The Beginning of the End of Breastfeeding

I suppose that title sounds a little more dramatic than I intended, but that doesn't negate the fact that it is a pretty big deal to me that I have dropped one of Lilah's daytime nursing sessions. As I mentioned in my last post, it seemed to make sense to drop the mid-morning feeding that she normally would have had when she woke from her morning nap given that we have eliminated said nap. She is still nursing 3 times a day (and twice in the night... but that is a separate issue altogether) so we have plenty of opportunities to strengthen our mother-daughter bond, relax, and enjoy a few quiet moments together. Even so, it makes me sad to think that I only have a few more months left to enjoy it.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the breastfeeding experience and it will be quite a transition for me when I give it up (probably more so than for Lilah). I know I don't have to give it up because many people breastfeed for much longer than I plan to, but I am going to given that I would like to have another child at some point in the not-so-distant future and don't want to be nursing two children at the same time nor do I want to be breastfeeding a child that is old enough to ask to be nursed. I do plan on continuing to nurse first thing in the morning and at night before bedtime for an indefinite period of time (most likely until I am well into my next pregnancy unless Lilah gives them up on her own), but by the time Lilah is 18 months I will most likely have given up her mid-afternoon feeding and both night feedings.

I will be spending the next few months making the most of the nursing sessions Lilah and I have left and will look forward to starting the process all over again with our next child. At this point in time, I really can't foresee myself doing much of anything differently with the next child aside from perhaps trying to reduce night feedings down to one per night earlier such that it doesn't become as much of a habit as it has with Lilah (again, a completely separate issue that I will probably discuss in another post).

One nap a day...still adjusting!

We have officially made the transition to one nap a day! Over the course of the last couple of weeks, Lilah was skipping her afternoon nap more often than she was taking one so I decided it must be time. We have been on the one-nap-a-day schedule for about 3 days now and things seem to be working themselves out. Lilah has been eating an earlier lunch at around 11:30am and then going down for her nap at about 12:00/12:15pm. Ideally, I would like her to be eating lunch closer to noon and going down for her nap at about 1:00pm. I will try to push her a little later each day and we will get there eventually. As with any transition, I need to be patient.

Of course, there are pros and cons to our new routine...

Pros:

+She has been falling asleep almost instantly because she is dead tired come nap time and she has been sleeping for about 2 hours which is about the same amount of time she was sleeping for when she was taking two naps.
+She is getting a solid chunk of sleep rather than two shorter stints which I think is more beneficial as far as sleep goes.
+We have a much longer chunk of time in the morning to get out and/or play

Cons:

-Lunch time has become a little more challenging because she is quite tired and, therefore, more fussy and less likely to eat a decent lunch (I am hoping this will change as we settle into our new routine).
-I haven't been getting through the shower and ready for the day until after noon which needs to change. I am planning on getting into the routine of showering before my husband leaves for work which should solve this particular problem.
-I am still adjusting to not having a break in the morning. The days seem much longer, but I am sure I will adjust as well.

Other notes:

-The change in nap schedule has had no effect on her nighttime wakings. I had hoped that perhaps giving up one of her naps would lead to longer stretches of sleep at night. No such luck!
-I have decided to drop her mid-morning nursing session and replace it with a snack. I am not ready to give up nursing, but because she would normally nurse when she woke from her morning nap it just seemed to make sense to drop that particular feeding along with the nap. She isn't asking to be nursed and doesn't seem to miss it. I felt as though she needed to be eating a little more solid food than she was so this should help with that as well.

This is only the beginning of a year of constant change! Hold onto your hats, hopefully it is not going to be too bumpy of a ride.

On a different note, it is becoming more challenging to find time to sit down and write these days, but stay tuned because one of my resolutions was to make more time to blog. I have a lot of ideas for posts and several in the works!