Waking up Monday morning (Aug 12), I was nervous about how Cate would react to skipping “Mommy Milk.” But I was hoping that if I kept us moving from potties to breakfast, that she might not notice.
Cate woke first, and after pottying, she and I went to the kitchen to start making breakfast. So far, so good!
Nane arrived a little before 8 am. Sam woke a moment or two later. Cate stayed in the kitchen with Nane while I went to gather Sam and take her to the potty.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t had a chance yet to alert Nane that I was changing the schedule. So a few minutes later, she sent Cate to find Mama, armed with my green hot pads, all ready for nursing.
I took them from Cate and thanked her, but I didn’t put them on. She asserted, “Mommy Milk.” I paused and replied, as studiedly as I could muster, “we’re going to wait and have milk later, before dinner.”
Cate, who was hungry, looked up sharply and said, “No! Mommy Milk, NOW!” I told her gently, “no, we’ll have milk later. Let’s go have breakfast together,” and Cate began to cry.
I soothed her best that I could. And then I think I distracted her with an offer of popsicles for breakfast, which she accepted readily.
Tuesday went smoother, and we managed to avoid any triggers related to nursing.
Wednesday after nap time, Sam played with a bath dolphin. At first, she tried to put it in the “pocket” of my neckline. But then, she turned the dolphin around to face my sternum, shoved it down toward my bra, and said, “hungry.”
As I asked Sam whether the dolphin was hungry, she replied, “si,” and started to make slurping sounds. Cate looked up, asserted, “Mommy milk,” and added, “Cate hungry, too.”
Again, I steered us toward the kitchen and a meal, and again they acquiesced.
Other that those two and perhaps a third incident, the girls have adapted well to nursing just once a day. It has felt freeing to be able to let a wakey girl go eat breakfast and let her sister sleep in, instead of waking her so two can nurse.
A couple of you expressed concern that I should keep offering to nurse as long as a girl was interested. I genuinely appreciate your care for their well-being.
When the girls were new little babies, we nursed them for sustenance and immune support. But now that they’re toddlers on a robust diet that includes cow milk, chicken, tofu, broccoli, mangoes, and all manner of other good food (and cheddar bunnies), the pediatrician calls what we’re doing “comfort nursing.”
I surmise that Cate’s interest in nursing has only a little to do with the milk, and a lot to do with cuddling, singing, and enjoying my (un)divided attention. So as we shift away from nursing, I’m making an effort to make sure that our day still includes hugs, silly songs, and one-on-one conversation.
We’re still nursing before dinner, although we’ve run late a couple of nights in the last week and I almost forgot (?!?) to nurse. But I enjoy it and they seem to, too. I’m not sure how long we’ll keep going, but it’s probably days or weeks, rather than months.
Also, I’m not the only one changing our nursing routine. Two days ago, Cate introduced a twist of her own, requesting that we nurse “out here” on the living room futon instead of in the bedroom. Did I mention that they have opinions?
In the meantime, I’m starting to exercise again. I’ve only managed a couple of weekend bike rides so far, but that’s more cardio training than I’ve done in a long time. We’ll see how things go.