!

He is learning and growing so much so fast! Giving high fives, clapping hands and opening and closing his hands to say hi or bye. He is always paying close attention to us when we speak to him and even responded in baby babble haha!

He is full of energy and loves attention. He knows all eyes are on him all the time. Haha!

A friend recommended Phil and Teds lobster high chair so I bought it and bring it around with us in the car. We used it at my moms house yesterday. It's perfect!

Today we went over to my aunts house and sat by the pool. Kristian loves the water. We will need to bring him for a swim soon!!

I really want to take him on a trip before I go back to work in the fall.so I'm hoping to get his passport soon!

This weekend is full of events. Birthday party and fathers day. We are excited for the weekend!

A beautiful Sunday

 Sunday we had amazing weather!! And this week it will continue!

We went to the zoo in the park for a walk.

Baby K loved seeing the animals. He was concentrating on all the different sounds and scenery.




Spring is here! I'm excited to spend more days outdoors!

After Saturday night, being out 9 hours without nursing, I was in sooo much pain!! I had to pump many times during the day and finally I leveled it out. Yikes! I can't do that again. Not when I'm use to nursing every 2-3 hours!

Last night baby K slept soo well! I was sooo happy because I needed it! I didn't end up sleeping till 5am from the party the day before!

He slept a 4.5 hour stretch then 3, then another 3! happy mama!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Blog post New items and dropping weight

My house has been neglected since baby boy came into our lives. I have a list of things I still want to change and purchase for our home. Seems like there is no extra time!

The other night I bought a new art piece for the dining room and a new carpet for the front door ;)

I still want to get some accent chairs for the dining room and my bedroom!

(pics may not be in order, using blogging app)

I did a weigh in today and dropped 2lbs. Must be the 2-3 hour Breastfeeding schedule baby boy is back on these days. In total I have dropped 34lbs!!! Yippy!

I haven't been good with watching what I eat, I still have a major sweet tooth, but I try my best to eat healthy so baby boy is getting lots of nutrients!

I eat 1 avocado a day! I love avocados and once baby is ok with cereals, his first fruit will be an avocado!

What's your favorite fruit/veggie?

Mom talk, Love my baby boy

 I just love my little boy. Everyday he grows so much and does something new. It's such an amazing feeling. I never thought about how it would actually feel to be a mom. Some days are a little more hectic than others, but when your little baby smiles at you, it's the most heart melting incredible feeling.

 As a parent, especially a new parent, you are always looking up information, reading asking other moms what they do... but I realized that every mom does things their own way and which ever way works best for them. There is no wrong way of doing things... just your way, and that makes it right for you. You will see some moms saying dates of how early their baby hit certain milestones or talk sleep or eating milestones as if it's a competition it's hilarious. Or rushing their babies to hit milestones.Or not holding your baby because they will get spoiled (I've had moms make comments to me about attending to my crying baby) ... Our babies won't be babies forever! But every parents has their own ways. All babies and parents have their own growth and lifestyle. As long as mom, dad and baby are happy it's allll that matters. :)

While I was pregnant I knew I wanted to breastfeed, but I was also open to formula feeding as well. The first week of baby K's life while my milk supply wasn't fully in yet I did both, formula and breast milk. Then the second week I started to exclusively breastfeed. I had ups and downs the first month, lots of unknowns but here we are now going on to 4 months and I am still breastfeeding and loving it! I use to have a timeline, like "I'll only breastfeed for 3 months" or "6 months" but now I have no dates. As long as my milk is there, I will breastfeed until baby and I are ready to stop, no dates! :) This makes me happy.

Babbling in the car.

 Before I had a baby I hated being late to places and usually was the first one to arrive. If I was late it would be because of traffic or something out of my hands. Now with my baby.... ha! it is tough getting somewhere right on time. We do pretty well most days... but today was different... today was salsa fitness class. Baby was sleeping as I got ready. I was dressed in my workout clothes, ready to go.  I woke up baby to feed and change him. We were running a little late, but not too late. Then I changed the baby, I turned around to get his diaper, turned back, heard the baby pass gas, looked down...... and omg! poo was everywhere! All over my clothes, the bed, the carpet, furniture... it squirted everywhere! How the... haha. I was in shock! I just stood still and didn't know what to do! It was soo much to clean up, we missed class. boo! I couldn't help but laugh, so did baby K. hahaha.

