Cosleeping. It’s awesome.

Welcome to the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival

This post was written for inclusion in the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival hosted by Monkey Butt Junction . Our bloggers have written on so many different aspects of cosleeping. Please read to
the end to find a list of links to the other carnival
participants.

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In case anyone is wondering… Cosleeping is normal, healthy, safe and most of all… Awesome.

Why? Well just to name a few reasons:

• Baby sleeps better. Mine ended up on my schedule. Yep.
• Less mama anxiety. If it feels so natural to sleep with your baby, just do it.
• Nursing is a breeze and I get to sleep through it. Mostly.
• It’s SAFER then a crib. No recalls either. Breathing is regulated. Any problems with baby are known– since the baby is RIGHT next to you.
• Cute smiley faces in the morning all around! Mostly.
• Oh and did I mention MORE SLEEP? Isn’t that enough of a reason?

Now let’s note the reasons why it’s not safe.

• Parent(s) are intoxicated on drugs or alcohol.
• Tons of pillows/blankets are placed by babies’ face.
• Some other obvious danger to the child that would otherwise not be there. Example: medical equipment.

Let’s discuss. The real issue here is WHY any responsible parent would sleep in the same bed with a small child while on drugs or alcohol. There is a bigger problem there and I’d say yeah, get a crib.

Pillows and blankets can be pulled up near baby but really, keep them away for the most part. That’s really not a big deal. I do use tons of pillows but have never had a problem. Ever.

And lastly— medical equipment or some other danger. I get the issue here. Read below on a side-car crib configuration for the answer to that.

At around 4 months postpartum, I decided to start cosleeping full time. This is after failed attempts to get my daughter to lay down in the cosleeper without waking. It was so pointless! And exhausting! All because I was scared of squish her even though deep down, I knew I wouldn’t. You just sleep differently next to your child. Let nature take over, trust me.

Then one night, I had a pillow make it’s way into the stupid cosleeper and THAT is not safe! I chucked it and the bassinet and then posted about it on my favorite online community, KellyMom.com.

These sage mamas told me a side-car crib configuration was a great solution for those of us with space challenges. Our room is small. Our bed can be no larger than queen. But it just so happened that once I explained the sleep situation to my husbeast— he went right to work utilizing his amazing talents to semi-professionally rig something up. He definitely gets the sexy dad award for this. Let me explain…

We had a drop side crib, yep recalled and headed for the trash. Good thing I never used the thing before deciding to cosleep! My husband being the genius he is, used the front drop-side part of the crib for a swinging door that he attached in our kitchen, but this is off-topic but something I had to add because it was just so genius! So where were we?

First: Smash your crib up to the corner of any given side of your bedroom. We have a sleigh-ish style bed-frame and worried this would cause some issues, no, it really didn’t, with a few adjustments, my dear husband made it work.

Next: Affix the crib as closely as you can to the bed-frame. My husband used bungee cords for this. He added a small beat-up kitchen towel in between the bed-frame and the crib-frame to keep any damage from occurring. The photos explain this better, as you can see.

Next: Adjust the height of your crib to get it as close as you can to your mattress. To get it JUST right, we added some throw pillows that were hideously outdated and shouldn’t be seen on any couch. They just so happened to be the right height. You could also use blankets, foam, anything really. Just make sure everything is flush.

Finally: Do you have some space between your mattress and the crib mattress? You know those crib-bumpers you just HAD to have in that super cute patten? Well, you can still use em! I folded them in four and stuffed them on the side of the crib nearest to the wall. See photos if you don’t know what I mean.

The crib up against our mattress and bed-frame.

Don’t damage the bed-frame. Use an old towel!

Bungees that attach the crib to the bed-frame.

Those hideous pillows used for height adjustment.

Another shot of how my husband used pillows.

Armchair pillow and boppy. Once baby is asleep, you transfer to crib!

This is the most fantastic option for cosleeping in my honest opinion. You may not be able to lay baby down perfectly at first, it takes some getting used to and can be awkward to get into at times. But at night I can just roll over, nurse and have found that my daughter unlatches and rolls over to spread out in her own space. She realized right away that this was her new bed. You also deal with less interruption in sleep having the baby in the crib portion– I’m a pillow freak and stack them up around my back for support, I couldn’t do this if my baby was on my mattress, I’d surely wake her up and there would never be enough room.

