The Goals in my Breastfeeding Journey: A Breastfeeding Carnival Post Day 1

 

Welcome to The Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival! This post was written as part of the Breastfeeding Cafe's Carnival. For more info on the Breastfeeding Cafe, go to www.breastfeedingcafe.wordpress.com. For more info on the Carnival or if you want to participate, contact Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com. Today's post is about your personal breastfeeding goals. Please read the other blogs in today's carnival listed below and check back for more posts July 18th-31st!

I will just give the brief version and give the more detailed version of HOW I got to the goals next week.  With Monkey originally my goal was 6 months but I learned the benefits of breastfeeding to a year and beyond so I set 1 year as my goal but 6 months as my stepping stone.  Once we reached a year (after a REALLY rocky start) I had set 18 months as my goal.  He had other plans and had finished weaning himself by 14 1/2 months.


With Kangaroo I set out to breastfeed him for 18 months when I was pregnant with him.  He also had a rocky start and a very painful 8 weeks for me.  After that 6 months, then 12 months, then 18 months came and went so I set a goal for 2 years but didn't see myself going past that.  His birthday came and went and I knew he wasn't ready to be done-he was still very much a baby.  I decided I would continue nursing until he was done or I got pregnant.  Having had 3 losses already and my body being SUPER sensitive during those early weeks I didn't want to chance losing another when we officially started trying.  We found out on Mother's Day last year we were expecting another baby and I started bleeding that night.  Kangaroo was 2 + 4 months and we dropped his last feeding.  The bleeding stopped and I let him nurse one last time so I could have a great memory of the last time he nursed.


Baby girl doesn't have a nickname online yet besides the nickname of her name :).  Roxy is now 6 months and we had a VERY difficult 4 months.  I hoped so much that we could make it through the struggles.  We have and my goal is to make it to 2 years unless she has other plans like Monkey did but I want her to nurse as long as she needs since she is our last but I don't see myself going past 3 but I guess we'll see what life brings.  As a mom I've learned to never say never because every child's needs and temperament are so different.

What are your goals for breastfeeding?

Here are more post by the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival participants! Check back because more will be added throughout the day.

• Claire @ The Adventures of Lactating Girl-Until...
• Ashley @ Adventures with my Monkeys-The Goals in my Breastfeeding Journey: A Breastfeeding Carnival Post Day 1
• Amy @ Anktangle-My Goals for Breastfeeding Joel
• Timbra @ Bosoms and Babes-On the way to the Finish Line: Breastfeeding Goals
• And of course the guest poster on the Breastfeeding Cafe’s blog today is Carol-My Breastfeeding Goals