Lately I have read a few birth stories, written up with the public in mind, except they were the horror kind of story. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would write these up for women who have not yet experienced labour. There is nothing to compare with the rush and hormonal response that occurs when a non-fearful,fully educated about birth, unmedicated woman pushes her baby naturally into the world, and that is how it is supposed to be. So I thought I would share my best birth stories with you.
I'll explain why.
A woman approaching her labour, is in a very delicate state emotionally, and anything that brings forth a fearful reaction is likely to negatively affect the outcome. Fear creates adrenalin in her body, which slows down the oxytocin being pulsed from her brain. Oxytocin is the hormone which creates loving feelings and it is also the hormone which stimulates contractions. When a woman goes into labour naturally she begins the bonding process with her baby. As each contraction squeezes her uterus, her baby recives oxytocin into its system, as well. The oxytocin produces a content reaction in the baby, making it fully relax in order to be born. If it all works properly and there is no unnecessary intervention, the baby does not feel distressed during labour. When a woman is fearful, adrenalin from her brain suppresses the oxytocin, which can slow down labour or even stop it, the adrenalin will also make the baby feel distressed. This is the way the fight or flight response works on a woman in labour. Adrenalin can be stimulated by the fear of the unknown, coupled with the negative birth stories you may have heard.
The solution to combatting fear is is simple. Positive reinforcement that natural childbirth is safe. Read as many positive natural birth stories as you can get your hands on. Become educated in the way that your body works in labour. Discover ways to relax in stressful situations and practice them during your pregnancy for use in labour.
Derek's Birth
I have to be honest and say that I now look back on all of the births of my babies in a positive way, even though they didn't all go exactly to plan. I have had six children, one cesarean (first baby), and 5 vaginal births, 2 were induced.
The birth that I look back on most fondly is the birth of my 5th child, Derek, who I call my millenium baby, born in the middle of 2000. If I could have written a step-by-step guide for natural hospital birth, that experience would have been the one.
I had been nesting for about a week, cleaning and setting up baby stuff, making sure that everything was ready. I knew that this behaviour is instinctive in a mother who is about to go into labour and meant that it would most likely happen soon.
I had a lovely couple who were friends and would be looking after our children while I was in labour, my mom and hubby would be coming with me to the hospital.
That day I was meditating and feeling inwards and my youngest child was aware that I was quiet and seemed different than my usual lively self. She crawled into my lap and started asking about the baby. I told her that she would soon have a baby brother to cuddle. She cuddled my tummy and kissed the "baby". Right then I knew that the baby would come very soon. I had been having regular false labour for several days, and I just knew that this was the day.
Hubby and I went to the library to have some quiet time. I sat quietly reading as I had regular contractions. They started right after I sat down and cam about every ten minutes. I started timing them by how many pages I had read in between. After awhile I was only averaging 5-6 pages between and I told hubby we had better go home. It was early evening, so we went home and had a light meal and I read some more on the bed. My kids all came to lie on the bed with me for awhile and daddy read them a story while I breathed through contractions. I kissed them all and daddy put them to bed with the help of our friends. By this time I was getting tired so I went to sleep. The contractions mellowed for a couple of hours, allowing me to sleep and then they woke me up again. By this time it was uncomfortable to lie on my side so I got up and squatted up against the radiator heater. This was a very comfortable position during the contractions and the heat was relaxing and comforting for my back muscles. I rotated my hips and knelt during contractions also. I continued for several hours as the contractions got steadily more intense. I let hubby sleep as I felt quite able to cope, and just rode the waves as they came, rocking, rotating, deep breathing and leaning my back against the radiator.
I felt like I needed to be alone and just do what I needed to.
I felt a distinct difference in the contractions after about 4 hours, so I knew we needed to get to the hospital. I woke up hubby, we called the hospital and put the labour bag into the car. I got a towel to sit on, just in case, and my bed pillow for comfort. The car ride was probably the most uncomfortable part of the whole labour as the seat belt was too tight on my tunmmy and I couldn't find a naturally comfortable position.