I would also recommend you figure out the side-lying nursing position. But really, you don’t have to. I bought an inexpensive armrest pillow and still use it to sit up and nurse my daughter with a Boppy or other nursing pillow. This was a life saver when she was very little and I couldn’t figure out nursing lying down.

I really hope this post helps parents out there know that there are MANY options when it comes to sleep. My husband and I sleep together with our daughter and this has been a joy for the most part. It’s really very natural and convenient. I also relish in seeing her smiling face in the morning, rather then running to her room to answer her cries in the morning all alone in her crib. This is really what works for us. Thanks for reading.

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Thanks for reading a post in the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival. On Carnival day, please follow along on Twitter using the #CosleepCar hashtag.
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

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• Emotive Co-Sleeping Campaign – Miriam at Diary of an Unconscious Mother talks about her feelings on Milwaukee’s anti-cosleeping crusade and its latest advertising campaign.
• Why Cosleeping has Always been the Right Choice for My Family – Patti at Jazzy Mama shares how lucky she feels to have the privilege of sleeping with her four children.
• Cosleeping is a safe, natural and healthy solution parents need to feel good about. – See how Tilly at Silly Blatherings set up a side-car crib configuration to meet her and her families’ needs.
• Black and White: Race and the Cosleeping Wars – Moorea at Mama Lady: Adventures in Queer Parenting points out the problem of race, class and health when addressing co-sleeping deaths and calls to action better sleep education and breastfeeding support in underprivileged communities.
• Reflections on Cosleeping – Jenny at I’m a Full Time Mummy shares her thoughts on cosleeping and pictures of her cosleeping beauties.
• Cosleeping and Transitioning to Own Bed – Isil at Smiling Like Sunshine shares her experiences in moving beyond the family bed.
• What Works for One Family – Momma Jorje shares why cosleeping is for her and why she feels it is the natural way to go. She also discusses the actual dangers and explores why it may not be for everyone.
• Really High Beds, Co-Sleeping Safely, and the Humanity Family Sleeper – Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama gives a quick view of Jennifer’s bed-sharing journey and highlights the Humanity Family Sleeper, something Jennifer could not imagine bed-sharing without.
• Crying in Our Family Bed – With such a sweet newborn, why has adding Ailia to the family bed made Dionna at Code Name: Mama cry?
• Dear Mama: – Zoie at TouchstoneZ shares a letter from the viewpoint of her youngest son about cosleeping.
• Cuddle up, Buttercup! – Nada of The MiniMOMist and her husband Michael have enjoyed cosleeping with their daughter Naomi almost since birth. Nada shares why the phrase “Cuddle up, Buttercup!” has such special significance to her.
• Co-Sleeping With A Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler – Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling shares how co-sleeping calls us to trust our inner maternal wisdom and embrace the safety and comfort of the family bed.
• Fear instead of Facts: An Opportunity Squandered in Milwaukee – Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction discusses Milwaukee’s missed opportunity to educate on safe cosleeping.
• Cosleeping: A Mini-rant and a Lovely Picture – Siobhan at Res Ipsa Loquitor discusses her conversion to cosleeping and rants a little bit about the Milwaukee Health Department anti-cosleeping campaign.
• Our Cosleeping Story – Adrienne at Mommying My Way shares her cosleeping story and the many bonus side effects of bedsharing.
• Cosleeping can be safe and rewarding Christy at Mommy Outnumbered shares how her cosleeping experiences have been good for her family.
• Adding one more to the family bed Lauren at Hobo Mama discusses the safety logistics of bed sharing with a new baby and a preschooler.
• The Truth About Bedsharing – Dr. Sarah at Parenting Myths and Facts discusses the research into bedsharing and risk – and explains why it is so often misrepresented.
• Cosleeping as a parenting survival tool – Melissa V. at Mothers of Change describes how she discovered cosleeping when her first baby was born. Melissa is the editor and a board member for the Canadian birth advocacy group, Mothers of Change.
• Dear Delilah – Joella at Fine and Fair writes about her family bed and the process of finding the cosleeping arrangements that work best for her family.
• CoSleeping ROCKS! – Melissa at White Noise talks about the evolution of cosleeping in her family.
• Safe Sleep is a Choice – Tamara at Pea Wee Baby talks about safe sleep guidelines.
• 3 Babies Later: The Evolution of our Family Bed – Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment talks about how her family’s cosleeping arrangements evolved as her family grew.
• Tender Moments – The Accidental Natural Mama discusses tender cosleeping moments.
• Cosleeping Experiences – Lindsey at An Unschooling Adventure describes how she ended up co-sleeping with her daughter through necessity, despite having no knowledge of the risks involved and how to minimise them, and wishes more information were made available to help parents co-sleep safely.
• The early days of bedsharing – Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares her early memories of bedsharing with her then new born and gets excited as she plans including their new arrival into their sleeping arrangements.
• The Joys of Cosleeping in Pictures – Charise of I Thought I Knew Mama shares pictures of some of her favorite cosleeping moments.
• Symbiotic Sleep – Mandy at Living Peacefully With Children discusses how the symbiotic cosleeping relationship benefits not only children but also parents.
• Co-sleeping Barriers: What’s Stopping You? – Kelly at Becoming Crunchy shares how she was almost prevented from gaining the benefits of co-sleeping her family currently enjoys.
• Co-Sleeping with the Family Humanity Sleeper – Erica at ChildOrganics shares a way to make co-sleeping safe, comfortable and more convenient. Check out her post featuring the Humanity Organic Family Sleeper.
• Why We Cosleep – That Mama Gretchen’s husband chimes in on why cosleeping is a benefit to their family.
• Adding to the Family Bed – Darah at A Girl Named Gus writes about her co-sleeping journey and what happens when a second child comes along.

