Weaning Nora

The time has come to wean Nora. Nursing lately has constantly ended in her crying, as she wants to nurse longer than I let her. Even though she only nurses once in the morning, it puts a bad strain on our day to start off with her crying.

I am pleased that we made it to almost 2 years. I think its helped her through many colds, travelling, hard times with greater ease. Many people along the way believed I should have done it sooner. Patrick didn't want me to wean her-he wanted us to make it to two years. It makes me proud to have a husband who is so supportive of breast feeding.

There is serious social pressure to NOT nurse longer than a year in this country. The World Health Organization recommends that every child in the world be nursed for at least 2 years because of the health benefits for the child AND the mom. In our culture it is such a small percentage of kids that are nursed for longer than a year that its not understood by people. I was probably that way before kids, too.

Today is the second morning and it is going well. I give her a bottle with milk, which she likes. It takes her a while to drink, which I think she also likes. She is a gal who takes a while to wake up in the morning.

She and I were both ready for her to wean, I believe.

I don't feel as sad about it as I thought I might. However, I'm still nursing Stuart and plan to for up to 2 years as well. I imagine when the time comes when he doesn't nurse any more the emotions may run higher.

Zoya