Weaning Evelyn

Weaning Evelyn has been much less traumatic than I imagined. Bella was on formula, and weaning her to solids was an easy, step-by-step process. I just switched out bottles for "meals" and it worked pretty well. I had no idea what to expect for Evelyn, and I was worried it would be a hard transition for one of us.

 

At 10 months, she was still nursing 3 times a day, but losing interest quickly. During the day, she would only nurse for about 2 minutes and then get distracted, so I took the hint and substituted solid foods for "lunch" and snack times. It worked out really well this way, because I didn't have to worry where I was or if I was able to stop and nurse. 

 

She's not completely weaned yet, and I'm so glad. I can definitely see that when she doesn't nurse at all anymore, it will be something that I miss. She uses a cup and eats solids just fine, and she doesn't take a bottle at all. We still nurse every morning; most people have told me that the nighttime feeding was the last one they gave up, but for Evelyn and I, our special time is in the morning. Steve has left for work, Bella is usually in my bed watching PBS, and I can bring Evelyn into bed with me for a few minutes of snuggling.

 

Sometimes I nurse her in the middle of the day, too. In those situations, it's just a comfort thing, but I like it. Since I'm at home, I have the freedom to calm her in this way; I'm not sure if others would do it like this, but it's what works for us and has ended up being a special thing, too. 

 

We'll see how it goes from here. She's 13 months old, so I imagine she'll slowly taper off on her own, just like she's done up to this point. For now, I love having our time in the morning, and I'm enjoying it for as long as it'll last!