When we got to the hospital at 6.30am, I was squatting in the waiting room and huffing and puffing as hubby filled out the paperwork. I think it was obvious that I was far along so they got me into a room fairly quick. I was already 8 cms dilated and by this time the contractions were coming fast and intense. I went into the ensuite bathroom and squatted in the shower as I let the hot water pound on my back. The heat and deep breathing was comforting although I was holding on by a thread at this point. Back in the room I did more rocking and rotating as I hummed a tune during the contraction. I am a musical person and I found it helped me to hum and rock to a beat when it got really intense. At this point a nice Japanese student midwife pushed gently on my accupressure points during the height of the contraction. I felt a rush of endorphins, and I knew that this was it. As I squatted, my mucous plug came out in one big clump, my waters broke and I felt such an urge to push down, but I just knew that this was not the time for a hard push, instead I gave gentle pulses with my muscles as the baby gently stretched the vaginal walls. As it was my fifth baby, very little stretching was needed so as the head crowned I stopped pushing altogether and just breathed the baby out. As his head came out, I knelt one leg down so I could catch him. Hubby supported me from behind and my mom was there as well supporting me. I felt such a rush of love for my baby, as well as a euphoria that I can only compare to finishing a marathon or climbing a mountain and reaching the top. But there was more, as I felt love swamp me, the oxytocic rush made my milk spurt out ready for baby, and boy was he ready. He latched on and had a good suck. I felt the placenta separate with the after birth contractions and it came out in one nice piece without any help at all. I didn't need stitches and I was able to shower and dress, then sit and enjoy my baby immediately with his daddy and my mom. We shared a wonderful bonding time. I felt like I could do anything, I didn't even feel tired. The baby was born around 2 hours after arriving at the hospital.
My explanation for why this birth went so well was that I was able to labour at home until I felt like I needed to get to the hospital. In the privacy of my bedroom in my house I could just let my labour take me over, and my body do the work without distraction. I could have had a homebirth, if I was as informed as I am now, but at the time I thought that I had to birth in hospital because of the cesarean birth of my first baby.
It is imperative that you find information from a variety of sources, because one source may have their own agenda for the recommendations that are given. It's your body and your baby, so take control of what happens to them.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Experiencing Birth With a Doula
Birth is supposed to be an instinctive process. It's outside the logical, scheduled world that we live in. Because it is a primal process, things move along more smoothly if you can shut down your conscious mind and let your instincts take over.
The rules of social interaction which have been ingrained from childhood, can have a strong influence on a woman in labour, preventing her from yielding to the powerful instincts which are at work to help her birth her child. For example, as a child, a woman might have been taught not to expose her naked body in public. Cold air on her exposed skin might cause her to tense up and fight against her body which is working to open her cervix. Labour may be prolonged as a result.
A woman in labour is vulnerable. She is at the mercy of a hormone cocktail, pulsing from her brain to her body. This labour cocktail causes uterine muscle contractions which pulse like waves which sweep her up to a crest and then down again. Each crest opens her cervix more. This process is hindered by the neocortex.
The contractions are stimulated via the central part of her brain which controls involuntary processes, such as breathing and your heartbeat. The neocortex is the thinking part of the brain. In labour a woman copes better if she can put aside thoughts of what's happening around her and retreat from thinking.
So the labouring process works best when a woman withdraws mentally from thought and social training and just rides the waves.
Unfortunately it is often difficult for the modern woman to go into labour and immediately begin to act instinctively. Getting in touch with our innate birthing skills takes practice before the actual event. It takes time and work because we aren't used to behaving instinctively, we often suppress our instincts in our day to day lives because of our social conditioning.
Part of the preparation should include learning the mechanics involved in the birthing process and how the brain chemicals work. When we have an understanding of this we can then begin to work on coping techniques to work with the body not against it.
Childbirth is something which the average first time mother has not witnessed (lets not count TV and films made in Hollywood), so it would be difficult to comprehend what labour will be like. Many women find it helpful to have someone at their birth who is an experienced mother, but who also has birth support training. Sometimes they are called doulas, or birth assistants.
Doula is a word of Greek extraction meaning "a woman's slave". A doula was the slave who took care of the mistress in all of her daily needs, but also attended her in childbirth. The modern doula is paid to provide a woman with informational support, physical support, and emotional support. Prior to the birth she will ideally provide information about coping techniques which will be useful for labour and which can be practiced ahead of time. During the labour the doula will be at her side to help keep to labouring womans environment peaceful and conducive to allowing the labouring woman to retreat from her surroundings and focus inward. The doula, as well as the woman's partner work together to support her in various labouring positions, provide her with regular drinks and energy snacks and use heat and labour massage to keep her as comfortable as possible. It's important to note that a doula will not take the place of the woman's partner, who has a very important role to play of emotionally supporting her. A doula can be very useful in preparing your partner for the experience of labour.
A woman who is well prepared ahead of time and knows she has a reliable support team will be more able to relax and let her body work.
Several studies have been done which show the benefits of having a doula at birth. These show that women who have used a doula experienced:
-50% fewer cesarean births
-40% reduction in the use of forceps
-60% fewer requests for epidurals
-40% reduction in the use of synthetic oxytocin (Pitocin/Syntocinon) to induce or augment labour
-30% reduction in the use of pain relieving medications in labour
-25% reduction in the average length of labour
-51% increase in the numbers of women breastfeeding past the first six weeks after birth
Women who used a doula also had higher self-esteem, less anxiety about being in labour and being a new mother, and fewer instances of post-partum depression. Ideally you will have your family to help you adjust to your new life, but many women like to have a doula around in the first few weeks as a caring supportive presence, and this seems to make a big difference.
