Time to Wean? Nursing a Teething Toddler

Well let me just say that I am still a fighter and I am continuing to nurse my little one, despite her shark teeth and "mean-girl" behavior.  I have no doubt that this is the point many mothers decide it's time to wean their babes from the boob and it's probably due to pressure from family or friends more than the pain itself. Don't get me wrong, the pain from a true bite HURTS! Especially when you continue to nurse on that side to prevent another uncomfortable problem, engorgement! Ugh! Motherhood during the infant-toddler-hood definitely get its credit but mothers really do deserve a Medal of Honor. I know some days I'd love to be acknowledged for the hard work I put in most days. But the fact of the matter is, it goes mostly unnoticed and the one person you truly want a 'Thank You' from is the one person who can't even comprehend what that means yet, your little babe. The precious bundle of innocent joy that has now turned into a feisty, irritated, and demanding little shit, whom you love dearly with all your heart and have no idea how it got this way. Let me tell you right now that it is very very common for our babes to be this way and it will one day pass, hopefully sooner than later for most of us!  It makes sense that they are this way, I mean they can't yet communicate with words how they feel nor have they learned ways to cope or manage the instant frustration they feel when they can't get what they want.  Not only that, but the pain they must feel as their entire mouth is swelling up since about 4 months and these hard, sharp, bony spears are piercing through their sensitive gums every few weeks or months. I would be frustrated too if my mommy wasn't making the pain go away fast enough!

That leads me into nursing. There are so many benefits to breastfeeding from the moment they're born through much of their early years.  One most important to me is how breast milk provides antibodies and immune support for their little bodies, preventing most allergies and illnesses from developing. Another amazing benefit is the proteins that help your babe's physical and neurological development... GENIUS! Okay, maybe not genius, but close. 

But it's the COMFORT of being closely nestled next to the one person who is always there for you. This beautiful and biological reason is what keeps me trucking along through the pain. Your breast becomes a safe-haven for your little babe when they are tired, frightened, upset, sad, overwhelmed, uncomfortable, sick, and in pain. Personally, the pain I feel every so often when she has to bite down for whatever reason, seems minor compared to the pain she feels all the time while she's teething. So I don't mind (and I say this now after I've just woken up from getting a few hours sleep) her night-wakings when she wakes up, 2-3 times a night, from the annoying and irritating ache of her gums and all she wants is to suckle the pain to a more tolerable level and she goes back to sleep for a little longer.  I don't mind the occasional, though recently more frequent, chomps like an alligator, to relieve some achy tension, because I know that by allowing her to nurse, she is getting all that she needs from me and that's the best I can offer her.  

Now I do mind, but have to keep reminding myself that it'll one day end, when she grabs my face and almost tears my skin off when she's frustrated. I'm still working on my reaction to that, but a firm NO and some un-attention for a moment hopefully gets the point across that this behavior is not acceptable.  I can only hope that as she learns to communicate through words, that we come to a point where I can "rationalize" with her.

What have your experiences been as a first-time mom? Did you continue to nurse through it all? Did you wean? 

Must be the Dairy

It's been almost 7 months and I have pretty much figured out what ails my daughter. In the beginning when we'd nurse, she would no doubt spit up most of what I thought she ate. She had an ongoing stuffy nose, was always dealing with gas, though my milk always maintained an even balance of foremilk/hindmilk (as showcased in her diapers!)  But I kept reading that a fussy baby who spits up and has gas can be because of what's in her diet. Dairy is usually the #1 culprit. Thanks to KellyMom... THE best resource for breastfeeding information! Animal protein other than your own. It's not lactose, because that's the milk sugar you make in breast milk. It's no different in a goat or cow as it is in us. Anyway, I decided to cut it out completely at about 4 months. Sure enough, she quit spitting up, almost completely! And her gas discomfort and stuffy seemed to clear up. 

Then one day, while visiting family in Michigan, I found it entirely too hard to eat anything that was prepared at our family's houses because somehow it all involved dairy in some way and I was not about to pay top dollar for non-dairy options for the few days we'd be visiting. So I would either A) not eat those items and be left hungry since I didn't get the potato salad with steak, etc. or B) I'd eat a tiny bit of whatever it was.  Well I did this several times throughout our stay and my little girl didn't seem effected hardly at all. So I figured hmm, it's been almost two months, maybe her digestive system matured some more and she can tolerate dairy now. :)  (Not so much... read on)

So excited to eat dairy again, I ran out and bought some organic strawberry ice cream, dairy creamer, dairy butter, sour cream, and cream cheese, also having cheese on whatever we'd order out. Things seemed to be going rather well until a few weeks later... Poor girl has been a moody, cranky, fussy, even colicky child! She's spitting up more and more, stuffy nose is back, and she definitely has more gas. I was determined to figure out what was causing this (not thinking it was diary yet). I knew it had to be a physical issue. (We follow the WonderWeeks and she has been right on with those fussy periods and the 3 C's) Since this behavior was happening in between WonderWeek Leaps, it must be physical. Well she is also so so so close to crawling and pulling herself up to standing.  She is literally about to hit the ground running! SHE WANTS TO MOVE! :)  Other than it being a trying time for her developmentally, I put the pieces together and realized I noticed this behavior starting at the same time I added dairy 100% back into my diet. 

So I'm back to no dairy and I hope that in the next couple weeks, we have our smiley and happy-go-lucky little girl back!  And on the move!  Look out!