Monday, August 02, 2010

Breastfeeding: 2 years and counting

It's World Breastfeeding Week.
Yes, I'm still nursing.
Some of you may be disgusted.
Some of you may give me a hug.
I understand either way.
I am pretty proud of myself actually.
I had such a hard time in the beginning and to be able to continue nursing makes me feel like Super Woman.
I actually think continued nursing has helped my daughter fight off a possible contraction of the Coxsackie Virus. Even my doctor alluded to immunities possibly passing off to her allowing her to be virus free compared to several of her close friends.
I still have my battles though and alot of them are internal battles you rarely read or hear about.
You occasionally hear about folks refraining from discussing continued nursing. For me, when I first started nursing, I had these huge groups of women in my neighborhood where we could find support and solace. Then as the months carried on, the group became a circle and then the circle became smaller and smaller.
To date, I think I may have two friends who are continued nursers. One in particular, I feel comfortable talking with and sharing my experience with.
It's still a 'hush hush' kind of thing though.
Funny thing is I don't feel ashamed about it yet it's something you just don't talk about in general.
Anyway, the one thing that is even harder to discuss is how continued nursing affects your relationship with your partner.
Some partners are ok with it.
Some partners are not.
Some partners will try to be supportive yet question it.
How do you deal with that?
It goes along the lines of different parenting types.
It's hard to discuss and reach an amiable conclusion.
For what it's worth, I have a great husband who is supportive but questions it. I think that's normal.
It can be a bone of contention between the two of us but I think at the end of the day we are just trying to do what's best for our child.
Do I know when nursing will end? No.
Does this scare my husband? Yes.
I don't see it going past 3. Most books I read say that natural weaning happens around this time. I think that's fine.
If I decided I'm done with nursing and want to stop, I think I will.
Right now though, I'm enjoying the time and I find it beneficial so I plan to continue.
I know DH and I will have another 'discussion' on it. For now though, I still find the benefits are visible and I'm happy, my child's happy and I want to continue. Now, if I can somehow make my husband happy.