Weaning, just like most aspects of breastfeeding, can be tricky and confusing. When to do it? How to do it? How to stop everyone, especially me, from crying? OK, just kidding (sort of) about that last one, but to be totally frank; every time I dropped a feeding I was questioning my decision to wean. Still, like most things that are challenging, there is much to be learned, right? Specifically, there are things you learn about your baby when you night wean.
Perhaps it’s because we’re finally getting enough sleep to look at our child clearly, or maybe it's because we're slightly more patient now that our own sleep is most likely increasing and improving. Perhaps it’s even because we're getting the swing of this whole parenting thing, so we're more confident in saying we're not only learning, we know what we're learning. Or, maybe it’s a combination of all of the above, or none of the above and I'm still not getting a necessary, humane amount of sleep. Whatever the reason, it’s a revealing time for both mom and baby since one is starting to feel more human, and one is starting to act more human.
If you’re in the trenches of night feedings still, allow me to share what’s in store. Or, if you’re already through it, we can revisit what probably happened that you may have been too disoriented to commit to memory. Of course, for those of you who have yet to experience it, hang in there. Your time will come.