Tuesday, November 16, 2010

I'm Going On Strike (Maybe)

I always planned to nurse Beatrice for a year, but once we approached her first birthday, I decided that we would keep going. Partly because of flu season, but mostly because I don't know how to wean her. Beatrice is addicted to milk. She goes crazycakes for milkies. Nursing her has never been a sweet, relaxing thing for either of us. She attacks me with her claws hands and foams at the mouth to get to my milkies. She wiggles and climbs. She pinches and bites. She goes back and forth from each side about 30 times a minute. And it has always been this way. Nursing her is like wrestling a baby alligator. I think. I mean, I have never actually wrestled a baby alligator but from what I've seen on T.V., that is exactly what nursing Beatrice is like. 

For one reason or another, I have always dreaded our nursing sessions. In the beginning, it hurt and took forever to feed her. I was glued to the couch with her glued to me. She attacked me like a little nurse shark. Now, it is the attacking and demanding that is unbearable. I always said that I would wean before my child was old enough to ask for it. Well, she doesn't ask for it, she demands it. She tugs at my clothes until I give in. She even knows how to unhook the front panel on my nursing bra so she can access the milkies anytime. I used to lock them safely away in my bra and say, "all gone." But now she knows better. Stinker. 


After almost busting my lip tonight on her wild, bucking head, I think I'm ready to think about weaning. I kept telling her to settle down but the more I tried to wrangle her, the more she bit and pinched me. Truth be told, I'm scared. She is vicious for the milkies and I know she will fight me for them no matter how much I refuse. She's cute too. It's like her secret weapon. I always give in to that cute, vicious stinker. I know that this behavior is only going to get worse the older (and stronger) she gets. So I am seriously considering weaning.

This is all Beatrice's fault. I was prepared to nurse forever. Not forever forever. But at least until she was 18 months old. I have told Beatrice from the beginning to stop attacking Mommy because not all mommies let their babies drink their milkies. She has never believed me. Tonight I told her that she would have to drink cow's milk if she didn't stop slapping me. She mooed at me. Hmmph. I will show her. I mean, if all of my nursing analogies involve predatory animals instead of cuddly ones, I think it's time to close shop on this milk factory.

This is after the milk attack. She needed 5 babies to sleep with tonight. Thank God Baa-Baa, Turtle, Bunny, Seahorse, and Bobo Monkey were there. 

2 comments:

  1. I remember the weaning phase...I also know exactly know how it feels to have to wrangle the child to eat. Good luck!

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  2. I started the weaning process when M was 11 months... we began giving him 1 cup of cows milk a day. Problem was, he HATED the cows milk. So, I had to sweeten it to try and make it more like BM. He was finally completely weaned at 13 months. He decided he was done... not me. In fact, I felt a little rejected! But, I was 5 months pregnant at the time, so I think my milk started tasting different.
    When Jonas was born, Marco had only been weaned for 2 months. I was SO scared he was going to be jealous of the baby nursing all the time. But, surprisingly, he doesn't even remember it! He knows that it brought him comfort and sometimes he puts his head on my boob and gives it "love", but never tries to suck... thank God!
    The only advice I can give you is to cut out ONE feeding (like the afternoon one) and replace it with cows milk. Then in a few weeks, replace another feeding in the same way. Eventually, it'll be over! Good luck!

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