Breastfeeding a Toddler
Nothing prepared me for what breastfeeding a toddler would entail. Nothing. Not a book, a website, or any advice from well meaning friends prepared me what it would be like to nurse a toddler. It has been 16 months of breastfeeding for E and I. At the start, it was hard because we were learning "how" to do it. Breastfeeding is a skill, and regardless of what anyone says about it being a "natural process", it doesn't come naturally for everyone. We struggled through the first months with me saying several times that I just wanted to make it to 6 weeks, then to 8 weeks, then to 12 weeks, until finally I realized I had stopped counting. Luckily, we didn't have any major latch issues, but we dealt with thrush (OUCH), overactive letdown and overproduction. Gentian violet took care of the thrush while painting E's face (and my nipples) bright purple. Block-feeding took care of the overactive letdown. I pumped, and pumped, and pumped to save all that precious e...