My Breastfeeding Story

This topic is a very delicate one and very dear to my heart. There are many women who breastfeed their children and many who formula feed. Every mama knows what is best for her and her child. I have breastfed 4 out of 5 of my children. All were a different experience. However, I wanted to share a part of Daniel's and my breastfeeding story with you.

Right now Daniel is 23 months old and we are still breastfeeding. I am so blessed that I have been able to do it for this long. Nursing a baby and a nursing a toddler is so different. When you nurse a baby they sit and your arms quietly and usually drift to sleep. With a toddler it can be that way at times and then it can be a little less quiet. As he nurses he has his little car in his hands driving it on my arm. Or how he tries to talk while nursing. Which is gibberish because he isn't saying many words yet. Or nursing gymnastics (wiggling around). When I nurse in public I'm always covered up but I still feel like people are looking at me. I imagine that they are saying, "oh my, she is nursing a toddler", "he can eat food so why is she nursing him ?", "he's too big to be still nursing!"Things like this go through my head. Plus it doesn't help when he is shouting for it in public. It can be a little embarrassing. Many people tell these things to me and it kind of makes me sad because I feel like I'm doing something wrong for breastfeeding him this long. But I just try to keep reminding myself that I do it because I believe it is the best thing for him.

Breastfeeding has some pros and cons. First of all, I never had to carry bottles or formula in my diaper bag, just extra clothes and diapers, and we were ready to go. We saved lots of money on not buying formula, so that is a plus. I never had to get the bottles ready or clean them. Night time was awesome because we co-sleep so I didn't need to go and prepare any bottles. However, it can be challenging at times, it is time consuming and you do have to stop what you are doing to feed your baby. But you know what, I kind of like that, it's mine and Daniel's special time. Time where we can bond. Time where I am forced to slow down and just be still. The closeness and the quiet time where he drifts to sleeps in my arms is beautiful. Also, there are times when he wants to nurse but sometimes we are not able to, this can be difficult. I am the only one that can give him this special milk and I am so happy that I am able to do this. These moments I will always cherish.

So when will we stop nursing? I'm not sure. I read lots of parents say that their child self weaned,  I don't think Daniel is ready to give it up just yet. However, I feel that our nursing time is coming to an end soon and I am going to enjoy these last nursing moments that we have left.

Please if you don't have anything nice to say please don't comment. Thank you.