Attempt at Weaning

Lately I have started becoming slightly conscious of attempts to wean Ethan from my breast (I say *slightly* because I think subconsciously I am not even sure myself if I want to wean…but eventually my boy will have to grow up, right?). 

Every evening when we come home from work, Ethan will play with his toys for a moment, before he realizes he misses me, and then he will come over to me and ask for comfort suckling.  Sometimes he will drift off for a short nap before he wakes up and takes his bath.  But sometimes he will just sleep through and miss his bath entirely.  That’s all right too, cos his baby sitter has started giving him a late afternoon bath as well nowadays, because he is so active that he sweats a lot.  Anyway, when he is ready for bed, I will breastfeed him and tuck him in when he is done.  I tell you, he looks so preciously adorable when he is fast asleep… angelic, even…

Previously when he wakes up during the night, or about midnight, I will breastfeed him again, a surefire way to get him back to dreamland.  But a few days ago, when he woke up around 11p.m., I took him into the kitchen and gave him a drink of water.  Ethan can drink from a normal adult cup now and loves doing so, but since I have yet to get him a lighter one he can hold himself, I still need to hold the ceramic cup for him now.  After a few gulps of water, I took him into the room and laid down with him on the bed.  Miraculously he fell asleep immediately!  So he was just thirsty!  And he slept till 4:30a.m. – which is good judging by Ethan’s standards okay? 

Apart from water, I’ve also tried singing and rocking him to sleep sometimes.  In fact most of the time, when he wakes up during the night, it’s not because he is hungry but more so because he feels lonely or perhaps just thirsty.  So there you have it.  My *feeble* attempt at weaning.  May not be much thus far, but it’s a start.