Since entering the throes of parenthood, the topic of breastfeeding has become extremely important to me. Pregnant with Mason, that was my plan, no ifs, ands, or buts. I was going to breastfeed, and not only that, but my goal was to breastfeed him at least his entire first year.
I've said it before, but breastfeeding is hard, which is difficult to grasp at times, because you would think it would be completely natural. I mean, isn't that their purpose, to produce nourishment??
As suggested to me by friends, push through the first couple of weeks. It's painful because your body has to adjust, but it can get easier. Thankfully, other than the initial adjustment period, I have not experienced too many problems compared to others. In this post, I discuss this journey of mine, when I hit a tough spot, but we did move past this and I'm proud to say that yes, we have entered the stage termed "extended breastfeeding".
We hit that one year milestone and we just continued on. It was what we knew. Our place of comfort with the additional boost of nourishment. So here we are now. 18 months. Let me share with you how different breastfeeding looks like at this age. Nighttime only, right before bed and maybe once in the early morning hours for only about 10 minutes tops. He's weaning himself which is exactly the path I wanted for us. His main source of nourishment is food and whole milk during the day. It's definitely more of a source of comfort for him I believe, but you know what, it's something that I can provide so I will cherish that. In a world of uncertainty, where parenting is challenging at times, we can take a moment to ourselves, where all is calm and right.
This may be hard for some people to understand, but it's natural for us and I ask that you not judge. Kelly Mom discusses extended breastfeeding and its benefits. I also recommend Kelly Mom for any of your breastfeeding questions. It's an excellent resource.
Next up...Mason's 18 Month Update
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