Speaking from experience, the caring women who helped me in my childbirth journeys were people whom I shall always treasure. They helped me to make it through the most empowering experience a female will ever go through in her life. Both my partner and I are so grateful for them.
The rules of social interaction which have been ingrained from childhood, can have a strong influence on a woman in labour, preventing her from yielding to the powerful instincts which are at work to help her birth her child. For example, as a child, a woman might have been taught not to expose her naked body in public. Cold air on her exposed skin might cause her to tense up and fight against her body which is working to open her cervix. Labour may be prolonged as a result.
A woman in labour is vulnerable. She is at the mercy of a hormone cocktail, pulsing from her brain to her body. This labour cocktail causes uterine muscle contractions which pulse like waves which sweep her up to a crest and then down again. Each crest opens her cervix more. This process is hindered by the neocortex.
The contractions are stimulated via the central part of her brain which controls involuntary processes, such as breathing and your heartbeat. The neocortex is the thinking part of the brain. In labour a woman copes better if she can put aside thoughts of what's happening around her and retreat from thinking.
So the labouring process works best when a woman withdraws mentally from thought and social training and just rides the waves.
Unfortunately it is often difficult for the modern woman to go into labour and immediately begin to act instinctively. Getting in touch with our innate birthing skills takes practice before the actual event. It takes time and work because we aren't used to behaving instinctively, we often suppress our instincts in our day to day lives because of our social conditioning.
Part of the preparation should include learning the mechanics involved in the birthing process and how the brain chemicals work. When we have an understanding of this we can then begin to work on coping techniques to work with the body not against it.
Childbirth is something which the average first time mother has not witnessed (lets not count TV and films made in Hollywood), so it would be difficult to comprehend what labour will be like. Many women find it helpful to have someone at their birth who is an experienced mother, but who also has birth support training. Sometimes they are called doulas, or birth assistants.
Doula is a word of Greek extraction meaning "a woman's slave". A doula was the slave who took care of the mistress in all of her daily needs, but also attended her in childbirth. The modern doula is paid to provide a woman with informational support, physical support, and emotional support. Prior to the birth she will ideally provide information about coping techniques which will be useful for labour and which can be practiced ahead of time. During the labour the doula will be at her side to help keep to labouring womans environment peaceful and conducive to allowing the labouring woman to retreat from her surroundings and focus inward. The doula, as well as the woman's partner work together to support her in various labouring positions, provide her with regular drinks and energy snacks and use heat and labour massage to keep her as comfortable as possible. It's important to note that a doula will not take the place of the woman's partner, who has a very important role to play of emotionally supporting her. A doula can be very useful in preparing your partner for the experience of labour.
A woman who is well prepared ahead of time and knows she has a reliable support team will be more able to relax and let her body work.
Several studies have been done which show the benefits of having a doula at birth. These show that women who have used a doula experienced:
-50% fewer cesarean births
-40% reduction in the use of forceps
-60% fewer requests for epidurals
-40% reduction in the use of synthetic oxytocin (Pitocin/Syntocinon) to induce or augment labour
-30% reduction in the use of pain relieving medications in labour
-25% reduction in the average length of labour
-51% increase in the numbers of women breastfeeding past the first six weeks after birth
Women who used a doula also had higher self-esteem, less anxiety about being in labour and being a new mother, and fewer instances of post-partum depression. Ideally you will have your family to help you adjust to your new life, but many women like to have a doula around in the first few weeks as a caring supportive presence, and this seems to make a big difference.
Speaking from experience, the caring women who helped me in my childbirth journeys were people whom I shall always treasure. They helped me to make it through the most empowering experience a female will ever go through in her life. Both my partner and I are so grateful for them.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Breastfeeding and marital intimacy
I normally don't get involved in religious debates, because there is no way to win, and hurt feelings will always result. However when a religious leader presents the opinion that breastfeeding must naturally cause problems in a marriage, I have to say something.
Rabbi Schmuley Boteach has raised several very controversial points in his article.
The one that I would like to address is his quote,"...the principle breakdown in our time is a loss of erotic desire in marriage..". I beg to differ. His point of view is that breasts are the erotic territory of the husband and that a baby feeding interrupts that "erotic desire". Let's bust that one! Breasts are made for feeding babies, any eroticism derived from them is a nice side benefit, but not the main purpose at all.
Lack of emotional intimacy is what leads to lack of sexual intimacy in marriage. Emotional intimacy is what we women crave from our men. It makes us feel special and want to get closer physically.
Let's face it, it's not usually the man who has a problem with a lack of desire for sex, but the woman.
Let us suppose that a woman has had a non-traumatic natural birth, she is fully recovered from the birth, the baby has settled into a routine or rhythm and she has a supportive hubby who helps out around the house when he can. This the ideal scenario to cultivate sexual intimacy between parents.
