I think it is now safe to say…

That Xavier has weaned…

When I started nursing my newborn almost 5 years ago I would have never had guessed that I would have nursed this long, I couldn’t even imagine it… Nursing a baby was so foreign to me, I had never really seen anyone nurse… however, I knew that Formula would never touch my child’s lips…

My original goal was a year… but by the time he was 6 months old I knew that I would be letting him wean himself.. I couldn’t imagine taking something away from him that was perfect for his health, that nothing else could come close to nutritionally, that was the perfect comforting tool and that he enjoyed so much. I couldn’t imagine weaning him to the milk of another species just because our society has put a taboo on breasts.

When I got pregnant with Colin I offered often even though it was painful at times… it wasn’t martyrdom to do so, I did so out of respect for his needs. My temporary discomfort was nothing compared to taking away the benefits of nursing… the pain passed and we both continued to enjoy nursing…. Colin was born and Tandem nursing became second nature…

Near the end of my last pregnancy, Xavier went down to nursing once a day and then started to skip days… With the arrival of his newest brother he started to skip days more often and went to once or twice a week and then continued to diminish…

Though he still came to nurse at times, at one point a few weeks ago he suddenly lost the ability to suck…

The last time he tried he was a bit sad because he couldn’t get any milk, but said that though he couldn’t get milk anymore he was still nursing… and then he then gave me big hugs… I think he knows that he is done, but just wants to make sure that he can if he needs to… and though I wouldn’t be surprised if he asks again I think it is now safe to say that we are at the end of our nursing relationship…

I am proud of the fact that I practice complete Child led Weaning… I could never do it any other way.

Of course there were ups and downs in the 4 1/2 years… but what great relationship doesn’t have ups and downs?

Though I have shared it many times before… here is my favourite nursing pic of Xavier and a memory that I will cherish forever… he was 3 1/2 here…

LLL meeting…

On Tuesday I went to a LLL meeting and I was so upset when I realized half way there while on the highway that I had forgotten my ER wrap… I felt so naked and panicked a bit about how I was going to wear Khéna.. I had a Maman Kangourou stretchy with me but the stretch isn't working well anymore with him and the Maman Kangourou is also too narrow for my liking… then I remembered that I had a scarf/shawl on me and I made a makeshift sling out of that, It worked out really well but I really missed my wrap the whole time…. 

The meeting was OK… a weird lady came in that had weight gain issues with her dd… at 5 1/2 months she was only about 10 lbs… she then talked about scheduled feeding and 12 hour nights and that she didn't want to change that because she had worked hard to get it that way….

I think we all heard crickets chirping and jaws hit the floor.. How can someone be so ignorant!!!!It is already bad enough to do that with a healthy child, but to schedule a babies feedings and make CIO a child that has serious weight gain concerns? That is abuse IMO…  After the meeting she then talked to someone about Babywise.. gladly we pointed out how evil BW was and how warnings about the book have been put out because of babies failing to thrive because of the devil called "Ezzo"….  I really can't understand how people can actually think that that is an acceptable way of Parenting and don't realize how cruel it is… I mean you don't have be AP… but CIO, scheduled feedings etc are an abuse of power… kids are not objects….

On lighter note… after the meeting I commented to another mom there how much I loved her Baby wearing coat…  we started talking quickly about the babywearer forums and she asked who I was there… I said Paxye and she was surprised and said "you're paxye!.. THE paxye!" I was so embarrased lol… I forget at times that people read my blog and "know"who I am…. what is fun though is that she e-mailed me later on to get together one day.. Hopefully that can be soon… 

I am going to quit… I think…

A few months ago a got a call from a mom that found my # on my distributor’s website and asked if I could go show her some wraps and slings… I went over and stayed for at least 2 hours… we talked about a lot and one of those things happened to be how to introduce solids… Her dd was just about 6 mos old and the ped (the yucky ped that I hate) told her to start but her dd wasn’t too interested… So, I told her about child led introduction to solids, bypassing cereals and baby foods and going straight to table foods… we also talked about many other things and she found out that I was a peer-to-peer counsellor…

A few weeks after that she called me and asked me a few more questions about solids again… I told her a bit more and then that was that, I never spoke to her again…

So, about two weeks ago I got a call from the centre where I volunteer… It seems that they received a complaint about advice on solids that I gave a mom and they wanted to talk to me about differences that I may have with the center and how we could work to give all of the same advice etc…

Anyways… I thought about things and realized that the type of suggestion that they were talking about I only gave to that one mom… and it was done on my personal time…

When I brought that up, I was told that it was the “wrong” thing to do… even though I was there on my own time, was not there at all as a Peer to Peer etc… I still need to give the same advice as the Canada Health etc.. and I should never contradict a doc (it seems that this is true even when the doc gives advice that goes against Canada health)…

Anyways.. this happened in a phone conversation and I was asked to go in for a more extensive meeting… however, I don’t want to… I don’t feel like confronting two people… I don’t feel I have the strength emotionally at the moment…

When I am on my own time, I feel that I have a right to say whatever I choose… I am allowed to share my opinions and points of views.. When I am called for counselling I know that I have to give advice that I do not always agree with, or at least point them into a different direction to get advice that I don’t want to give… I don’t mind wearing two hats at times… but I don’t think that my volunteer hat should be forced on me on my personal time… I don’t think that

About a day or two after I talked to the head of the volunteers the Centre coordinator called me and asked me when I would come in… I told her I would call her back… I never did… I don’t want to either…

I was going to take a break from volunteering when the new babe comes anyways… but now… I don’t want to go back after…

I love volunteering but I don’t to be dictated in my personal time. I don’t believe that I have to hold back from talking to a mom at the park or in her home when called over about baby wearing just because they might find out that I am also a volunteer…

I am not sure what I am going to do yet, but I have lost the want to volunteer there…

Now with Metal!

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting the public to a recall being conducted by Mead Johnson for their GENTLEASE powdered infant formula, lot number: BMJ19, use by 1 Jul 07. This lot was found to contain metal particles, consisting of up to 2.7 millimeter in size.”

Now with Metal!

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01323.html

This is added to the list of other recalls in the last ten years including plastic, glass, salmonella, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, incorrect preparation instructions (this could have led to “serious adverse health effects such as seizures, irregular heart beat, renal failure or in extreme cases, death.” nutramigen)

and these are just a few among many other recalls….
How can people choose to feed this stuff to their infant? I can never understand….

equal?… sure…..right… My breasts have never been recalled…

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