It’s gradually started to dawn on me that people seem to have a bit of a problem with me continuing to breastfeed and I really don’t understand why
Littlest is a whole, chubby, gorgeous 9 months old and, like most babies at 9 months has just discovered that people can go and They Don’t Come Back! I think it’s fair to say that he isn’t enjoying the realisation that Mummy Can Go and it hasn’t been helped by someone deciding to do 4 teeth in the space of a couple of weeks. Oh and did I mention that he has ManFlu?
Breastfeeding for us works – we use it reconnect after I’ve been mean and left him for the day at work and it works to mean we get some sleep at night, we cuddle up together and the lovely hormones help us both fall asleep
Yes I am still pumping during the day but, as it did with the girls, it’s starting to reduce as they are less interested in milk during the day
So far so good – we’ve found a balance that works for us and fits our life – I don’t know when we will stop nursing but I know that at some stage we will. At the moment I’m focused on carrying on for a while and for at least until his first MRI under general anaesthetic next year – I know from experience this won’t be a fun experience and if I can still give him the comfort of nursing then I want to be able to do that
But these choices have nothing to do with everyone else, they don’t hurt anyone and they really should have no impact outside of our little family circle
Except it seems that some people seem to feel that my continuing to breastfeed is some kind of judgement on their choices and really trust me it isn’t – I’m fully aware that my choices aren’t for everyone. I totally get that most people don’t want to pump at work and I understand that but for me it is something I feel that I really need to do for my babies. I totally get that most people have absolutely no desire to nurse once their baby has teeth and I understand that but I travel hopefully that I’ll be able to work this stage through without too much tooth vs nipple (I REALLY hope this works out the right way). I totally get that most people get to a stage when they are done and that’s great if that’s what you really want
But none of this has anything to do with my choice to breastfeed
Yet when people at work realise I’m STILL breastfeeding, their reactions are usually defensive or negative- ‘oh we don’t feel that there’s any nutritional value post 3 months so haven’t’, ‘we wanted the baby to sleep so stopped’, ‘I couldn’t combine pumping and working, it just can’t be done’, ‘I wanted my life back’, ‘you’re never going to get him to stop now’, ‘teeth!’
Please stop
If you think I’m judging you, just because I’m still nursing, please know that I’m not – I’m too tired, too overwhelmed with everything else to even care what your choices are
And that’s the thing, they are your choices – I’m working on the basis that they are choices you have made that work for you, just like the choices I’ve made – they work for you and they’re what you’ve chosen and nothing I do or don’t do should impact on them
If you aren’t happy with your choices that is a whole other thing but please don’t reflect that onto me
What would be great is if you could stop me feeling a bit meh about sharing what the reality of my life is – I don’t want to feel that I should hide my choices just in case they make you uncomfortable. I mean it’s not as if I’m walking around the office with my boobs out and my pump on, which would be a little out there…
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