A big thank you to all of the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival participants!

The Natural Parenting Choice

Most things are hard in life, none harder then deciding how you want to raise your children. And with that decision, you then have to stand behind your beliefs, ideals, opinions and defend yourself. It’s not easy, especially if your ideas aren’t popular in the parenting world.

The rift I’m finding between myself and most moms, is not only depressing, but anger-inducing. It makes feel like holing myself up in my house and never trusting anyone. Yep. Just like Fox Moulder.

Lets say I meet a mom at the park and she finds out I’m still nursing my toddler. Instead of what I want to see, a smile or maybe even an encouraging word, I get a face full of shock and sometimes… disgust. This also happens when I talk about breastfeeding online. I end up “offending” someone. Or “pushing” my beliefs down their throats. All because I merely mentioned instead of switching formulas, have they considered donated breastmilk? Are you offended by this statement?

I made the choice to do what many MANY healthcare professionals, scientists, nutritionists, midwives etc. recommend as THE BEST THING you could do for your child. Breastfeeding for at least 6 months. Now the WHO and American Academy of Pediatrics says for more then a year is EVEN BETTER. Am I getting support for making such a choice for my child? Nope. I’m getting drama. I’m getting accused of being “preachy”. I was even told recently to “stop talking about it” by several family members when I brought the subject up. I then felt uncomfortable nursing my baby around these people. Is that right?

I wonder if it works the same way for moms who bottle feed? Can they break those bottles out any time and not be bothered? I’ve never heard anyone say “oh you should be nursing that child!”, have you? You’d never be approached in a Paul Frank retail store to “put away the bottle, it’s disturbing the customers”, would you?

So on my parenting journey, breastfeeding has been hard, to say the least. I am constantly defending my rights and WILL let people know how I feel. Things need to change. Breastfeeding needs to become normalized.

Next let’s talk about attachment parenting. Ever hear someone GASP over finding out that you put your baby in a crib alone in another room? No? Well, tell them the baby sleeps with you and watch the shock and awe. Oh and then tell them you pick up and hold your baby, you don’t let them cry themselves to sleep and you wear them around the house in a sling. It’s pretty mind blowing the response you get. I was exhausted and needed more sleep. Simple solution? Curl up with that snuggly sweet baby and sleep in. I’ve noticed my baby would sleep LONGER being next to me.

I also know deep down the bond I’ve developed from wearing my baby close. It is something I will never loose. I’ll always have that beautiful connection. I also freed myself financially. I don’t need to buy a swing or bouncy seat, I can be just the right kind of interaction my baby needs, just by wearing her. It’s a powerful thing. This is why my choice to babywear is simple.

