Breastfeeding Challenges Continue

Charlotte will soon be one-year-old, and I'm proud to say that she's still breastfed. A couple months ago I was supplementing with formula sporadically for about a week while I was adjusting to Charlotte's increasing demand. However, that was short lived and inconsistent. She is now eating a lot more food, and therefore my milk production has been in line with her demand. Everything is back to normal . . . except that I'm ready to quit breastfeeding one year sooner than I expected to.

My mother breastfed my older sister until she was over two, and my sister Lindsey, who has two kids, breastfed the first daughter for 18 months and her second for 11 months. Needless to say, I had an expectation for myself to breastfeed my first child for at least 18 to 24 months. However, this goal has been shrinking in the last month or so, because Charlotte has become a boob-monster.

What is a boob-monster exactly? Well, a boob-monster is a child old enough to know about the milk, comfort, attention and more that comes with breastfeeding. A little boob-addict will walk over to you, pull your shirt down and proceed to breastfeed at any point in time. Recently, there's moments where Charlotte is looking for a little snack every 20 minutes. This makes getting anything done or even just playing with her on the floor near impossible at times.

I'm having a dilemma to say the least. While my head wants to quit breastfeeding, my heart is still in the game. Beyond that, I like the fact that we can co-sleep late at night and early morning to accommodate Charlotte's way-too-early a.m. feedings without disturbing my beauty sleep. Breastfeeding has posed more benefits and challenges in motherhood than I could have expected, but I wouldn't change a thing. I know that Charlotte is the happiest baby in the world because of the confidence, security, love, comfort and food that breastfeeding has provided her.

When did you/do you plan to quit breastfeeding your baby??