My baby is almost six months old, and I’m done with breastfeeding. The end to my breastfeeding days came rather suddenly. One day Kiko decided not to take my breasts. She was three and a half months old. I was shocked. I thought my breasts were her most favorite thing in the world. Although I had a difficulty with breastfeeding (terrible engorgement) in the beginning, I learned to be okay with it over time. But one day, the switch happened, and Kiko would scream when I would try to breastfeed her. At that point it became impossible to breastfeed her while she was conscious. I switched to nursing her while she was groggy during the early morning feeding and late night feeding. The rest of the time I pumped. Slowly, Kiko started to reject those groggy feedings as well, and as I pumped less, my body produced less milk. Over the past two months, I slowly decreased the frequency of pumping, and now I don’t pump at all.
It was sad when she rejected me at first. Andy knows, I cried. I’ve read in the Baby Center about some mothers comments about missing “the bonding time” with baby. It seems like babies get selective around three months and not taking breasts seem to be a common problem.
But now that my breastfeeding days are over, I must say, I am kind of glad that I don’t have to carry around a pump, worrying about leaking, washing nursing pads endlessly, bearing with engorgement pain, or smelling disgusting with leaked milk. I almost exclusively breastfed Kiko for the first three and a half months, and I was glad to be able to do that. But at the same time, I am glad my breasts did whatever they needed to do and it’s over. Now I can have some “bonding time” with Kiko by playing with her, singing to her, reading her books and praying together.
My breasts returned to their original size. I secretly hoped that they would remain a cup size bigger, but sadly it was not to be :p