Cloth diapering. I’m a bit torn as to why I cloth diaper but I suppose it’s for
somewhat selfish reasons. They are pretty darned cute. And really cost effective. I mostly do it for that reason.

So mamas, how do you feel about the choices you’ve made? Tell me.

Boobs (for feeding babies)

Breastfeeding, nursing and human lactation.
Even as we approach the year 2012, American parents are still highly dependent on formula feeding their babies. Some babies need this alternative, and I understand it in those specific circumstances. This post is not about my hatred for Enfamil. This post is about breastfeeding.

Many mothers want to breastfeed desperately. Many end up not learning how to properly nurse, are not getting the right kind of support, pushed to alternative feeding methods and looked down upon during the whole process. They find it a negative experience entirely. Instead of empowering women and telling them “your body CAN do this”, you hear “oh, your baby isn’t getting XX number of ounces of pumped breastmilk, YOU NEED TO SUPPLIMENT!” and to me, the whole system is built to fail.

Hospitals send Similac sample bottles home with new parents, lactation consultants tell moms to “supplement” if baby is still hungry, WIC offers coupons to get formula for free. Mothers are required to go back to work 6-8 short weeks after birth. Pumping breaks at work are tricky and other coworkers can become resentful of this “special” treatment. For some moms, pumping is not even an option at all— even if (in some states) it’s your LEGAL right to pump at work.

Breastfeeding is NOT normalized like it should be in the US. Quite frankly, it is quite taboo and not talked about openly. I feel like breastfeeding NEEDS to be more of a public health issue then a parenting preference. Mothers need more support and resources for us to really see breastfeeding normalized. In this post I’d like to talk about my experience with breastfeeding, what I think you need/don’t need and what to do when you have issues. I hope you find it useful and informative.

Crap that you might consider buying:
The real beauty of nursing is… you don’t need to BUY anything. Just a supportive bra and a good water bottle are the only MUST HAVES I think. You need lots of water while nursing, always drink to thirst. You could pick those two items up pretty much anywhere and not pay very much. Here are some things I thought were useful. It’s not much, I’ve taken a minimalist stance since figuring out you just don’t need all that crap, as my favorite AP mom blogger put it, Code Name: Mama.

Bras:
Engorgement is weird and happens all at once. A great bra for this is by Majamas. The material is soft and silky, which is great for those sensitive boobies. It’s not the most supportive bra but soooo comfortable. I also like La Leche League’s bras. I DO NOT like Targets’ Merona brand or Motherhood Maternity. These were so badly constructed, they gave me a uniboob look or deep gashes around my waist from super tight elastic. Not flattering. Not comfortable.

Nursing tanks or covers:
The tanks are AWESOME. The covers? Not. If you have the most observant baby on the planet like mine, they will notice the cover and promptly fuss about until it’s removed. Some babies don’t care. I’ve never met one that didn’t. Public nursing was hard for me, the cover makes it harder because it draws exactly the public attention you don’t want. My advice is getting a tank and wearing your normal tops over. Then nothing shows when you lift your top shirt, your tank folds down just like a nursing bra. Genius! I don’t favor any brand over then next, any nursing tank is good!

Breastpads:
Can you fucking believe you need to wear a PAD there too? Yep. It really blows! I liked the disposable kind because I already had enough to wash with a newborn! But I’d rather have used something reusable and the next go-around, I’ll check out more options.

A quick trick I learned from the book, “breastfeeding sucks” is, if you’ve sprung a leak you can gently but firmly place the heel of your hand into your nip and it usually does the trick. Leaking tends to taper off by month 11 or 12, or whenever your body regulates supply. But you’ll need ‘em when you go out. A baby cries and you could start leaking. Very sad. But true!

Breastpump:
Unless you plan to go back to work you really don’t *need* this expensive torturing device. Don’t borrow one from your sister like I did, you could introduce nasties by using a used breastpump. Luckily, nothing happened but I used the thing like crazy to up my supply in the early weeks, I probably didn’t need to do this, but it didn’t hurt anyhow. I ended up working a bit when my daughter was around 11 months old. If you are already on the WIC program, ask them about borrowing medical-grade pumps (these don’t count as used pumps, they have separate parts where the nasties can’t get in!). These medical grade pumps, well, they just work BETTER and this is the FREE option. One of the main reasons I wanted to breastfeed: It’s FREE yo!

