Weaning...

Initially I had planned on starting to wean Parker right after he turned a year old so we could jump right into cow's milk and not have to transition him to formula and then to cow's milk. Well I'm sure many of you reading this will remember that Parker got terribly ill right before his first birthday which put any plans of weaning on hold. Right before his first birthday he was only nursing twice per day (once first thing in the morning and once right before bed). By the time he was fully well from his sickness and had gained his appetite back, we replaced his morning nursing with cheerios and other "breakfastish" type foods. He did really well giving up that morning feeding and cutting back to only nursing once right before bed, as long as I didn't sit with him in the recliner in his room or have the Boppy pillow visible (both of which would remind him of nursing). I was really concerned about how he'd do with giving up that night time feeding. He has nursed right before going to bed ever since he was first born and a lot of times, I could tell he was doing it more for comfort than anything else. Parker is VERY much a mama's boy (anyone who has been around him at all can probably attest to that) so I thought he'd REALLY put up a fight not having his cuddle/nursing time with mommy at the end of the day.

13 months came and went, then 14 months and I dragged my feet really not wanting to give up that special time at the end of the day any more than I'm sure Parker did. Well, finally I decided it must be done! For anyone who may not know, James will be starting his PhD at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO this coming Fall so on August 1st we will be moving there. Not only that, but our house recently sold and the buyers wanted a June 18th closing date! So, long story short, on June 13th we'll be moving in with James' parents until we are able to move to Columia on August 1st. With all of those crazy transitions coming so soon, I knew that it would be easier to try to wean Parker before things get TOO crazy around here and figured now would be the best time to do so.

So this past Monday, May 25th (Parker's 15 month birthday) we started the process. Parker was so confused as I told him how much I loved him and that I would see him in the morning after he was done with night night time. Usually James holds him while I get ready to nurse him for the night and James is the one to leave the room instead of me. Instead, James was sitting in the recliner in Parker's room and was trying to read him books. I DESPERATELY wanted to go into his room and hold and cuddle him but James was adament that it would only make things worse. They say that the mother shouldn't be in the room at first because babies can actually smell the milk...isn't that insane??!! Anyway, after 15 minutes of crying, James went in to pat him on the back, tell him it was night night time, that he loved him and would see him in the morning. A few minutes after that, the crying stopped and he had fallen asleep. Then a few minutes after that, he woke up and cried for a couple more minutes, etc. This went on for about 15 more minutes, but by 8:05 (about 30 minutes after we initially put him in the crib), he was asleep for the night and slept his normal 11 hours for the night! Not too bad I thought, certainly not for the first night! :) Then last night he cried for 12 minutes. Tonight he cried for less than a minute! :) I'm sad to give up that time with Parker, but I'm glad he's doing so well with it! He doesn't even act more hungry in the morning than he did when he was nursing before bed which REALLY shows me that it was definitely a comfort thing for him more than anything else! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my sweet little cuddle bug and will miss the nursing but I also feel a new sense of freedom that I haven't felt since before I had Parker! Parker would never take a bottle for us, so I was the only one who could put him to sleep since he nursed to sleep. Someone else can finally put Parker to bed at night! I feel a girl's night in my near future...any takers?? ;)