Sunday, April 5, 2015

How did I quit breastfeeding...

Posted by azimallaudin at 10:16 PM
As I found out that I was pregnant for the second time, my concern was not only my pregnancy but my existing son, Ubaid. He was 1-year and 10-month-old at that time. Since I was (I guess I still am) too skinny, my concern was the nutrition that my fetus get and what was left for me. BUT, this does not mean you MUST or HAVE TO quit breastfeeding once you are pregnant. Consult your medical practitioner for more info.

So... How did we (my son and I) did it?

Pre-quitting phase

A few weeks (I don't really remember how long but I think it went for about one or two weeks) before I began the actual "quitting"stage, I talked to him over and over about it. Like 

Übaid... soon Ubaid dah tak boleh mamam tau... sebab dalam womb mama ada baby... adik Ubaid... Adik tak pandai makan lagi macam Ubaid so adik kene mamam mama. If not adik lapaq... sian kat adik kan..." (sort of) "

This is to prepare him mentally of what is coming.

Quitting phase

This is not a one-shot stage where we simple cut-out breastfeeding. I began with day-time quitting, and it is only morning session. So whenever he asked for breast milk in the morning, I talked to him about it. The talked went on with something almost similar to the pre-quitting phase.

Ubaid: Mama... nk mamam...
Mama: Aik... kan mama dah cakap, from today onwards Ubaid dah tak boleh mamam dah pagi2... 
        
and it went on with simple explanation (by simple I meant using language that he could understand) about this process...

it went on for about a few days... until he stopped asking for breast milk in the morning, then only I moved on to the next phase which is afternoon session, then evening, then at night before he went to bed, and finally... when he was sleeping. 

trust  me... it was not easy at all but it went pretty well for both of us...
and be prepared for a lot of cuteness and "puss in boots-shining-watery-cute-eyes rolling" when he begged for it...
another tips is to ensure he was not left hungry so I gave him formula milk in the morning along with other meals like fries, nuggets, rice, or whatever I could prepare for him. This is very important because when he was full, he won't be asking for milk anymore. 

The most challenging phase was the night time when he was sleeping. So, I prepared warm water and other supplies for his formula milk in the room so whenever he woke up at night and asked for milk, I rushed to prepare the milk for him. I've got to be quick because when it took so long then he started crying the rest of the night and it would be very unpleasant for both of us. It was also difficult for me because Ubaid does not drink from bottle but only in cup with straw. So he had to sit up to drink. This wasn't easy at all because I basically disturbed his sleeping time. But nevertheless, I managed to (weeehuuuuuuuu)

Post-quitting

He had a habit of having something (you know what) in his mouth when he slept, and I refused to give him pacifier (he rejected it too) so  this was also a challenge for us. How did I manage to? I'm sorry but I've forgotten. Perhaps I just calmed him down, hug (lots of it) him and talk to him about it. After a while, the milk supply was getting low as there were no more demands anymore. 

But...

There were times that I cheated... How? At night when I was too tired to get up and prepared his milk, I would just slipped my breast into his mouth... 

Anyway... 

I didn't use anything like many people told they had used on their kids to quit breastfeeding (this includes syrup to pretend it is blood to scare the baby away, or applying anythings that tasted bad etc) but A LOT OF TALK with Ubaid. Alhamdulillah, after about two months (plus), he completely forgot about breast milk. Most importantly, as a mother, I had to be strong and firm with my stand on this :P


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