Mamas, your expertise, please
Posted on | June 25, 2006 |
So, I’m totally working on the picture laden post (I’m not just lolling about in the sunshine, picking armfuls of black-eyed susans and daisies, reading a really a really good book, and eating organic cantelope, I swear!)
But in the meantime I have two pressing issues. Boobs & poop.
I need to know two things.
A) When you’re weaning, how do you reduce breastmilk production? Bean spent his first night in his own room EVER last night. He woke up once, but went to sleep without crying, all by himself… and so we’re down to the before-bedtime nursing and I’m thinking of cutting that out tonight. But I’m not sure how my boobs have gotten the whole weaning memo. Advice?
and…
B) When your 16 month old comes to you, pulling on his diaper and grunting after he’s taken a poop, and when you say, “Did you poop?” he says, “Uh-huh” and points to the clean diapers, is it time to think about buying one of those little potties? And if it is, which? And then how to proceed from there?
I’ll be eagerly awaiting your responses.
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23 Responses to “Mamas, your expertise, please”
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June 25th, 2006 @ 5:26 pm
I didn’t nurse (sadly) so I haven’t any real advice on that subject.
As for the potty’s vs. the potty seat? My girl wanted to use the portable potty seat for everything BUT actually going. In the end, we bought a seat that sits on top of the toilet (so her tushy wouldn’t fall in) and that worked much better. The one I liked the best was by Graco and it has this adjustable dial that makes it fit your commode.
My girlfriend was able to potty train her daughter just before she was 2 y.o. and while there were a little more accidents, it worked. I made the mistake of not taking my girl’s requests seriously and soon after her 2nd birthday all attempts at potty training went by the wayside and it didn’t happen until she was 3 and she had peer pressure.
June 25th, 2006 @ 6:14 pm
The boobs, like men - just take a little while to get the memo. In the meantime, try and resist the urge to pump. Boobs are a supply and demand situation, so if you pump … they will think there is still demand.
We started the potty training when our daughter ripped off her diaper and yelled, “NO PANTS.” I think you are close to there - but Bean will let you know
June 25th, 2006 @ 6:36 pm
my little guy, Jack, is almost 3 and started the same thing about 8 months ago. I thought he was going to be super early wtih the potty training thing, and he’s done really well for the last 4 months. The first time he started (8 months ago) he was pretty spotty with it. my doc said that you should give it a weekend you’ll know right away. what I hadn’t thought of though was that jack couldn’t undress himself, so the only thing gained really was not using diapers- which is cool, but I hadn’t anticipated that his early desire to potty train hadn’t caught up with his ability to go the potty himself. He’s just now starting to be able to do it himself. I also never used pull ups- with either of my kids. it just seems to confuse them.
June 25th, 2006 @ 6:49 pm
Cabbage leaves. Seriously. Just take a couple of leaves and line your bra with them at night. It can dramatically decrease supply so be careful if you’re not going for total weaning.
And my current favorite potty seat is this one: http://tinyurl.com/nad3w
Works as a regular potty seat, then converts to a step stool/potty seat for the toilet. Lily’s loving it and I have less cleaning to do. Cleaning our potty bowls really gets annoying after a while.
HTH!
June 25th, 2006 @ 6:54 pm
I’m not sure about the Potty training, as my ray of sunshine is only 10 months, but as for the weaning… I didn’t nurse very long so when I wanted to stop the doctor told me to use cold compresses for when you are swollen. Apparently cold cabbage leaves stuffed into your bra is supposed to work wonders, but I had a reaction to the cabbage and couldn’t test that theory for more than a half hour.
Good luck with both and Congratulations on moving in!
June 25th, 2006 @ 6:54 pm
My only suggestion is for the potty seat, I am about ready to start too, and did some research in the internet - I am going to get the Baby Bjorn seat that goes on your exisitng toilet - the thought of having to empty out a potty seat makes me gag…so that is what I would do if I was you. Just sit him there and see what happens! Good luck!
June 25th, 2006 @ 7:38 pm
like tina above mentioned, cold cabbage leaves …that helped me a lot (although they do get kind of stinky…so change them often!) and…drinking a lot of sage tea helped as well. good luck!
