we have gone a week without bf milk!

as posted earlier, the bean had been going on only 1 bf milk session for a few weeks - part of my gradual weaning 'plan'*.

then i decided to wean the bean off bf milk completely last week. it started on the friday morning (2 may) when i refused to allow her to bf when she got antsy between 4-6 am. she cried, shouted, pleaded and prodded and pulled, but i outmanoeuvred her. when she woke up properly just before 7am she demanded, "i want bread and honey!"

this became the pattern for the week; the bean asks for bread and honey for breakfast everyday. now that bf milk has ceased, i find that she doesn't reject cow's milk (hurrah!) and in fact will drink a whole glass of it.

does she miss bf milk? you bet your bottom dollar! when she goes to bed, she still sometimes slyly tries to pull up my blouse/t-shirt but it's mainly a half-hearted attempt. unfortunately, the 4-6am wake-up call remains a fixture. it's my hope that now we have ceased bfg, she will slowly learn to sleep through the night to 7am. she still needs me as her sleeping mate - i am her teddy bear. but instead of letting her wake up and walk to the master bedroom and climb in with dh and i, i have decided to sleep in her bed with her: hoping that she will learn to sleep through in her own bed.

anyway, i think it's been a success weaning the bean off bf milk. my goal of bfg till the bean turned 2 has been reached. she is eating a variety of different foods - not as varied as i hope but at least she takes cow's milk now - and she is still alert, happy and playful during her waking hours. i am glad i took a gradual approach to weaning instead of the cold turkey option. that would've been too traumatic for both of us.

* it was not a proper weaning plan at all. i just decided to cut down the feeds one at a time and see how the bean responded. when i got more fed up with bfg i then cut down yet another feed. and this went on until i decided it was time to really end it.