Epilogue
Wow. This chronicle wound down pretty quickly, didn't it?
Littlun continued to nurse until Deccember 2007.
Not long after the last post, we started trying to find a decent pediatric dentist for Littlun because of early caries. It was a trial, and all I'll say about it is this: They will tell you that you caused cavities with your toxic, sugar-laden milk and poor parenting skills. That nursing a child with teeth is the worst thing you can do for your child right after failing to use a booster seat. That's all crap. It's dicey to breastfeed a child who also eats "real food," but certainly not worse than Fruit Chews and Kool-Aid at every meal and no breastmilk at all. Follow your heart, use a non-fluoridated toothpaste before and after every nursing session, and feel free to just not even bring it up.
Okay, and one more thing-- just because a dentist says they are a pediatric dentist does not mean they are board certified, or even a decent human being. The first guy we took our little boy to only works with children because he can't stand people who will talk back to him. If you ever find yourself in a discussion with a tooth-mechanic who talks about exploding lab rats when you mention Xylitol, pause only to settle your bill at the receptionist desk on your way out of his office.
Take the time to find someone who is respectful to you and your child.
We had Littlun's four top incisors capped and a cavity in one molar filled in January 2007. Dental sealants and a more rigorous brushing routine have stopped the problem from progressing.
But by September that year it was a pretty uncomfortable situation for the three of us-- by Littlun's third birthday, Daddy was getting tired of seeing his "big boy" nursing all the time, and discouraged it pretty generally. I was starting to feel a little worn down after three years of pretty intense breastfeeding... And I was the only one around who didn't want to see another baby in the house, and wondered if it was because I was still nursing the first one. As preschool progressed, Littlun wanted to nurse for so long in the mornings to possibly avoid school that he was on the breast for nearly an hour, and we were generally always running late. By November, this tension was building up to the point that Littlun wanted to nurse pretty much all the time in fear that his account would be suspended at any moment.
So a few feeks before Thanksgiving-- tired, frustrated, sore-- I instituted a Two-mama Ticket program, in which Littlun was issued three tickets a day that he could trade in for a nursing session. This rivalled sliced bread in terms of "things that went over well at their inception." He would ask for two mommies, I'd ask him for his ticket, he would gleefully run to the refrigerator and pull one out of the coupon holder and present it to me. Sometimes when he'd used all his tickets and still wanted to nurse, there would be some grumbling, but it was generally a nice transition.
In December, he got only two tickets, and two weeks before Christmas we were down to one Two-mama ticket a day.
I chose Christmas day as the last day to nurse him-- his grandparents had come to visit and Santa Claus had a totally fantastic present for him. Sure enough, he was so heavily occupied by Aji and Ajoba and the Spider-Man playset that old St. Nick had dropped off for him that two weeks went by before he realized that he'd not had two mommies in a while.
And that was pretty much it.
Yesterday he climbed up into my lap and reached right down into my shirt. Grabbing a nipple, he said, "I still want two mommies sometimes." "There's no milk left," I said warningly. "Maybe there is," he said hopefully, "I want there to be." Feeling impish, I asked, "Do you want to try?" He laughed and said, "No thanks."
Littlun continued to nurse until Deccember 2007.
Not long after the last post, we started trying to find a decent pediatric dentist for Littlun because of early caries. It was a trial, and all I'll say about it is this: They will tell you that you caused cavities with your toxic, sugar-laden milk and poor parenting skills. That nursing a child with teeth is the worst thing you can do for your child right after failing to use a booster seat. That's all crap. It's dicey to breastfeed a child who also eats "real food," but certainly not worse than Fruit Chews and Kool-Aid at every meal and no breastmilk at all. Follow your heart, use a non-fluoridated toothpaste before and after every nursing session, and feel free to just not even bring it up.
Okay, and one more thing-- just because a dentist says they are a pediatric dentist does not mean they are board certified, or even a decent human being. The first guy we took our little boy to only works with children because he can't stand people who will talk back to him. If you ever find yourself in a discussion with a tooth-mechanic who talks about exploding lab rats when you mention Xylitol, pause only to settle your bill at the receptionist desk on your way out of his office.
Take the time to find someone who is respectful to you and your child.
We had Littlun's four top incisors capped and a cavity in one molar filled in January 2007. Dental sealants and a more rigorous brushing routine have stopped the problem from progressing.
But by September that year it was a pretty uncomfortable situation for the three of us-- by Littlun's third birthday, Daddy was getting tired of seeing his "big boy" nursing all the time, and discouraged it pretty generally. I was starting to feel a little worn down after three years of pretty intense breastfeeding... And I was the only one around who didn't want to see another baby in the house, and wondered if it was because I was still nursing the first one. As preschool progressed, Littlun wanted to nurse for so long in the mornings to possibly avoid school that he was on the breast for nearly an hour, and we were generally always running late. By November, this tension was building up to the point that Littlun wanted to nurse pretty much all the time in fear that his account would be suspended at any moment.
So a few feeks before Thanksgiving-- tired, frustrated, sore-- I instituted a Two-mama Ticket program, in which Littlun was issued three tickets a day that he could trade in for a nursing session. This rivalled sliced bread in terms of "things that went over well at their inception." He would ask for two mommies, I'd ask him for his ticket, he would gleefully run to the refrigerator and pull one out of the coupon holder and present it to me. Sometimes when he'd used all his tickets and still wanted to nurse, there would be some grumbling, but it was generally a nice transition.
In December, he got only two tickets, and two weeks before Christmas we were down to one Two-mama ticket a day.
I chose Christmas day as the last day to nurse him-- his grandparents had come to visit and Santa Claus had a totally fantastic present for him. Sure enough, he was so heavily occupied by Aji and Ajoba and the Spider-Man playset that old St. Nick had dropped off for him that two weeks went by before he realized that he'd not had two mommies in a while.
And that was pretty much it.
Yesterday he climbed up into my lap and reached right down into my shirt. Grabbing a nipple, he said, "I still want two mommies sometimes." "There's no milk left," I said warningly. "Maybe there is," he said hopefully, "I want there to be." Feeling impish, I asked, "Do you want to try?" He laughed and said, "No thanks."
Labels: early caries, weaning
posted by RoRo's Mama at 7:49 AM
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