Chase's Breastaurant

That's right. For the past 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days, my days have revolved around feeding this kid. So, for the past month or two I've been working on cutting him off- moving towards exclusively feeding him 'people' (ha!) food and attempting cows milk. If you've noticed through the infrequent postings and content of the ones I have posted, he's been more than cranky and discontent lately. I keep wondering what's wrong with him, is he sick, etc. It's so stressful.

Well, this weekend I had a certification class in Lactation Education. I plan on specializing in the mother-baby field with my degree in Health Education & Behavior, and so I thought this to be an essential component to the goal. I have been absolutely blown away by how much I did not know. Even as a second time mom, breastfeeding with both, even with the NICU fiascos, and even with what I've seen in my time in nursing school- I knew such a limited amount- even for my own experiences.

Anyhow- point is- towards the end of class, we reached the topic of "Weaning"- which of course I perked up to see what all I could learn in this. What I didn't expect to see was this slide that stated:

Weaning Distress in Child

• Increased fear of separation
• Increased whining, clinging, and crying
• Increased night waking
• Biting
• A new attachment to an object
• Withdrawal

Well... crap. I've been attributing these "issues" to everything from teething, illness, or just being downright spoiled- as I'm reminded by everyone that he needs me to spend less time with him so he's not so 'spoiled.'

But you know what? He's been a high-needs child since day 1 (and before), and my attempting to cut off his feedings- combined with the volunteer work that means leaving him for a few hours once a week, plus I've taken Kaely's field trip, had classes, and so on. So going from being with him 24/7, feeding him 3-6 times a day- to... this? Yeah... he might be on the little distressed side. This is crazy! 

So, I have reconsidered the urgency of doing this- and haven't decided a good reason to aside from feeling awkward about other people's judgments- but I think I have a big *&*#@ it attitude about all that anymore anyway. We'll see how it goes- day by day is all I ask. 

It has inspired me to start a new page- which, in good humor will be titled "Chase's Breastaurant"- where I will post a bunch of the facts, tips, and overall good smiles about breastfeeding- a neutral, nonjudgmental zone that I hope can help at least one mom and baby :)



Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!