June 25th, 2006 @ 7:59 pm
When I weaned my son, Jack, at 14 monthes it was really painful even though I did it slowly. My lactation consultant suggested that I take a benadryl before bed and to put cabbage leaves in my bra. She told me to keep the cabbage in the fridge and roll it flat with a rolling pin to break the spine before I put it in my bra. I wore the leaves until I could smell them and then just changed them out. I dried up in about a week after doing both of those things. I think the benadryl was the key. Good luck! As for potty training, I am in the thick of it now with a 26 month old who is not in the least interested. I have heard they should be able to undress themselves. If he is ready that is very lucky for you.
June 25th, 2006 @ 9:26 pm
No advice from me, of course, but filing it all away for future reference. But you are kidding about the good book, right? Please tell me you are. I clicked on the link looking for some delectable novel and nearly yelped in terror.
June 25th, 2006 @ 10:05 pm
OOPs! Sam, I fixed the link. *GRIN*
June 25th, 2006 @ 11:03 pm
I have to second cabbage leaves. I had to abruptly stop nursing Oliver and I became so engorged, so quickly that I would have done anything. I’d never tried cabbage leaves before and they were a godsend.
Breastfeeding is a supply/demand thing, and although it’s hard not to, expressing milk will only produce more. I never let myself get too engorged — I would express very small amounts at a time, maybe twice a day, in order to not be in a lot of discomfort (and to avoid mastitis). I also wore a really tight-fitting bra.
As far as potty training goes, I always followed Julia’s lead when it came to stuff like that. I don’t think it would hurt picking up a potty for Bean — we got Julia a Fisher Price Royal Potty that spouts off a little musical “ta-da!” when it’s used. It was in our family room for a good month and a half — Julia used to sit on it with a bowl of Cheerios in her lap and watch Dora. We never pushed her on the issue and offered lots of encouragement and penguin stickers to stick on a homemade chart when she did go.
Good luck!
June 25th, 2006 @ 11:34 pm
Reading your replies with interest as these are two issues I am facing soon here too. The weaning I am keen to do but I am relieved/sad/scared about it! I actually think I might miss it more than she will!
My little one is 18months and doing the same thing when she needs a nappy change and over the last couple of months has really become aware of those ‘functions’!! We bought a little potty seat just to have it there and familiarise her with the idea but she won’t sit on it herself….keeps sitting her dolls on it!!
Good luck
Love your blog!
June 26th, 2006 @ 1:54 am
I can’t offer advice for the weaning, because I really don’t remember how it happened so smoothly for me the last time. I think I had eliminated all but the night nursing, and then took steps to reduce even that, gradually, over maybe a week or so???
And you can get a $2 potty at Target
Hey, the watermelon is priddy gid rot nay, tew!
June 26th, 2006 @ 2:30 am
The heck with a potty, get that kid a stool and let him use the real toilet.
We went straight to the “big” toilet with our kids and never looked back. They just needed a little help with balancing at first, but otherwise there were no awkward transitions. Good luck! (can’t help with the first question cuz I couldn’t breastfeed)
June 26th, 2006 @ 8:13 am
Just go slow and don’t pump. Taking out one nursing feels “tight” for awhile, but then it gets better after a day or two at the most. Slowly is best. My daughters both decided around 2 1/2 that diapers were not the way to go, on their own and asked for the potty. It was much easier being their idea and coming to it on their own then me “making” them think about it. We used a little potty too, but they took the top of the seat off after awhile and placed it on the big potty. Worked for me and we had no accidents or tears.
June 26th, 2006 @ 2:00 pm
Sage tea three times a day to help dry up your milk - the Mutterberaterin here swears by it (I haven’t taken the plunge even though I desperately need to wean so I can’t say how it works, but that’s what she told me to do when I start.)
If you get a potty, let Bean pick it out. If he doesn’t want to sit on it in the store in his clothes, he’s not going to use it at home either!
