back to BLW

that's baby-led weaning for those of you without children or indeed, without prior interest in the current roaring debate. allow me to enlighten you: Poppy decides when to stop breastfeeding. not I, not her daddy or a well-meaning (misinformed, judgemental or jealous) friend or relative. remember, any unsolicited advice is solely about THEM and THEIR prior knowledge (or lack of) and THEIR OWN experiences (read trials, tribulations, failures and inability to accept/ignore/pare down the unsolicited advice received by them whilst going through the same phase! ie Having Children.

just to digress for half a second (how unusual): Gershwin, in Porgy and Bess (his final broadway piece. it ran for 124 performances and was still a financial miss), portrayed blacks in a particular way AND HIS VIEW WAS COMPLETELY VALID. thanks for that, Julie Andrews in that brilliant series, Broadway The American Musical; good to keep in mind. forge your own obscure links there. it was just that it's on in the background. did you ever hear the story of The Cradle will Rock world premiere? yeah, really interesting. go google it.

so anyway, I went through a short-lived phase just last week, during which I tried to drop the during-the-day-feeds (there are usually 2). I think I was thinking it must be time, considering, not the WHO recommendation (which is breastfeed for the first 2 years for optimum benefits. swedish mamas follow this advice, widely promoted and well supported financially by their truly family-friendly government and they are thus regarded as the leading nation in baby care and early child rearing. even disregarding the swedes, think of all the women in various cultures around the world who, for thousands of years, have swaddled, worn and weaned their baby by following the baby's cues for warmth, comfort, no-nappy "elimination communication" and sustenance), but because I'm returning to work in january and I thought settling into a daycare routine would be enough of a challenge without adding to that, the complication of weaning. BUT Poppy was not particularly happy about this and had trouble settling for a couple of naps and got so grumpy by about 3pm each day that I thought to myself, "self, WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAKING THIS DECISION FOR HER?" I really don't need to-yet. surely, while I'm still at home and because I trust her in all other matters (how long she needs to sleep for, what she wants to eat and how much she needs to eat, when she's hot or cold or sleepy etc, etc...remember, she's signing a lot of this stuff so it's even easier to tell), I should be allowing her to choose to have milky or not (especially, as Sam proudly pointed out, now that she IS confidently signing it!)

she's enjoying eating a variety of solid foods (since 5 mths); she mostly eats what we eat. she loves her water in the tupperware cup. and she still loves her milky. so that's still fine. she'll let me know. I know her.