A Heavy Drinker

My husband has been concerned for a long time about our son drinking from a bottle and being 2.  He was of the mindset that Will needed to ditch the bottle.  I was honestly cool with the bottle.  To be perfectly honest, I freaking hate sippy cups.  The leak like crazy, they grow mildew in hard to clean places and when you are looking for the one lid that matches it, its gone. The kids leave them tipped over and they spill. I just cant stand them.  Bottles were easy.  Sure, I hated cleaning them but they didn't royally leak and I had so many of them that finding a matching lid was a piece of cake. This past weekend, that all came to a stop.

A few weeks ago we put the halt on the heavy consumption of bottles.  We made them for nap time and bed time only.  This was great because I didn't have to wash SO many bottles. Will cried about it but eventually took his cup for drinks.  He did not however drink as much as he did when he drank from the bottle.  The cups just didn't do it for him. This was not a plus in my book.  Fluids are good and he was not hydrating at the rate he used to be.

Around this time it was becoming more and more clear that our daughter was not going to be a bottle drinker.  They did not do it for her.  This bothered me greatly because I had no alternative for when the boobing was to stop.  It was exciting thinking about being potentially done with bottles but I was at a loss as to how to put her down for naps and bed time.  Will had me trained.  Give a kid a bottle and you are good to go.  Now, I had to stop giving one a bottle and the other wouldn't take one.

That left me with needing to find the perfect cup.  HA! Even if I did find it, Kiki likes to take one sip, a gigantic sip, come up for air and on the next sip proceed to dribble it out her mouth.  Its so awesome.  Just as I am getting her figured out with a regular bed routine and watering routine we leave for our annual hot rod show in Oregon.  Wouldn't you know, I forgot to pack a bottle.  Genius Mom.  I did pack the kids matching straw cups which they were doing wonderfully with.  James decided to take this past weekend as the bottle breaking weekend.  I was stressed.

Our routine goes as such: I put Kiki down, James puts Will down.  Will is kinda weird in that he needs someone to hand out with when going to bed.  He is just like his dad and hates to be alone.  He has done this since birth.  Whenever I nursed him to sleep and put him in his crib no matter how long he had been asleep for, as soon as my arm was out from under him he was up and upset.  It got to be so ridiculous and exhausting for me I just brought him in and he slept with us.  One day he wanted to sleep in his own bed but after we moved into our new home he needed someone to hang out with him while he fell asleep.  James, hating to be alone, jumped at the chance.  If one of the kids does not go down though we run a huge risk of said child waking up other child.  My stress at not having a bottle was quite understandable.  It is a feat getting Kiki to sleep.  Not a hard feat but a feat and since we were all in the same room and Will had no bottle I was thinking it would be a long night.

It wasnt.  He drank milk from the straw cup after coming to terms with the fact that I forgot a bottle.  It took him a minute but he was quiet and went down rather easily.  The second night was crazy.  Kiki fell asleep on me while out for an evening walk and Will did the same.  It was too easy.

The third night we were back home.  In Wills room while getting him in pajamas I told him that I gave all our bottles to the Good Cheer.  I lied.  I told him that some little boy and his momma really needed the bottles and we gave them ours.  He laid on his bed and cried.  I let him cry and went into the kitchen to make him some milk in a cup.  James came in to his room and with just a few words had Will okay with drinking from a cup.  I hid the bottles in the cupboard in a paper bag and made the milk.  We tried one of the old sippy cups tonight as an experiment.  I put Kiki down and came out to work on the computer thinking everyone had fallen asleep.  Once settled in and working away happily James came out and let me know I was on Will duty.  On a side note, James wakes up at 3:30am so when Will doesn't go down it becomes my job to balance both kids sleeping.  Will let out a cry and woke up Kiki.  I rushed in, got her back to sleep, rushed in to Wills room to relieve James and proceeded to sing I've Been Working On the Railroad 9  times.  I finally stopped and I stopped answering his questions.  After a lot of tossing and turning, a lot of staring at me, the ceiling and the wall, after playing with my face and getting the blankets on and off he fell asleep.  I was going to wash the bottles I have in the sink but I am too tired and have even more pressing work than that to do.

So it begins. The weaning of two children.  One is good, the other is just beginning.  It may actually go quite smoothly considering everything that I have stressed about and then done has honestly gone quite well.  Its no easy task though and it bothers me greatly.  I am just thankful wedding season is over and I can stop thinking about how these kids better sleep so I can work.  Oh wait, that will never happen.

The Dairy Is Closed

It's so sad and yet so strange that its sad. I am not a fan of nursing. It's very time consuming. I hate wearing the nursing tanks, they are too hot. Yet nursing provides such an amazing bond with babies. I also know its the best thing for them. It literally sucks though.

With my son I had to go back to work. I pumped for 9 months, which was torture. He was half breast milk and half formula. The only reason I weaned him after a year was because I found out I was pregnant and I was told by my doctor I needed to stop. He only had boob milk at night anyway to put him to sleep. I stopped boobing the next day. It wasn't an ish. He didn't miss it, it never hurt and only when he cried from being hurt did I miss it. 

My daughter though was a different story. I gave away my pump because I knew I was 99% sure I was not going back to work. She had formula once when I had a dentist appointment and was fine with the bottle. A few weeks later I had another dentist appointment. This time it went horrible. She threw up for the next 24 hours and wouldn't touch a bottle or formula for almost a year. This was very stressing. She drinks a few sips from a bottle now that she is a year but she won't nurse it. She drinks from straws best and some sippy cups. She will not drink cows milk. Not warm, not cold, not anything. Argh. 

I think I weaned her out of guilt and frustration. My son was a year when weaned and I couldn't justify giving her a longer nursing period than him. Granted, she had more milk than he did, I couldn't grapple the idea of nursing her for who knows how long and only giving him a year. Also, she is a mommas girl. She won't let anyone hold her and really only let her dad take her a few months ago. I work as a photographer and I leave her for 10 hours to shoot a gig sometimes. Having her dependent on me was becoming a stressful problem. So I quit one day. It was without warning. I just decided no more. She did great. To put her to sleep I take her in her room, hold her in my arms, rock back and forth and sing in a whisper. She is asleep in less than 20 minutes. It's kinda awesome.

At the same time though I became depressed. My boobs became so painful I wanted to cry. They leaked also when I held her. I was incredibly sad. This freaked me out a bit.  I ate a ton of chocolate and when that ran out I baked a batch of cookies and pretty much ate them all. I didn't leave the house for 2 days. I didn't tell anyone I weaned her. Not even my husband.  I was incredibly strange about it.  After 2 days I couldnt take it. I burst into tears when I told my husband.  The crying helped the pain go away but 2 weeks later I am STILL leaking milk.  

I believed those nurses when they told me I needed to pump and feed or the milk would run out.  I believed theses stories about how you needed to release the milk or you would run out. I guess with my son it was true but with my daughter it is a different and annoying story.  My boobs go in and out of feeling like a rock.  I leak milk when I hold her against me.  I wonder if its my body or nature telling me I weaned her too early.  Then I remind myself thats ludicrous and I keep cleaning the house. 

So its done.  I feel better.  The stress of putting her to sleep without the boob is over.  I need to get a rocker because my back is killing me. Next milestone is getting her to fall asleep with her dad rocking and singing.  Once that is done grandmas are next and then DATE NIGHT!!!