All Done!

It is official! (I think) Carly is finished nursing. I have been fretting this moment since she was about 10 months old. I wanted her to wean herself, but I also was not very excited about the idea of nursing her for another 10+ months. I loved the bonding time she and I had with each feeding, but also longed for a nap or evening when someone else could put her down calmly and with minimal tears. By Carly's first birthday she was only nursing before nap times and bed time. By Thanksgiving she was only nursing at bedtime. She had chosen not to nurse December 19, but was very adamant that she would nurse the next evening. However, on Christmas Day she decided she didn't want to nurse anymore. Dave and I bathed her and got her all ready for bed like normal; however, when she and I sat down she immediately put her head down on me and made herself comfortable. She and I sat like this for a minute before I picked her up and held her. We swayed in front of her pack 'n play, with her head resting on my shoulder for a few minutes before I put her down.

The next night Dave and I got Carly ready like normal, but wasn't too sure about how our routine would progress between getting Carly in her pajamas and putting her down in her bed. Again, she wasn't interested in nursing, just going to bed. On December 27th (night 3) we decided Dave would try to put Carly down, again - no nursing, no tears. The following night wasn't quite the same. Carly had "run" on the beach and was VERY tired. I was anticipating needing to nurse her to help her settle down; however, Carly had a very different plan. Dave and I got her ready for bed, and as he turned to walk out of the room, Carly began to fuss. As soon as he turned back around and walked towards her the fussing stopped and she nose dived for him. Obviously, she wanted her daddy to put her to bed again.

We returned home tonight from our Christmas travels, so I was again curious about how our bedtime routine would go. Would she revert back to our "home" routine (which included nursing) or our "traveling" routine (which hasn't been including nursing)? Dave and I decided we would let him put her to bed again, to help her not revert back. However, she again showed us how she is slowly becoming an independent little girl. Once in her pajamas, Carly fussed a little bit for Dave, dive bombed for me, sat on my lap to finish her cup of milk from dinner, and then went to bed fuss free.

We are officially on night number 5 of no nursing, at this point there really is no going back.

I am completely blown away that the books were right (again). When Carly was done nursing she would just stop. I never in my wildest motherhood dreams thought she and I would have nursed for 14 months and 2 days, and that she would never be served formula. There were days/nights when it was VERY difficult. I pumped exclusively for 2 months to increase my supply, until Carly went on a bottle strike, eventually was able to create quite a freezer stock that was going to be used when I returned to work; however, is now being used on her cereal and morning cup of milk, and avoided having to give money to the formula companies!!