Weaned?

Oliver has officially gone two full days without nursing. I'm going to tentatively say he's weaned, but tomorrow will be the true test, as Andrew will be at work and unavailable to distract him when need be.

In Other News: A New Sleep and Milk Record

In other news, Oliver set a new record last night. He went to bed at 7:15pm. He awoke at 3am, and Andrew went in to calm him. It didn't work, so we let Oliver cry himself to sleep (it took about 5 minutes). Then, Oliver slept until 5:45am, when he got up for the day. Ten-and-a-half hours is his record between nursings, and I'm very excited to think that, had he not woken at 3am, he would have slept that whole stretch!

Additionally, Oliver went nearly eight hours during the day between nursings yesterday. That's a day time record! He went from 7:45am to 3:15pm.

By reducing his nursings to 3-4 times a day, my cycle has officially resumed. There are changes going on in Oliver's body, too. Namely, his poop has started to really stink. That might sound strange, but babies who nurse have pretty sweet-smelling poop (As an infant, when Oliver ate nothing but milk, Andrew said his poop smelled like graham crackers. Later, after we introduced solids but still nursed him regularly, his poop smelled sort of like fermented fruit--not good, but not offensive). Babies who are on formula have very foul-smelling poop. Anyway, now that Oliver is nursing so infrequently, his poop has started to smell foul, too. Yuck.

Sleeping Through the Night?

Yes, I understand that five hours is technically considered "sleeping through the night." I think the reason for that is because, at five hours, a baby must have soothed himself/herself to sleep during that time. Oliver has been sleeping through the night since he was a few months old, if you look at it from that standpoint. Back then, we did. Now, however, we're ready for him to sleep from the time we lay him in the crib until the time he's awake for the day.

It's been less than a week since we started pushing his middle-of-the-night feeding back, and he's now going about 9 to 10 hours between bed time and his nursing. Previously, he was going from about 7.5 hours to 9 hours.

Speaking of nursings, his weaning has been going well. Oliver is currently nursing 3-4 times a day! Yesterday, for example, he nursed at 4am (which seems early, but it was the end of Daylight Savings Time), 7:30am (because we had some driving to do, and I wasn't sure how long we'd be gone for), 1pm, and 7pm. Then, he did a big stretch from 7pm to 4:45am. Go, Ollie, go!

Weaning

Since Oliver was born, I've had to limit his nursings. That sounds cruel, I know, but Oliver would nurse for about 45 minutes to an hour and then want to nurse again 30 minutes later. I'd push him to go 45 minutes to an hour between nursings. At three months old, he'd rarely go even two hours (it was usually an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half) between nursings (unless he was sleeping at night).

I was stoked when Oliver started goinga solid two hours between nursings, and then, for a short while, he'd go for three and then four hours. Then, in early September, he got sick, and I nursed him as much as he wanted. Since then, I've been lucky if he'll go three hours between nursings during the day. I know, as a nearly 1 year old, Oliver does not need to nurse that much, and he does not need to nurse in the middle of the night. It's very difficult to push him, though, when he climbs on me, pulls at my shirt, and rams his head into my collar bone repeatedly.

Yesterday, I offered him food and water instead of milk a few times. Between that and some will on my part, I was able to make him go for longer stretches. It also helps once Andrew gets home because then he can be held and played with without thinking that there's milk available.

Today, so far, he nursed at 3am (that was after pushing him from when he woke at 2am), 6:30am (he gets so mad if he doesn't nurse when he wakes up for the day), and 9:30am (because he was freaking out). However, I'm proud to say he went down for his nap without nursing to sleep, so that's something. I'm determined not to nurse him again until his next nap, which should happen around 1:30pm or 2pm. I'll be very liberal with his lunch, snacks and water until that time, and I know there's no reason he can't make it four hours between his nursings.

Changing Tables, Nursing Stalls, and Other Finds

I'm really impressed with the accessibility of baby changing tables and nursing stalls in Chicago. The coolest place I discovered was the bathroom at the eatery at the Ridge Mall.

Sam took me there after Oliver took a poopy, and I was floored. I walked in, and a set of comfortable chairs greeted me. On the wall, there were toys for toddlers to play with. On the opposite wall, there were large closet-like rooms with soft chairs for nursing. There were curtains to pull for privacy. Perpendicular to those rooms was a long wall with a counter that ran along it. The counter had about a dozen insets to lay babies down to change their diapers. Next to each station was a sink and a diaper disposal drawer. Last but not least, there was a vending machine that was filled with nutritious children's snacks, including baby food, a portable container of Cheerios, Horizon organic milk, and Gerber finger foods. It was remarkable! I felt like I was in baby heaven.

Midway Airport was not quite as impressive, but they still outdid themselves. I arrived for my flight about four hours early. During my wait, Oliver, of course, needed to be nursed. I was nervous about nursing him by myself in public. I decided to search for a private area. First, I stopped in the family bathroom to change Oliver's diaper. It was perfect! It was a large bathroom with a changing station and a wide chair for nursing as well as a toilet for me. Best of all, it was private. I was able to change Oliver, nurse him, and use the bathroom without a problem. I wish I could personally thank the person who took the time to build that!

Now in Denver, we've returned to the land of bathrooms with no changing stations and no nursing areas. At DIA, Andrew took Oliver to the men's room to change his diaper. He returned a minute later with the news: there was no changing station. I took Oliver in the women's room. No changing station there. I checked the handicapped stall. No changing station there. Back out I went. Andrew and I changed Oliver on the carpet of the baggage claim. At least that's better than changing him on the tile of a restroom floor like I've been known to have to do many times!

Hopefully, Denver will start to make strides in making their public areas more accessible for families with young kids. In the meantime, mind the naked baby on the floor.