TMI?! The Nursing Edition

Max didn't have any formula until he was 5 months old.  At that point, I tried it one night and he slept through the night on the very first try, for the very first time.  From that point forward, his last bottle of the day was always formula, and he nursed for all other meals.  This worked well, for a while... then Max started getting nosy.  And every little creek the house made, or sound Chad made- even from across the house- he would pop off and have to sit up and look around until he was "satisfied" with what he saw.  It's like all of a sudden he realized there was a world out there- even when he was eating- and he had to make sure he wasn't missing anything.  This made the whole feeding time take FOREVER.  The baby only ate for about 10-12 minutes, total, and has since he was a couple weeks old- but add in a dose of nosy Nelly, and we'd be there for 30 minutes.  Not ok.  So with the nosy came the formula feedings when we were anywhere except our house.  That got us through the next couple months.

Then around 7 months, I decided that I was DONE pumping-- as in not doing it again, I didn't care what you said!  So Max had a formula bottle with Maggie during the day and then a formula bottle at night to ensure sleep.  Mom supplied the rest.

That lasted until a couple days ago when Max's tooth broke... and he started biting.  Um, holy many words strung together that I do not normally say.  Painful. Ouch! YOWCH!  So I started contemplating "the wean".  And honestly, thanks to the "bite"- I wasn't sad about it.  I felt really good about how long we'd made it nursing, I knew it was a win for his immune system and I also knew that my immune system couldn't help his immune system anymore, since that benefit ends at 6 months.  I also loved the simplicity of formula.  I didn't have to worry about temperature or storage or privacy, etc.... Plus, Max is going to stay with my parents for a couple nights in June, so that Chad and I can go to an out of town wedding, so he had to be done by then anyway.

Well sometime between 7pm on Saturday night and 7am on Sunday morning, Max decided he was done.  He would have NOTHING to do with nursing when he woke up and has stuck with it ever since.  Nothing like a little determination... except that it broke my heart!  I thought I was "ready"- or at least "ok"- but it was all a lie.  I love that time together- especially first thing in the morning when he's so happy and smile-y and hungry.  But no more.  He's over "my girls" and onto other things-- although this does not include other "girls" until he is married.  But I will wait a week or two to have that conversation with him.

So although I protested, my baby is only drinking formula... before I know it, he'll be drinking real milk- yikes.  I can't handle this.  I don't even want to think about what comes after that.

Has anybody found that "pause" button, yet?