The end of an era

I didn't mention this in Lily's 14 month update because I wasn't entirely certain we'd passed this milestone at the time but it appears now that we definitely have.

Lily is officially weaned.

She actually hasn't breastfed since about a week before she turned 14 months old but she had gone a couple of days without breastfeeding previously so I wasn't completely sure she wouldn't still nurse again. This was a bittersweet transition for me. She's growing up and that's hard to face even though it's exciting and I love seeing her grow and learn. But this was a major physical bond between us. It was the one major thing that only she and I shared. No one else could provide that nourishment and comfort to her. There are still times when she only wants comfort from me but those are becoming fewer too and the connection isn't as tangible. The actual process of weaning wasn't terribly difficult and almost happened on it's own.

We didn't attempt to start weaning at all until Lily turned one. Breast milk (or formula) is supposed to be her major source of nutrition until she turned one. Other food is just for practice and fun--not for it's nutritional value. I think parents/people are often in a rush for babies to grow up. I'm excited about things to come but I'd be happy to keep Lily as my little baby as long as possible. Once she turned one, whole milk was OK. Adjusting to that took a little while but she adapted quickly. We switched to whole milk and dropped bottles all in one swoop. I thought it might be easier to go through one difficult patch rather than two (by switching to whole milk and then switching to sippy cups later). My next step was to just stop offering breastfeeding as an option. If she asked I let her but I didn't offer it. I kept around our morning feeding/cuddle time the longest but eventually I just stopped that as well. She never really put up a fuss about it. She can't say she wants milk or wants to breastfeed verbally but she has been signing "milk" for months and months. Fortunately for me probably, that's a generic "milk" and I don't know when it meant breast milk or whole milk. So if she signed "milk" I gave her milk in a sippy cup. She didn't seem to mind. About a week before she turned 14 months she nursed for the last time (although we didn't know for sure it'd be the last time then).

Overall it went about as best as I could have hoped for. I don't think it was particularly rough on her or me. I don't think we rushed things. We didn't stop the day she turned one. These were all things that were important to me. Before Lily, I was always concerned about her getting to the point of being able to "ask for it" and knowing that was too old to nurse. I don't feel that way any more. I wouldn't feel like a bad mother if we were still nursing now or even 6 months from now. I feel like it was a slow transition for us over almost two months and it was the right time for us.

Breastfeeding was a wonderful thing for me. It was difficult at times but rewarding and convenient too. I had hoped not to have to give Lily any formula at all but in the end she did get formula at day care for a few months when I decided to cut down and then completely quit pumping at work. It wasn't what I hoped for but it was fine and she (obviously) is fine. I am definitely proud that I supported most of her nutrition through her first 12-14 months of life.

Lily's first "solid" meal

Lily had her first solid meal on the 21st. Her 6-month well baby visit with her pediatrician is coming up so we wanted to start solids just before her visit in case anything came up. We've wanted to wait to feed Lily solids until 6 months because it lowers her risk of developing an allergic reaction to something she eats, she'll be less likely to develop diabetes and plus several other positive outcomes.

We decided to start her on an organic rice cereal just because it's easy and there's really no chance of an allergic reaction. Plus it's fortified with iron since she'll no longer get enough iron from me starting at around 6 months. Her cereal is mixed with breastmilk.

We're glad we waited until we did. Lily didn't have a tongue thrust reflex at all (younger babies will push the food back out of their mouths with their tongue because they don't know how to swallow yet). Lily figured it out from the first bite--in her typical over-achiever fashion.

Lily is eating one "meal" of solids right now. For quite some time, the solid food she's eating will just be to learn how to eat and won't really provide much for her. For her first year of life breastmilk will still be her main source of calories and nutrition, as is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Lily's first vegetable was carrots and her first fruit was bananas. She has also eaten pears. I will be making as much of Lily's food as possible. She is eating jarred carrots because carrots have a tendency to be high in nitrates which is dangerous for babies. Jarred carrots are tested to make sure their nitrate levels are safe. Lily is also eating an all-organic diet. We eat as much organic food as possible so it only makes sense that we'd want the same for Lily. We are especially concerned about keeping nasty pesticides and other chemicals out of her little body. Tests have been done on babies' blood looking at contaminates and the results were scary. No thanks!


Yum-O!

Messy face. Lily loves the Cat in the Hat.