Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A turning point in my breastfeeding journey...

Today is a bittersweet day.
Up to this point I have been solely responsible for my daughter's nutrition.  I have been successfully breastfeeding for six months now.  The beginning was ROUGH and even now there are rough moments but overall it has been a fairly natural thing for both of us.  At first, I thought it would be weird but it really hasn't been.  I love the special cuddle time I get with my precious baby.  She also finds nursing very comforting which has been a God send at times!  I'm glad I took breastfeeding seriously and dedicated myself to sticking it out.  I definitely do not consider myself an expert but I am definitely more educated on the topic than I was to begin with and I did a pretty good job at preparing myself.
But today we must begin to turn a page in the breastfeeding process.  Now that my precious girl is six months old, it is time to introduce solids.  We have let her play with chunks of food of our plate a few times but now we need to become more consistent.  Instead of the traditional way of introducing solids, we have decided to use the Baby Led Weaning method for starting solids.  Essentially, it means no purees and no spoon feeding her.  We will allow her to feed herself with finger foods from the beginning.  She will be in more control of what and how much she eats than most children her age.  After doing research and talking it out with each other, we have decided that its what will be best for our family.  Emy has already shown great skill with the pieces of food we have allowed her to play with.  We're still trying to figure out how to ensure she will eat healthier than we do but I'm sure we will work that out.  Thankfully, breastmilk (or formula for those who either can't or choose not to breastfeed) is supposed to continue to be a child's main source of nutrition until the first birthday and solids are only for playing and experimenting until then.
I just can't believe this time has already come and I hope that this transition goes smoothly.

2 comments:

Jessica said...

So glad that breastfeeding has gone so well for you ;)
I am not at all familiar with the baby led method. Keep us posted on how it works.

Danie Nicole said...

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to it but I know I'm going to miss the constant breastfeeding.