To ween or not to ween

Hey all fellow breastfeeding mama's - this is the question of the year!

All of these opinions are my own, I think that each mom and family needs to do what works for them.

Before I had Rylee I thought that I was going to breastfeed her for a year. Since then my thoughts have shifted greatly. I have decided that I am going to start to ween her close to her 6 months.

This is for many reasons and I am refusing to allow myself to feel guilty about this. This is what is working for me, my family, and my babe.

So I have many personal reasons why I want to start weening sooner than I had planned but the bottom line is that before I had her, I didn't know what to expect.

Breastfeeding came very naturally to me. The first few days were tricky but once my milk came in and I used the breast cream (Lanisonal nipple cream) we were good to go. Rylee had a great latch and was growing at a good pace. I was ready to really struggle for the first 6 weeks like I had been warned would happen but it actually was quite simple..for me. I know that A LOT of women have trouble with this - but you are not alone. Stick it out and it will get easier.

I am larger chested and add the milk into that it makes life a bit uncomfortable. I was wearing supportive bras - but they had underwire and I got a blocked duct. TALK ABOUT PAINFUL - YOWZAS! I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Since then I have been quite fearful of wearing underwire bras or sports bras since then for longer than an hour or two at the most. I have feeding bras that I wear but they are not very supportive, which is very uncomfortable.

I have never been an attached breastfeeding mama - meaning I didn't think I really bonded with Rylee during our feeding session, but now that I am slowly dropping a feed (one feed at a time every 2-3 weeks). However, it is a little bit more emotional that I thought it might be. 

Rylee really enjoys the formula that we got in the mail however it ran out and I started a new one and she wanted nothing to do with it! She wouldn't close her mouth around the bottle, and pushed it away. Thankfully a friend gave us a different brand and Rylee took it. I will try the other one again tomorrow and see if there is any difference/if she takes it. If not then I will try a different brand again and see if she likes it.

My husband is also enjoying being part of the feeding process now that Rylee is on solid food and a bottle and now he gets to be part of that too and she bonds with him in a different way - although, she already is a daddy's girl, and she has been since day one (literally).

Until next time...