And The Weaning Begins

I have loved breastfeeding my son for the entire first year of his life.  The time has come however to start the weaning process, meaning, I am ready to begin weaning.  I think if it were left up to the boy he would nurse forever.  He would love to nurse all day and all night.  There are several reasons for me wanting to wean.  First, I am getting very little sleep. Still.  My son has not slept more than four hours in months and the four hour stretch is rare.   Every two to three hours is normal.  Besides being overtired, which I can somewhat handle, I would like to start to try for another child.  I always wanted more than one kid, more than two if I am being honest, and I am not getting any younger.  

I am absolutely dreading the night weaning.  I have read countless forums regarding fertility and many point to night weaning being the key to getting pregnant.  We are not ready for night weaning.  I am not ready for night weaning, so I am starting with the day.  For the past week I have nursed the baby when we get up in the morning and then have attempted to not feed him again until bed time.  I have been successful more than I have not.  There were two days that I gave in.  I want this to be a gentle, smooth transition, so if that means that we don't hit 100% of our goal everyday, I am ok with that.  I am feeling a little more confident today than I was on Friday. Progress.  

The baby is increasingly drinking more milk throughout the day, which was one of my concerns.  I was only able to get him to drink a couple ounces when he first started the weaning process and now he is up to 8-9 ounces.  I found that I had to play around with cups to find the one he will drink the most out of.  I started by giving him a bottle to drink, thinking that this might work as a natural transition from the breast.  I have learned that he drinks much more if I give him a cup with a straw.  I also pay attention to how long it has been since he has had liquid and make sure to give him water while he plays and take breaks to have some milk.  I am sure to give him plenty to eat as well in an effort to satisfy his hunger (offering milk with all meals except breakfast when he gets juice).  

I think that the baby enjoys nursing for comfort more than anything right now.  I would be completely satisfied feeding him once in the morning and once at night before bed.  Right now however, I feed him as part of his bed time routine and then put him to bed (if I am lucky enough to get him to sleep) and he wakes two to three times before I am ready to go to bed.  The pattern continues throughout the evening into the night, all the way to morning.  Night weaning is going to suck. 

I have two strategies that I am willing to employ.  First, I will begin by decreasing the time on the breast by one minute each night.  I have heard that this has been successful with other moms.  If this doesn't work, I will offer a bottle instead of the breast as an option.  Did I mention that I am dreading the night weaning?  Baby steps.  We will stick with the day for now.  Baby steps.