Done Nursing

A couple of weeks ago Beatrice stopped nursing. Since she was about 13 months, we have phased out the regular feedings for actual nourishment and Bea learned to drink cow's milk and soy milk. We even tapered off the soothing nursing times before naps and bedtime and replaced them with our book reading, singing and praying routine. This all went really smoothly... until I got exhausted one day and let Bea nap and nurse with me to get her to sleep a little longer. Then she started waking up from short naps and pointing vigorously to the bed where she wanted to snuggle up with me and nurse and sleep some more. Who can argue with a baby who wants to sleep more? I couldn't for quite a while. But now even these nursing times have come to a sad end. These extended naps had become cranky and demanding times instead of restful snoozes. It's surprisingly hard to decide to stop a routine that still holds a glimmer of hope for more rest for baby and for Mommy... but that glimmer of hope was getting smaller and smaller. The hardest part about this end to nursing has been the end to extended naps. It's like the end of the snooze button on an alarm clock.