Lex really isn't a baby anymore. He's already a year old, and the kid runs and jumps around the house just like Connor. Okay, almost just like Connor.
To be honest, he is more of a toddler. Except for one tiny little thing.
He is still nursing.
Connor quit nursing of his own choosing when he was 11 months old. He was done. I wasn't, and that was a struggle for me. But, Connor was happy, so in the end, I was as well.
I was especially happy after I decided to be done with it, too, as I kept on trying to nurse and pumped for about another month after Connor was finished. Once every little bottle we had was full in the freezer, I got out my white flag and declared what Connor had declared weeks before. He was weaned.
Of course, this time is different. Lex is happy to nurse still. He doesn't want milk often, just before bed (around 7:00 PM) and again in the morning (sometime between 3:00 and 5:00 AM - don't worry, he goes back to sleep again until around 9:00). Every once in a while, he'll ask for milk just before or after his afternoon nap. In those cases, though, it's more of a demand. He signs for milk and then starts pawing at my shirt. He practically flashed my goods to everyone in a restaurant last week when he was overtired and trying to get my shirt off.
I had been considering weaning him before he was 18 months old, just because that seems like a good age. I know I don't want to fight with him about it during the holidays, so I am definitely planning on waiting until after that.
But part of me just wants to let him quit on his own terms and timing. Except I don't want to be nursing him at his second birthday party.
And then Connor, Kevin and I all came down with the flu last weekend. It was brutal. But Lex didn't get it. Neither did my in laws or my dad, who all had gotten the flu shot. Nana and Uncle Kris, who did not get the flu shot, also caught it. To summarize, if you didn't get the shot, you got sick. Except Lex. He stayed healthy and happy, and I credit that to the antibodies from my milk. It was like his own flu shot, but without the anitfreeze or whatever else they put in those things.
So now, I'm completely conflicted again. And still nursing the tyke. And considering getting a flu shot. (I know I'm definitely going to get one next October!)
2 comments:
Just a thought:
When Evelyn was around maybe 14/15 months, I tried the "don't offer, but don't refuse" concept, and that seemed to work really well for both of us.
I cut both my girls off at 13 months---of course that was partly because I was pregnant at that time after each of them. I just switched them out to organic milk----no issues, they didn't seem to care:D
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