Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Totally Weaned Off!

(This is a recent photo of Juan Or at 1 year 3-and-a-half months old. Haha...big boy already...don't wanna suck from Mommy's breast anymore!)




It has already been 1 month since Juan Or weaned himself off from suckling at Mommy's breast. During that 1-month period, Mommy had tried offering him to suckle on the breast, but Juan Or refused. How did he refuse? This was how it went - Mommy first asked Juan Or whether he wanted to suck Mommy's ne-neh (breast in Hokkien). Juan Or would then respond by shrugging his head. Then to make sure that Juan Or really understand what Mommy meant, Mommy would lift up the blouse and offer the ne-neh to him. Then Juan Or would give Mommy a sheepish grin as if to say,"What!? I'm so big already, some more still want me to suck from your breast?"


There was another occasion when Mommy was lying on the bed and Juan Or was crawling and playing on the bed. Then, just to test him out or to tease him, Mommy would lift up the blouse and offer it to him. Juan Or would respond by going near Mommy, as if he has the desire to suckle again, but when he got near, he gave Mommy a kind of sheepish grin as if to mean that although his heart wants to suckle on Mommy's breast, but he felt himself too old for all this!


Some history about Juan Or's auto-weaning process: Mommy had been breastfeeding Juan Or (and pumping breastmilk as well!) regularly for 1 year. After one year, Mommy stopped pumping breastmilk because Juan Or's intake (directly from the breast) started to become irregular. There were occasions when Juan Or didn't suckle from Mommy breast for a straight 3 days. During those 3 days, Mommy had offered him the breast when he was still sleepy but partially awake, but the moment Mommy put him near the breast, he struggled and protested. So Mommy didn't pursue further. However, after those few days of not suckling, finally Juan Or suckled again. This went on until about 1 month ago when Juan Or didn't want to suckle at all from Mommy's breast. As of now (as in not suckling for 1 solid month), if Mommy is to use the fingertips to squeeze the nipple, some milk will still ooze out. However, Mommy has not felt any breast engorgement at all during the 1-month period even though milk production is still on. Mommy guess Mommy's desire to breastfeed Juan Or is still very strong although Juan Or doesn't want to be breastfed anymore. Oh.....Mommy definitely misses those tender moments when Mommy was breastfeeding Juan Or!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

He's more conscious nowadays. Should be following whatever his Pa Pa is doing soon...

mNhL said...

U have such a strong determination. I can't even breastfeed my 2 kids (only for a short 1 month).

Cynful Pleasure said...

oh.. I can't imagine when I wean Princess off my boobs.. and I am looking forward for more of those moment in time.. and Juan Or is a big big boy already.. like what he says..

Unknown said...

Could it be milk quality started dropping when you stop expressing and thus it does not taste as good as before? Does Juan Or take any formula now? Anyway, you have done a good job for bf him for more than a year. :)

Alice Phua said...

Narelleseline - yes, definitely more conscious and aware of things happening around him. And his Papa doesn't like to drink milk. My MIL said my hubby rejected milk the moment he reached 1 yr old. Probably Juan Or is following suit.

mNhL - thanks! Well...everyone has their preferences and routine.

little prince's mummy - thanks for visiting.

Cynthia - yes, i can understand how strong the mummy-baby bond is. Enjoy those moments cukup-cukup before time is up!

Cheeyee - yes, can't rule that out as a possibility. Yes, Juan Or is on formula already. Actually I started supplementing breastmilk with formula when he was about 10+ or 11 months old. Then by 1 yr old, he's fully on formula at the babysitter's house (but suck from my breast when in own house).