My husband is the kindest, most reasonable and supportive person on the planet. This is especially apparent when it comes to nursing.
We've both been sleeping poorly lately; colds, stress, baby wakings or whatever. The thought was voiced that perhaps it was time to move Eden to her bed through the night. I told him that it was fine with me if he wanted to take bring her back and forth to me at night when she wakes up (as this full-time working outside the home mommy is totally supportive of helping him out, but definitely not ready to quit nighttime nursings anytime soon). The conversation was casual and didn't really result in anything more than a "mmhmmm" from either of us.
But it got me to thinking about weaning. And I'm pretty much terrified of it. So I went online to read some of my mommy-blogs and ran across some weaning stories.
Now, I've read through a good share of weaning stories on the La Leche League site already, and they always brought tears to my eyes. (Hmm...hidden agenda? Self-fulfilling prophecy? On the other hand, I've found lots of great articles there that have helped us along our nursing journey.) The posts I read tonight, though (and this one in particular) were beautiful. Peaceful. Not full of anger, disappointment, grief and sadness.
Back to my boy.
So I'm telling Nate about one story I read, about a 3 1/2 year old who, the last time she nursed, drank her fill and then sat up and said, "thank you for the milk, Mommy." He asked if I wanted to go that long with Eden. I told him I don't want to set a time limit, long or short, I just want to go until she's ready and I'm ready and it's natural. I told him I didn't want it to be sad, I just wanted it to be.....
"Natural," he finished for me.
Yes, natural. When it's right. And until then, we're all on board, all three of us, a nursing family. Because nursing is so much more than just a mommy-baby relationship. Daddy is a big part of it, too.
Thank you, Nate. I love you, and I love that you understand, and that you want what is best for Eden. Thank you for giving while I'm giving, too. I love being a parent with you.
1 comment:
Ah, I'm so glad I'm not the only one! Sometimes my husband asks me when Mikko will stop nursing, and I immediately feel sad and a little panicky and say something like "when he's ready." And, like with your supportive husband, that fortunately satisfies him. Sometimes I feel like the poster child for the people who claim that extended breastfeeding is "only for the mother at this point"; I know it absolutely is NOT, but I will admit that our breastfeeding relationship is very emotionally pleasurable for me and I can't yet imagine it ending. I can only trust, through reading weaning stories like the ones you were mentioning, that when the time comes for nursing to end that it will be a gentle, respectful, and peaceful transition for both my son and me. As you said, "natural." Thank you for sharing!
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