Nip cremes, guards and shells:
All pretty useless, you could just rub olive oil or expressed breastmilk on those sore/cracked nips and you’d be fine. I bought the stupid cremes, they didn’t work very well. I also bought breastshells to keep my shirt from rubbing my poor, sad, red and irritate nips. They were SUCH a pain, I chucked them. They may have been super useful before baby to help my inverted/flat nipples but I was pretty clueless on this while preggo. Maybe because I knew not even ONE mama who breastfed before my sister, and she never had this lovely issue.

Let’s talk about a nipple gaurd. Yes, it did helped me. Very temporarily. My nipples hurt so badly, I needed the reprieve. Only problem is, I didn’t want my baby to get to used to the stupid thing, I wanted her to nurse on ME not some dumb silicone thingie. So, I used it in the first two weeks and gradually weaned from it. I read more about using them and heard horrid things about nipple confusion or nipple preference. It was seriously the LAST thing I needed. It only took 6 months for my nips to “toughen up”. Yes, you read that right. 6 goddamn months. You probably wont have this issue and it goes to show that if I can do it, you can too!

Holy crap, you have a newborn!
Oui vey. I will never forget how hard it was. You think you have all your ducks in a row? WRONG. I had so many issues and because of them, really never thought I’d make it to 6 months. The original plan. But omigod, was I determined! My sister did it, who was younger and had way less support then I did. She was my mentor in all this and something to aspire to. Support is really important. Make sure the main man/woman in your life is 100%. You’ll have 9 months to work on that…

Firstly, I had the bebe at a hospital that is breast-friendly. Or secondly, have your baby at home or in a birthing center. Once discharged, I was told to breastfeed on demand. This means when the baby wants it. This means: ALL THE TIME. I was also instructed to call my hospitals’ “baby line” if I had questions.

UM YEAH. I had questions. I was scared shitless. It was day 3 and my milk hadn’t came in and would my colostrum be enough? I got her to latch in the hospital, it tore my nip right off the bat, but she latched! I *think* she was swallowing but really, I wouldn’t know. I couldn’t feel anything special. I was just exhausted. After a day of being settled at home, I realized I was clueless. I called the baby line and made an appointment for a consultation. Mind you, this was on CHRISTMAS EVE. I was very fortunate they had a consult for me that day. Oh the memories!

How will you know your milk is *in*?
Good question! I am not the best at relaxing. I have an amazing, patient husband who was VERY HAPPY to let me take a few minutes to take a shower. This was day 3. The day before my consultation. I was relaxed enough for it to come in. It felt strange, I wont ever forget it. But I was also very happy to feel it. My bebe was getting hungrier and hungrier. I knew that. She would latch on and fall asleep, I thought she was getting enough. Nope.

The first feedings
Found out at my consult that she wasn’t swallowing a full feeding because the silly ass kept falling asleep! Of course. Just to make life easier right? Once I figured out the tricks to waking her up, she nursed great. But oh, my. nips. HURT. This is where the nipple guard came in. I could use it and it didn’t hurt! It was worth it to me.

The lactation consultant then tells me to pump because my supply isn’t great and sends me home with a sample bottle of formula. What?!?! That’s exactly what she should not have done. This was a method to derail me and my breastfeeding adventures.

Formula supplementing means you have to pump everytime you give a bottle and right away tells your body you need to make LESS milk. Pumping doesn’t have the same effect on the body as your babies mouth does. The more the mouth is on your boob, the more your body says “make some milk noooowwww!”. It’s the simple law of supply and demand. If you want to know more, please go to this amazing website.

In the consultation, they had me do compressions. This is where you massage the breast and squeeze the boob just about the areola. You can hear more swallowing if you do it just right, it’s very useful to get milk into a newborn before they fall asleep on you! Plus the more you empty the boob, the better. Bebe immediately went into a food coma during my first hardcore feeding. It felt AMAZING. I was so happy to see her swallowing I almost died right there. I knew from then on, I was going to do this, I was going to be successful at it.

How do you know the bebe is getting enough?
Ounces of breastmilk can’t *really* be measured like formula in bottles. Don’t panic, your body makes just as much as your baby needs. Feed on demand and often. It doesn’t matter how many ounces you pump. I know that is SO hard to grasp with modern society and our obsession with measurement. Trust yourself, you are able to feed a baby.

