Breastfeeding journey-Firstborn

This post is about my My breastfeeding journey with my first child Shelby (she is 4 now 2026)

I always knew if I had children that I would love to try breastfeeding. 

I remember when I was pregnant with Shelby and how people would make “good intentioned” comments like “Well what if you can’t do it?” “Will you consider formula if you can’t breastfeed” and comments of similar variety. A lot came from my own family.

 I am sure their worries `’come from a good place” but if your comments are anything but supportive, they're really not helpful. 

Fast forward to Shelby being born and she latched right away and I felt so proud. Proud of my body who I have multiple times in this life have felt betrayed by. 

Shelby never took a bottle. Never took a pacifer

So every feeding, every moment of comfort, everything was on me. 

I did not know what being “touched out” meant. That all changed when Shelby arrived. I have always had sensory issues but this was a whole other ball game. 

She got to a point where she only nursed from the right side. She twiddled my other nipple while she was nursing. And there were some days it felt like torture to breastfeed her because of how touched out I felt. Like I couldn’t stand to be touched for one more second. This also came with immense guilt for saying “no” to some of her requests for “nani(milk)” as she would call it. It became “easier” once the majority of her teeth came in, which cut the number of nursing sessions down a lot. Eventually getting it down to 3 nursing sessions 1 in the morning, naptime, and bedtime. 

Ever since she was 4 months old I would nurse her to sleep for nap times and I would hold her for the duration of her nap-most of the time it was around 2 hours. Every time I would try to put her in the crib she would only nap for like 20 min she was not a fan. 

So I held her and she would nap peacefully in my arms. 

She napped this way until she was a little over 2 years old. When I started to not offer “nani (milk)”. She would still nurse occasionally for maybe a minute but by me not offering it to her it definitely cut back on the amount of times she wanted “nani(milk)” at nap time.

I knew I wanted to start the weaning process a little before she turned two. I was in need of more support in my day to day and I was not getting that. I didn’t want to get to the point where I dreaded nursing sessions but I knew that day was approaching fast. 

We started reading the book “Booby Moon” a little after Shelby’s 2nd birthday to get her familiar with the story. It's a book specifically written to help with the weaning process. 

Then a week before her half bday (2.5) I started explaining that we were going to have a party soon to send “nani” (milk) back to the moon so that it could come down for new babies when they are born. 

Then on the day of Shelby's half birthday, My mom and sister came over and we ate cake and lit sparklers  in the back yard and pointed them up towards the sky saying “goodbye” to “nani” (milk). 

 And if you are like wtf?

It may seem “woo woo” for some but for me it just made sense. It gave Shelby a good memory associated with ending our breastfeeding journey. I also got her a little glow in the dark stuffed animal to sleep with- to bring comfort at bedtime since she was so used to having milk and being nursed to sleep. 

She only asked for milk a couple times after that and I'd say  “remember we sent “nani” (milk)  back to the moon”. That was a good enough answer for her and then she never asked for it again. 

It was a good transition for us. And the book “Booby moon” definitely helped with that. It taught me that it is a big transition for everyone and it takes patience. I feel like having a set end date was helpful and communicating to Shelby what the plan was. The cake and sparklers helped too!

I feel very blessed to have been able to breastfeed Shelby for 2.5 years. It was truly one of the most mentally and physically taxing experiences I have ever had but at the same time the most magical and fulfilling. Our breastfeeding journey is something I will forever be proud of us for. 

Life update-2026. 4 months after Shelby was weaned I had baby #2 which started a new breastfeeding journey of our own. 

Currently 15 months in!