finally!!

in case you are wondering what the title of the post is all about...
kienan has finally been weaned!!! praise God! :)
so, you must be wondering.. how did i wean him?

if you've read one of my earlier posts, i've been considering weaning kienan off the breast since a while ago.. just that it's been quite tough battling it out with him at night. and i decided that i had to take leave for a week in order to wean him, so that i wouldn't have to go to work looking zombi-fied...

so, this was the plan:
- mon to thurs: leave him at my MIL's place overnight. (this meant that he didn't come home for 3 consecutive nites..) it was really quite sad for me, cause kienan hasn't been away from me for more than a night since he was born. but oh wells... i had to make a sacrifice.. and it's time to learn how to release him, instead of insisting that he be with me all the time. (don't want him to grow up to be a mummy's boy even when he's 21 right?!)
- thurs nite onwards, he comes back home, and i continue to reinforce the fact that "mummy doesn't have anymore milk" and that he has to drink milk from a bottle.. and we will make the milk for him. :)

he came back on thurs, and he still asked to be nursed...
since we'd already decided that this was the time to wean him, i had to keep to my end of the bargain and tell him that "mummy as no more milk". he was so upset he cried and bawled... i felt so sad to see him like that. but i had to persevere.... after a good 20 mins of insisting that he wanted to nurse at my breast only to hear me say that i don't have any more milk for him.. he finally said, "mummy, make milk".

it's amazing to see how he really comprehends us now.. i confirmed with him that "mummy is going to make milk and put it in a bottle", and he echoed "mummy make milk in bottle". following which, i promptly made the milk in a bottle for me, and gave him his bottle to "shake shake", after which, he lay down and said, "mummy, open". and then proceeded to down the bottle of milk after i uncapped it for him.

my little boy has grown up! wow... it was a bitter-sweet sensation when i realised that he has reached a point where he's ok to not nurse.

it's monday today, and he's been home since last thursday night.
i'm really thankful that he's been alright to taking milk from a bottle now.. of course, he has been trying his luck at getting me to nurse him now and then. but he usually relents and takes the bottle after i firmly tell him that "mummy has no more milk for you".

lesson learnt here about weaning:
- consistency in saying "no" to nursing, and giving him lots of reassurance and love when he's not being nursed.

kienan now likes to tell me, "mummy, big hug", whenever he wants to nurse and i say no.
it's as though this is the other way i can show him how much i love him... it's like his "fall-back' whenever i say "no" to nursing him. and i make sure that i shower him with lots of big hugs and kisses in return for not nursing him anymore.

okies, this is it! a super long post about how kienan is finally off the breast! :)
thank You, Jesus! because it's really all in His time... and God made it such a smooth process...

fyi, the ticker-tape counter for how long i've breastfed kienan has finally been removed.
and i'm proud to say that i've been able to nurse him for 20 months!!!

i'm such a cow... moo....