What goes IN must come OUT. Make sure you hit the correct number of wet diapers for your babies age, and you’re good. If your infant is screaming like they are STAAAARVING, well, they are, pretty much all the time. That doesn’t mean you don’t make enough milk, that means you need to MAKE MORE and if you put the baby to your boob, you’re good. Again, please read more here at this most excellent website.

I never had issues with low supply or ever got plugged ducts or mastitis, luckily. I advocate that new moms get support/rest in those early weeks. If you can, try and not go back to work for AT LEAST 6 months to stay home with baby. If the WHO and the American Academy of Pediatrics say to exclusively breastfeed (this means no water, no nothing!) for 6 months, staying home will make that possible. I found it helpful to not be away from baby no more then two or three hours and this wasn’t until 5 months. To me, this is a time to rest and regroup. To bask in the glory of wearing sweatpants, all day. To start a blog about nothing, to kiss every finger and toe and hold that sweet little baby. They really do grow so fast.

Learning to breastfeed is an art. It takes time. The baby does have some instincts on how to nurse right off the bat. But, remember that the baby doesn’t know all. The baby isn’t omnipresent. He/she needs to learn too. Practice on both parts is required. Whenever a little birdy whispered in my ear that I should “practice” nursing, I did. It was easy really, in that way. Seeing my tiny infant- with her doe eyes- stare up at me while gulping was so cool. I wanted to see it over and over!

Nursing the older baby and *gasp* toddler
You’ve just got the hang of things and now comes distractibility. Daughter of mine is the most “aware” person I have ever met, and still is. Figures. So is her dad. She would latch off and on and off and on. And this drove me insane. Using a nursing cover was useless, so I nursed in the car, a lot. I was too embarrassed to nurse in public because she would squirm and latch on/off so much it was just uncomfortable. I’m not one of those ballsy ladies who can whip it out anywhere. I do more now that I have a toddler, because I just don’t care anymore. But surprisingly, the little miss is way less distractible and wont move around so much anymore. She gets right to business.

Roaming hands… do they pinch and scratch and slap? Yeah, I know what that’s like. I think her self-soothing (a word I hate, but no other word for it) is to pinch mama. It’s so satisfying for her! What have I done to stop the assault? Try a little stuffed animal you can squish in between you, where they can grab and pinch. Just simply DO NOT allow it by unlatching and putting down the baby. This one is not so pleasant and I just didn’t do it. Or, you could just remove the hand that’s causing trouble, gently but consistently.

Biting is also a big problem for the older nursling. It usually goes right along with teething. My baby wasn’t into teether at all. She’d rather nurse. So I let her. I also used an amber teething necklace, but waited to buy one once she hit 12 months. Why? They are choking hazards and she really didn’t start to get teeth until 12 months. I don’t see how she could ever possible choke but I get the precaution. I really think they work and are very pretty. I just stumbled upon this blog about them and I rather love it.

Nursing in public. You’ve read about my love of nursing tanks. I’d also recommend getting tinted windows if you live in a hot climate, they help with privacy as well. I’ve nursed everywhere and you know what? You can do it in front of a mirror and have your husband look out for you, it still sucks. Until breastfeeding becomes normalized, this is just the way it is. I live in a pretty progressive state, California, and still get stared at. I’ve never been bothered though. That’s the most important part. Ask about nursing rooms or mothers rooms, they might exist in places you never knew. I went into a hotel who gave me a room for a few hours for nursing. AWESOME. Also- dressing rooms are GREAT places to nurse.

Tantrums, illness, teething. Most of these things are solved simply and effectively by nursing. If you decide to nurse past a year, these are 3 damn good reasons why. Nothing calms a bebe faster.

Weaning. I am not at this stage yet and hope it’ll happen naturally. After a year I’ve read that kiddos start the self-weaning process. I’ve noticed since her first birthday this appears to be true. I can go over 5 hours without nursing and probably longer if I had to. She really only wants to nurse in the morning, nap times and at night. This is the natural progression of things and I decided to let it be. It is each women’s decision to wean and should never be pushed either way.

Enjoy your baby. Enjoy the amazement of your body feeding a baby. It’s pretty darn cool.