Weaning twins

Because my blog is called Scattered Excerpts, I can post now about weaning SB and BW, even though that happened a few months ago, right?  I was still breastfeeding SB and BW when I got pregnant with the nugget, although we were down to 2-3 times a day, usually upon wakeup and before bed, and also sometimes before nap.  When I went in for my first appointment, the OB education nurse scolded me, telling me I needed to stop nursing immediately, without explaining why.  I knew from reading about nursing during pregnancy about the risks, and that they were likely small for me, so I basically ignored her.  However, I also have two very strong-willed toddlers, and I knew that I wanted to wean well in advance before the nugget arrived so I didn't inadvertently end up with them thinking they could still nurse too.  I also started to lose weight.  Although I had some food aversions and nausea, I was still eating plenty, so I decided it would be best for all of us to move on from nursing.

I ended any nursing before nap easily - I just explained to SB and BW that we only had snack upon wakeup and bedtime.  Then, DH was able to take morning duty a few mornings - usually I nursed SB and BW first, then got them changed, dressed, etc.  Simply by having him go in a few mornings and get them all dressed and ready for the day before they saw me was enough deviation from their normal routine that we were able to drop the morning session.  BW asked for "snack" a few times, but I explained we only had snack before bed now, and she didn't have any issues with that.  I approached the before-bed session a bit more gradually.  I had been introducing bedtime books while nursing for some time prior to this, allowing both SB and BW to each choose a bedtime book we would read "while" nursing.  This created a less than ideal nursing environment, as they would both frequently latch and unlatch, or turn their head to see the book, but I think it really helped with the transition once we got to that stage. The week I weaned, when I was around 14 weeks pregnant, I had DH alternate nights of bedtime routine with me, and skipped the nursing session - which wasn't an issue.  The last time I nursed them, I knew it would be the last time.  They had done just fine without nursing sessions when DH put them to bed.  I had DH take pictures of our last session.  Although I had always protested when he took pictures of me breastfeeding before, I now cherished those pictures and wanted one last moment captured.  The girls were goofy, there were a lot of nip-slips, but I'm so glad we have those pictures.  I get a little emotional when I think of our nursing relationship (damn pregnancy hormones), but I'm glad our transition went so smoothly.  The next night I did bedtime routine, I gave them pacis instead of nursing while we read books.  BW still asked about snack, but didn't protest when I told her no more snack.  In the time that has passed, we have eliminated pacis during reading time, and they don't get them until they are in their cribs.  I am not looking forward to paci elimination.  They are very dependent on them for falling asleep and getting rid of them is not going to be pretty.  I keep going back and forth about getting rid of pacis or getting rid of diapers, and right now potty-training is winning out.  I am really, really hoping I can get SB and BW potty trained before the nugget's arrival.  Three in diapers is very daunting.