I previously wrote about what breastfeeding was like at the 9 month mark. Making it to one year of exclusive breastfeeding seemed like such a lofty goal when we first started, but Olive turned 1 this month and we made it!

I’ve loved the breastfeeding experience and the intensely close bond I share with Olive, but the journey hasn’t been without bumps in the road. I struggled with breastfeeding Charlie so I exclusively pumped until he was 9 months old and quit only due to allergies. I worked hard to increase my supply with both kids. I battled several clogged ducts and mastitis twice. I haven’t slept through the night since before Olive was born since she still doesn’t sleep through the night (and probably won’t until I night wean). I’ve been pregnant or breastfeeding — which means largely alcohol-free — for almost 4 years! It was definitely all worth it, but now that we’re at the one year mark, what now?

 
My buddy and me!

ADVERTISEMENT

Olive still seems like such a baby to me since she’s army crawling and isn’t cruising yet. I carry and wear her everywhere! I feel like she still needs me and I’m not ready to push her to wean anytime soon. I have no problem breastfeeding beyond a year, but lately I’ve been getting a little concerned that Olive shows absolutely no interest in reducing her number of daily nursing sessions like other babies her age seem to be doing. She loves solids and will always eat even right after nursing, but we’re still nursing at least 4 times a day – in the morning, after both naps, and at bedtime. I also nurse her for any night wakings, which can be anywhere from once a night, to 4-5 times a night when she’s sick like she has been the past couple of weeks. She pretty much will nurse any time I offer it to her, and even when I don’t! For instance, sometimes I doze off on the floor when I’m playing with her in the mornings, and she wakes me up by pawing at my chest because she wants to nurse!

Why Wean?

Ideally I wanted to wean Olive by 15 months for several reasons:

– By that point she’ll probably be a walking, talking toddler, and I thought that I’d just be more comfortable weaning by then.  I’ve heard of 3+ year olds that constantly touched their mom’s breasts in public, even after they weaned because it was a source of comfort, and I definitely did not want that to happen to me. I also know of moms who continued to nurse successfully well into toddlerhood with boundaries in place — only at home, and only at specific times. I’m fine with the latter, but I am concerned the later I wean, the harder it will be, and we might face the chest grabbing issue!

– Olive is very attached to me, and I want her to have more chances to bond with Mr. Bee.  I feel like he missed a big bonding experience during Olive’s infancy that he was able to share with Charlie, since Mr. Bee gave Charlie his bedtime bottle every evening, but Olive wouldn’t take a bottle from him. As long as Olive is nursing, I think I will be #1 in her life.

– Right now I’m the only person who can get Olive down at bedtime and the middle of the night, and one of my selfish reasons for wanting to wean is because I worry I’ll never be able to leave her!

Nursing in Public

Before having kids, nursing in public was one of my biggest fears. I would just bring a bottle of pumped milk out with me when we just had Charlie. But finding time to pump and then feed when you have two kids was just not feasible, so I quickly became very comfortable nursing Olive at the playground, at friend’s houses, on an airplane…. pretty much anywhere. Breastfeeding is easier now than it was at 9 months because I don’t nurse Olive in public anymore. Now that she gets a good portion of her daily calories from three solids meals a day, she can eat regular food and doesn’t need to nurse in the daytime if we’re out and about. I also wouldn’t feel comfortable nursing Olive in public for much longer anyway.

Pumping

My original breastfeeding plan was to nurse until 1 and then wean, but continue to pump until I’d built up enough stash to provide her with breastmilk until she was 2. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding until the age of 1, the World Health Organization suggests breastfeeding until the age of 2 and beyond. Wanting to wean around 1 was a comfort level thing for me, but if my body was producing milk and Olive could still benefit, I thought that I might continue pumping once a day even after weaning.

But I have to admit that I’m sick of pumping and can’t wait until the day I quit. I’m sick of pumping, washing parts, freezing and defrosting milk, all of it. So over the past two months, I’ve slowly been reducing my number of pumping sessions as Olive has been increasing her solids intake. When Olive was younger than 9 months, I was pumping 5 times a day — 4 in the daytime and once after she went to bed. By 10 months I was pumping 4 times a day, by 11 months 3 times a day, and by 12 months I was pumping 1-2 times a day.

I think I’ll keep up with one pumping session in the daytime for a little while, but I really do want to quit sometime in the very near future. Oddly enough as much of a pain pumping is, I know a lot of moms have mixed feelings when they finally quit. It becomes such a part of your daily life for a year+, and it’s hard to stop when you know that you’re still producing milk.

The Weaning Plan

As of now, I don’t really have a weaning plan. I’m just going to take it one day at a time. I’ll check back in at 18 months or when I wean — whichever comes first!

I think breastfeeding for one year has been one of my greatest accomplishments as a mom, and I feel very fortunate that we were able to make it this far. But why does Olive get sick so often when she’s EBF?!

Where are you in your breastfeeding/pumping journey, and do you have any plans for weaning/quitting?

Mrs. Bee’s Breastfeeding Journey part 4 of 7

1. I Didn't Love Breastfeeding by Mrs. Bee
2. Breastfeeding the Second Time Around by Mrs. Bee
3. Breastfeeding at 9 Months by Mrs. Bee
4. Breastfeeding at 1 Year by Mrs. Bee
5. Why I Want to Wean... and Why I Don't Want to Wean by Mrs. Bee
6. Adventures in Weaning by Mrs. Bee
7. Olive is Weaned. by Mrs. Bee