Today marks a week of something very significant in my life.
I am officially done breastfeeding.
4 years, 10 months and 22 days ago I began my second breastfeeding tour of duty that spanned three children and included some tandem nursing (my first tour didn’t last nearly as long). My only break was the week or two (I can’t remember exactly how long it was) before Raven was born that I dried up and was promptly replenished the instant she joined us!
Last Monday I had to have some minor surgery and was reminded that I shouldn’t breastfeed for at least 24 hours following. Since I have desperately been trying to wean her, I decided to use this as a cut off. She was not happy. She is still not happy, but she accepts that mama has a boo boo and can’t make milks anymore. For an almost 2 year old she is awesomely understanding and intelligent but she still has a mini meltdown here and there for her milks.
There are some that will think I should have let her self wean and that I’m a big meanie for cutting her off cold turkey and maybe they are right, but I was seriously considering piercing my nipples just to make her not want it. Seriously.
There are some that will think I let her go too long but to me that is just ludicrous. I know the facts on breastfeeding. I know all the benefits. In my mind breastfeeding was not a choice, it is the way you feed a baby outside of a few rare medical issues that would make formula necessary. You can argue the length of time a baby needs to breastfeed all you want, but if all the bigwigs in ‘howtoraiseyourchild’ land all agree on formula feeding for a year and then a year of cows milk to follow – then 2 years of breastfeeding sounds just right to me. And really I always aim for a year, anything past that is gravy but 2 is my limit. Breastfeeding a toddler that is kicking you in the face and pinching the crap out of you at the same time is no fun – no matter what the benefits are. Kudos to all the moms out there that go much longer – stronger women than I!
So here I am at the end and while I enjoyed the bonds I created with my children and always knew I was doing what was best for them..
I AM SO HAPPY TO BE DONE!!
Time to burn the stretched out ugly nursing bras and get some real ones!!
Threaded Alchemy 
Whooo Hooo Great job! I quit cold turkey to on my last one at almost two years too! AND I know exactly how you feel GREAT!! Both becasue your done AND because you did for so long!
@sailing5 – Thank you! And kudos to you too!
Bring on the lacey pink pretty bras! And I commend you for breastfeeding. My step sister breastfeed for almost 3 years straight – she had a daughter and then 18 months later, a set of twins which she managed to make it to one full year with the twins. I called her super woman for it!
@reed44 – I would call her super woman too! I only tandem nursed for a few weeks each time I had to do it, but I was like the walking dead those few weeks! Breastfeeding is draining, but two at a time is a total life suck.. haha!