My little lady just turned 11 months old. I nurse at night (once or twice) and welcome Alice in our queen size bed after her first leisurely snack. Until last week, her crib was in our bedroom. To be honest, I moved her crib because when two people that are not college students love each other very very much they enjoy the comfort of a bed for certain activities!
Now back to night feeding. For some well intentioned people, this lifestyle could be an act of laziness but for me it is completely the opposite. Of course, I'm well aware that my 11 month old baby doesn't need to drink milk at night to meet her nutritional needs. However, I see benefits in night feedings (also much easier since we are cosleeping) and since it doesn't affect me too much at the moment, I'm in no rush to completely night wean Alice.
This post is not about night feeding. As far as I'm concerned, we are free to do whatever we want as long as it works for our family. This post is a quick reminder that following your motherly instincts is super important and that certain advice, even from lovely friends, should be like water off a duck's back unless you want to find yourself running around like an headless chicken.
Ah, it is funny because it is a duck and a chicken....is poultry humor a clue that I should stop feeding Alice at night? Yeah, I don't think so!
5 comments:
Brilliant! You are indeed free to do what works for you guys! I'm doing the same ... listening to advice only when it serves my little family. The only times I've felt crazy these last 9 months is when I veered from that.
that is the only advice i will allow myself to give any mother: trust yourself first.
thanks for reiterating that.
I'm still feeding my 8month old many times during the night, and friends just can't understand it. So thank you for the non-judgmental sentiment!
I heard a lovely quote this week: To give the breast is to give life. (I am grateful that breastfeeding has worked out for me but I know it's not everyone's story)
Love her little sweater! I'm guessing your mom knit it.
And I totally feed Finn if he wakes up at night. Then I let him get in bed with us. And I don't care what anyone says. It works for us! So I'm with you.
My daughter is now 19, and has turned into a very wonderful well-adjusted young woman.
I nursed her until she was 3 - just briefly in the morning and at bedtime, by the end. I hadn't intended to, but it just kind of evolved.
I did ask her at age 2 and 11 months, when she thought she would stop nursing and she replied, "when I'm 3!" And she did...she stopped as soon as she turned 3!
My mother gave me some very good advice when my daughter was born. "If you're happy and she's happy, then you are doing alright. Don't worry about other people's opinions."
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