All Done Eat Eat!

Warning: This post contains topics on breastfeeding- or the lack there of these days. There is nothing crude or obscene, but I know not everyone shares my views on extended breast feeding. For that reason I have also posted another blog today that you can read.

Yet another milestone has been reached by our Landon Love. He has finally weaned from breastfeeding. Or starting to at least. I better go knock on some wood. It's been three whole days of not a single nursing. It hasn't been easy and it most certainly hasn't come without a few tears. The other morning Landon awoke without asking to "eat eat". I decided then that it was the perfect opportunity to try to wean. He did ask for it a short while later, but I was able to distract him with his sippy cup. Nap time, however, was a completely different story. He cried and screamed, but I was determined to stay strong. We skipped nap time and went for a bike ride. He fell asleep during the bike ride. The next challenge was bed time. I was prepared for a fight from him. Landon asked to "eat eat" and I explained to him that he was now a big boy and told him that he was to "eat eat" from a cup now. He took it really well and fell asleep within an hour. A lot sooner than I was expecting. The second day went just as smoothly. The only set back was nap time once again. He finally wore himself out and fell asleep while on a time out. The only problem was it was at 6:00 p.m. He didn't wake from his nap until 8:30 p.m. so he was up until almost 2:00 a.m.

 Last night Landon snuggled up next to me when he was finally ready for bed. He patted my chest and signed "all done" followed by saying "eat eat". He then proceeded to ask to "eat eat" milk from a cup. I gave him a long hug, smiled, and went to fill his sippy cup. With him weaning we are going through an incredible amount of milk. I was buying two containers of his soy milk a week, but he has gone through two containers in these past three days. We had to run to the store again this morning for more milk. He doesn't even want water or juice right now. He wants nothing but milk in his cup all day long. I wouldn't really mind, but the cost of soy milk is $3.19 a carton, which equals $6.38 a gallon! Good thing we're starting to cut back on diapers to make up for the cost difference!

This third day is going rather well .Landon hasn't asked to "eat eat" at all today. It's after 11:00 a.m. already so we are doing really well in that regards. We still haven't had a nap time, but I am hoping that after a few more days he will learn to nap on schedule on his own. I thought it was going to be hard on me that moment Landon decided that he no longer wanted to breastfeed. In all honesty I am overjoyed. I have been ready for this day for quite some time. 2 1/2 years is a lot longer than I had ever imagined. If you would have asked me during those first three weeks of Landon's life how long I was going to breastfeed for I would have told you I was quitting right then and there. Once we both got the hang of things my goal was for one year. We surpassed that goal when we learned of Landon's milk allergy. We were informed not to give him soy milk until he had further allergy tests. I knew we wanted him to have some form of milk nutrients for brain growth and overall well being so I took yet another one for the team and decided to keep breastfeeding. His allergy testing came back that he could in fact have soy milk, but Landon was 18 months old at the point. Making a toddler quit breastfeeding cold turkey at that point would have been a nightmare, not to mention the pain of clogged milk ducts since he was still nursing rather frequently then. I knew he would have to wean on his own. As long as him and I were comfortable with continuing then I didn't care what others thought. Now here we are- almost 30 months later and Landon has weaned himself. I must say that I am rather proud knowing that I have provided Landon with the best nutrition for this long. I am sad to know that it is just one more step to him becoming a big boy, but I am glad to have a little bit more freedom. I will also be glad when I collect on my promise. I always told Kevin that he would owe me one heck of a drink once Landon weaned. He promised we'd go out for a drink once that day came. That day is now here- hint hint, wink wink Kevin! I'm not even a drinker, but not being able to drink for over three years (9 months of pregnancy and 30 months of nursing) has made me want to go out for a drink or two just because I can now. Plus, I think I deserve it after all of this time.