Extended BF

On the subject of graduating from things, Nic and I ended our extended BF relationship a few months ago. It ended when I went to London to visit Alexis, Chris and Cooper in November (2011) for a week (I had miles that were expiring). Right before I left for the trip we were all sick and I ended up taking antibiotics for a sinus infection. When I got back my "boo boo eh" was nearly gone but also "tasted bad" according to Nic. I told him that I had taken the medicine while I was gone and that perhaps this had caused my "boo boos" to taste badly. He tried 3 or 4 times to have "boo boos" after that but every time said it tasted bad and stopped after a few seconds. That first time he tried when I got back he cried really hard and was very sad. The second time he also cried pretty hard but the next 2 times he was only a little bit upset and then after that he stopped asking about it and was happy to have his "Atole" that Grandma makes for him from a bottle (that he had been having for months before I left).

The moral of this story to me is that my "laissez faire" style of parenting can work. I waited to "make the break" until I was sure that he was ready for the break. It broke my heart to do it. Extended BF was a blessing and a curse. I attribute at least some part of the strength of Nicie's and my relationship to the amount of "close" time that we spent together. I loved that time most of the time, but there were times that I just wanted him "off" me. I am guessing that all Mom's that BF at all have that same feeling in alternating waves, probably every time that they are BFing.

I miss the closeness that we had, at least in the BF way, but I enjoy the freedom it allows me to go to sleep while he is still awake and not have to lay down all the time when he wants to go to sleep!

The reason I decided to write this is I saw an extended BF Mom at the mall today. We were in the play area at the mall and she had a boy who was either an old three or a four year old. She was BFing him. He pulled down her shirt and she fed him. Clearly for comfort, she only fed him for a few seconds only. The interesting thing to me was that I was compelled to watch. I am not sure why. Maybe because it is so rare to see anyone breastfeeding in public past maybe a year old, and I feel like I hardly see it here in LA past maybe six months. In Boulder it wasn't unusual to see women BFing toddlers but in LA (at least where we go) it is rare. I was so happy to see her feeding him. They both looked so comfortable and happy it was a joy. I am glad Nic and I were able to keep our relationship going until we didn't need it anymore. There were a few times where I almost "lost the faith" and gave up early, but I am very glad I didn't!