Thursday, October 30, 2014

Weaning woes

weaning woes
I've been toying with the idea of slowly weaning Serene, and started consistently going through with it last week. I cut out the two naptime feedings (still nursing first thing in the morning when she wakes up and last thing in the evening before bed), replacing the nursing sessions with soy milk, but Serene has declared war. War on the soy milk, which means negligible sips here and there before the cup gets flung across the room (on the bright side, at least she takes little sips of the soy milk, for she wouldn't take sips of cow's milk at all). War on me, which means a fussier, more whiny, and more clingy babe throughout the day. War on naptime, which means screaming for an hour and a half before she falls asleep, if she naps at all. And if she naps at all, it is for 30-40 minutes throughout the entire day, rather than the usual 2-3 hours throughout the day. In short, weaning is a culprit for our sadness and weariness of late. I was at my wit's end last week. By Friday, the week's fatigue had caught up to me. I was second guessing all the motherhood decisions I've ever made. So I hauled Serene's nap-refusing tush to Target in my pajamas, unbrushed hair, and unmade up face. We ambled aimlessly for an hour so I could distract her from the monotony of home, the blasted soy milk, and her crib prison.

Now that I look back on it, I can't help but laugh. Last week was pretty grim, but praise God every day is a new day with mercies anew. We're all adjusting and learning, and I'm foreseeing weeks, maybe even months, of weaning in our future. Please feel free to share advice and recommendations! I continue to learn that mamahood has its rosy moments, but there are so many not-so-rosy moments as well. Right now, those include weaning woes, but they will only be something else later on. Regardless, all moments are glimpses of the great calling I have to teach and disciple my little love to fear God over all else (in this case, breastmilk). But who am I kidding? I feel so small, so inept, so unworthy of this daunting task before me, particularly as she gets older (and more sinful). I need so much grace and strength to be the example Serene needs. How can I teach her to fear God when I so often fail to be in awe of Him myself? Who am I to tell her to stop whining when I keep complaining about her whining? Such a timely reminder of how God perfects His power in weakness because boy, do I feel weak! Thankful the Lord paid for my sins on the cross so that I can come to the throne of grace. Praying I would emanate grace to Serene as we learn to teach and discipline her for her good and God's glory - that she would see that she, her daddy, and I are all in dire need of God's kindness and mercy on the cross!

3 comments:

  1. what a little rascal! i love going to target and walking around.

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  2. Hang in there, pretty mama. What i did with mine when it came to switching from formula (i couldn't breastfed due to the med i took) to cow's milk was that i gradually mixed in cow's milk in her bottle with her formula so it wouldn't be such drastic change. I slowly increased more cow's milk and voila!! I was concerned about weaning her off her bottle and a pacifier too but at the same time i strongly believed in "she will quit when she's ready". A lot of mamas probably give me a look but i let mine drink from her bottle until about 18 months then she just stopped. Same with a pacifier, one day she just quit (before 20 months) on her own with lots of encouragement. Being a mom sure has a lot of challenging times. New challenges for each age group too. Good luck and don't put too much stress on yourself.

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  3. I weaned my daughter before she was one year old. I didn't produce enough milk after about 9-10 months breastfeeding her. I too gave my daughter soymilk since she refused to drink the cow's milk (then we found out later on that she was allergic to cow's milk...we found out the hard way, anyways..diff topic lol). I did almost the same thing you are doing. Switching the milk gradually---breast milk in the morning and at night, soymilk during the day. It took us just 2 days to wean her off of breastmilk. I guess she was too hungry to fight it lol and just started drinking soy milk lol. I understand your frustration. I think every mom out there can relate to that! Hang in there. You two can get thru this together!

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