The beginning of the end…

Further to our ongoing discussions about stopping nummies (aka weaning, and I’d better throw in the word breastfeeding here, or Google is never going to pick this up as a lactation-related post), Naomi mused tonight at bedtime,  “when I am a hundred, I will still be having nummies.”

And I announced, quietly, in a friendly but definitive way:  “Five is old enough.  When you are five, you will be old enough to not have nummies anymore.”

She started to cry a bit, and asked if she could have a little at bedtimes.  I said that maybe at bedtimes she could have an extra story with Abba, or have extra creativity or writing time.  She seemed to like that.  She said, happily, “creativity time?!?”

Anyway, she went on to spend a few minutes contentedly squeezing Gavriel Zev’s nummy for him, at his request.  I didn’t say anything to her, because in two months now, this will all be moot, but it is extremely weird being milked by one’s almost-five-year-0ld daughter. 

He doesn’t have the hand strength to do it himself…I am thinking that may be one of the criteria for late weaning:  child is strong enough to express milk by hand.  She actually sprayed his hair.

OK, don’t read on if you’re not currently a nursing mama… still here?  Well, okay, here goes:  And it felt darn good, too.

Believe it or not, I am slightly and uncomfortably engorged most of the time.  I think it’s a combination of factors:  the number of kids varying each time I give nummies (at sleep times, it’s both kids; at wake up times, it’s just him), and also their varying moods and appetites.  If they’re both giggly, they may get very little actual nummying done… leaving me always slightly, um, pained.

Anyway… just a little over two months and it’s just him. 

It’s time.  My mother might have said it was time three years ago, but I’m on Naomi’s clock, and for her, five years is enough.

Here’s my Lilypie tandem-breastfeeding ticker, just to brag about it… maybe one last time.

It currently reads “Sharing quality num-nums for 4 years, 9 months, 3 weeks & 4 days.”  Wow.  What a big chunk of our lives together.