Silly baby. I love this cute adorable squishy little boy, even if he did poo all over me. haha!

Finding a bottle baby likes.

 There are so many different types of bottles, standard size, wide neck, special ones for breast fed babies... So these are all the bottles I have.

Avent, Nuk, Medela calma, dr brown, playtex drop ins, tommee tippee, and Playtex vent aire.

 

 My SIL  tried to give Kristian a bottle (dr brown standard) on Sunday at my sister's shower. He just bites on the nipple but doesn't suck.
 
It's not the biggest deal since I love breastfeeding anyway... but there are some days where I need to leave him for a couple of hours so I'd like to feel calm knowing that he will eat!

We tried me leaving the room, even the house while someone else feeds him... we tried giving him the bottle when he is really hungry.... yesterday DH tried with the tommee tippee bottle and seemed like he was ok with it, and wasn't chewing it. Looked like he was also ok with the playtex drop in bottle.

He only ate a little so we will try everyday until I'm fully comfortable but I like the tommee tippee bottle :) yay!



Did you have trouble getting your breastfed baby to take a bottle?

Things I never realized, things I did not know

I never realized that sooo many delicious foods are the cheesiest most chocolatey, most spiciest ones ha!
All of which I'm staying away from while Breastfeeding.

I didn't know that all the books I bought to prepare for motherhood did not have the info I really needed. Much of the information/advice I was looking for came from family, RL friends and twitter friends ;)

I didn't know how much I would enjoy Breastfeeding to the point that I feel sad when I think about weaning after 6 months.

I didn't know anything about 'growth spurts' the frequent feedings and the huge extra supply it brings on right after.

I didn't know how quickly babies grow out of their clothes haha!

I didn't know that the baby's force when pooping would send poop dripping out the side of his legs or up his back. Haha!

I didn't know suctioning out the baby's boogies would be such a fun thing to do.

I didn't know how hungry you get while Breastfeeding. I'm hungry all the time! !!

I didn't know that I am awesome at multitasking.

And most of all, I didn't know how much love I could have for my little boy, love that gets even stronger as days go by.

Turning 3 months this weekend!

Busy Chocolatey Monday

The day started off slow, baby and I slept in which was nice. When we woke up the baby's diaper had leaked! Pee and poo! So I had to clean up a mess and give my little guy a bath. Bath time is so fun, I think my little boy lovess being pampered haha!

We didn't end up ready until about 1pm, so I decided to just get dressed and head out for some fresh air and breakfast, well lunch I guess :). We we went to a nearby plaza and did a little shopping. I bought some nursing bras, a new tall tumbler cup, new large wine glasses and some baking supplies.

 This weekend I did a lot of baking! I made my yummy banana bread (using whole wheat flour and added coconut flakes) I also made chocolate cookies for my sisters bridal shower.  I made another batch of the chocolate cookies today too... This time I gave into temptation and ate 4 cookies! I'm off of chocolate because I noticed chocolate bothers my baby's tummy (breastfeeding). So lets pray it doesn't today!

Hope you all had a great Monday
:)

Future Blogger haha!

Fitness Friday - Week 3

It's fitness Friday with Cait over at http://cait-theblessedlife.blogspot.com/

Week 2 was "Move every day" I think I did really well with this.  Walking in the mall, cleaning the house while my little one plays nicely in his playpen, or just walking around the house to get baby to sleep :)

This week was extra hard when counting calories. Baby is going through his 12 week growth spurt, and has been nursing every 2 hours during the day and back to every 3 hours a night. So I have been really hungry and have not been doing well with portion control.

Today while out I was soo hungry and was about to hit a fast food place for a burger and fries! But thought, I'm was doing so well with not going to fast food drive thru's (Tim Horton's not included :) so I went to Tim Hortons instead for a sandwich.


In 2 weeks Salsa Babies fitness class starts! And the mom and baby fitness dvd i ordered should arrive soon!

We are on week 3 of fitness Friday: Drink hot tea or coffee in the morning instead of soda

I'll do well with this goal because I don't drink any pop, we don't even have any pop in our house.

Since I was pregnant and now breastfeeding, I only drink water and occasionally ice tea.

My goals for week 3: Count Calories on My FitnessPal, Move everyday and make healthy choices.