June 26th, 2006 @ 2:10 pm
i didn’t read anyone’s comments. just my own experience.
i think the boobs will just dry up on their own. they may ache for awhile if you go “cold turkey ” though….i weaned little by little it just happened on it’s own. no decisions. but my gosh she was just about 3 years old! you can always wear a really tight bra or shirt and that will help. the more he nurses the more you produce, so if he isn’t nursing hardly at all it will just stop on it’s own! good lucK!
as far as the potty training, sounds like i would get a little pottY! or go straight to the big one. one thing that helped for the big one is a stool to get to it, then have them climb on it backwards. so he is facing the lid and can hang onto the back. it’s safer so he won’t fall in! i wish you lucK!
tara
June 26th, 2006 @ 2:46 pm
I can’t help you with the weaning - both my son and I got bronchitis when he was about 8 months old. My production dropped due to both the illness and his lack of interest in eating at the time and he never went back.
My advice on the potty is to not push it. Bean will let you know. We did buy him a seat/stool when he started to show interest at around 2 years, but he was more interested in wearing the seat around his neck or the bowl on his head and never actually used it for it’s real purpose - he preferred to put the seat on the toilet and sit up there instead.
I think we pushed too hard after we felt he knew what he was supposed to be doing and he fought back. Stickers only worked for a while. It didn’t help that he had to wear Pull-Ups to daycare - those things are the biggest scam! Why stop to go potty when you can just go in your Pull-Ups? We finally just stopped pushing the issue and left it up to him. If he asked to go, we ran to the bathroom, but other than that, we just didn’t care. He just finally got to the point that he always went on the toilet and that was that.
June 26th, 2006 @ 3:42 pm
Hi!! I’ve lurked here for a while and thought I’d actually post, since you’re asking.
1. Boobs. Do it gradually over time. I think it took me about 2 months to stop nursing and it never hurt. Sometimes I felt really full and needed an emptying. But like some other people said, it just kind of ended naturally on its own.
2. Potty. Your child is 16 months? A boy? I think that you might want to try it, but don’t get too excited yet. My son is 29 months in pre-school and still not potty trained. I was talking with the teacher about it and she said that in her experience boys don’t usually get trained successfully until they’re closer to two years old. If you click on the link, you can read a recent post of mine about training Evan. It is hysterical. And it made me realize that even at nearly 2 and a half he’s still not ready.
Good luck!!
June 26th, 2006 @ 3:42 pm
Sorry!! I meant to say that his teacher said boys aren’t potty trained successfully until closer to THREE years old.
June 28th, 2006 @ 1:34 am
Jack weaned recently (extremely slowly) and I never had any problems with engorgement. I did, however, get mastitis a lot around the time Jack was Bean’s age. I started taking lecithin and vitamin C whenever I felt it coming on and that seemed to do the trick, I never had mastisis again. With Jack I used the “don’t offer, don’t refuse” technique and that also worked well for us. He was 25 months when he weaned on his own. Good luck! Enjoy the last bit of breasfeeding, it goes by so fast. Unfortunately, I have no advice on the potty, Jack is not too interested yet
June 29th, 2006 @ 8:29 pm
No advice on the weaning. I weaned so gradually with my kids I never had engorgement.
But the potty - I’d say he’s probably a little young yet, but definitely go with it if he’s interested. And I think the absolute BEST potty on earth for boys is the Baby Bjorn. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000056J7L/sr=8-1/qid=1151627306/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-4964544-7417533?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance
All my friends with boys end up borrowing my Bjorn potty.
It’s so easy to clean, and the little weinie guard is the best for avoiding accidental pee-sprays.
Congrats on your move! It’s gorgeous!
March 14th, 2007 @ 11:04 pm
At first we used a little potty chair but then my son always wanted to empty it himself (which resulted in me cleaning up everything he spilled…) I finally decided to have him stand on a stool and use the regular toilet because there aren’t special potty chairs in public restrooms and I realized that if he only went in a litlle toilet at home he would freak out at the regular toilets if he ever had to go while in public (we all know how much toddlers are creatures of habit!!!) The regular toilet with a stool worked great, just make sure you get a stool with the non-stick/anti-slipping material on the top! Good luck and don’t force it, you’ll know when he’s ready. My son is completely potty trained now and has been for aabout three months (he will be three next week). If you are struggling and fighting with him or he doesn’t seem interested AT ALL, then it’s too early and try again in about a month or so. good luck!