Contrary to popular opinion amongst the uninitiated, it's not breastfeeding which causes lack of desire, but tiredness. The tiredness will be there no matter what way she is feeding, because the baby requires time to care for it. A woman with a baby under one year will be waking at night for feeds or changes, babies get sick, they wake from dreams and need comforting. A woman who breast feeds is going to have the added advantage of being able to provide instant comfort for her little one. In the end this means more sleep, not less, and more time for hubby.
If he nurtures his wife and they communicate well, the feeding method need not get in the way of other things that keep the marriage fires burning. In fact some women feel more like having sex while they are affected by the hormonal changes that breastfeeding causes.
The good Rabbi's opinion notwithstanding, breasts can be one of the erogenous zones for a woman and her husband, even while they are completing their primary function of feeding a baby.
Good intimate communication is the key to a happy marriage. If you are the husband and you feel under appreciated by your wife, let her know that you love her very much and ask if their is anything you can do to give her more time. Some times women with young babies feel like they have an extra extension in the form of their baby, they may just appreciate an extra pair of hands to hold the baby once in awhile. Wives, tell your hubby you appreciate him, and everything he does for you. Say you love each other many times a day. Touch each other lovingly and affectionately. Affection which does not have an expectation of sex attached to the end of it is very comforting for a woman as well as stimulating. Many women simply can't get in the mood unless the feel affection from their men.
So all that to say, sex is a necessary part of a good marriage otherwise you may as well have remained good friends. Its worth doing everything you can to nurture your sexual relationship around any restrictions caused by your beautiful bundle of joy and the natural way of feeding it.
Rabbi Schmuley Boteach has raised several very controversial points in his article.
The one that I would like to address is his quote,"...the principle breakdown in our time is a loss of erotic desire in marriage..". I beg to differ. His point of view is that breasts are the erotic territory of the husband and that a baby feeding interrupts that "erotic desire". Let's bust that one! Breasts are made for feeding babies, any eroticism derived from them is a nice side benefit, but not the main purpose at all.
Lack of emotional intimacy is what leads to lack of sexual intimacy in marriage. Emotional intimacy is what we women crave from our men. It makes us feel special and want to get closer physically.
Let's face it, it's not usually the man who has a problem with a lack of desire for sex, but the woman.
Let us suppose that a woman has had a non-traumatic natural birth, she is fully recovered from the birth, the baby has settled into a routine or rhythm and she has a supportive hubby who helps out around the house when he can. This the ideal scenario to cultivate sexual intimacy between parents.
Contrary to popular opinion amongst the uninitiated, it's not breastfeeding which causes lack of desire, but tiredness. The tiredness will be there no matter what way she is feeding, because the baby requires time to care for it. A woman with a baby under one year will be waking at night for feeds or changes, babies get sick, they wake from dreams and need comforting. A woman who breast feeds is going to have the added advantage of being able to provide instant comfort for her little one. In the end this means more sleep, not less, and more time for hubby.
If he nurtures his wife and they communicate well, the feeding method need not get in the way of other things that keep the marriage fires burning. In fact some women feel more like having sex while they are affected by the hormonal changes that breastfeeding causes.
The good Rabbi's opinion notwithstanding, breasts can be one of the erogenous zones for a woman and her husband, even while they are completing their primary function of feeding a baby.
Good intimate communication is the key to a happy marriage. If you are the husband and you feel under appreciated by your wife, let her know that you love her very much and ask if their is anything you can do to give her more time. Some times women with young babies feel like they have an extra extension in the form of their baby, they may just appreciate an extra pair of hands to hold the baby once in awhile. Wives, tell your hubby you appreciate him, and everything he does for you. Say you love each other many times a day. Touch each other lovingly and affectionately. Affection which does not have an expectation of sex attached to the end of it is very comforting for a woman as well as stimulating. Many women simply can't get in the mood unless the feel affection from their men.
So all that to say, sex is a necessary part of a good marriage otherwise you may as well have remained good friends. Its worth doing everything you can to nurture your sexual relationship around any restrictions caused by your beautiful bundle of joy and the natural way of feeding it.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Breastfeeding and weaning
I have been receiving questions lately about gentle ways to wean, so I thought I would share some of the tried and true methods that worked with my six.
Before I talk about weaning I should add a caveat: I firmly believe that weaning from breastfeeding should happen gradually and that it should be done at the baby's pace. Babies and toddlers breastfeed because it provides not only nourishment, but a vital connection to mother which has important developmental benefits which are both physical and psychological. The World Health Organisation recommends that breastfeeding should continue till the child is around 2 years old. In times past it was common for a child to breastfeed till they were fairly independent and could speak. The tongue action of sucking which occurs in breastfeeding develops the tongue for speech. A child develops more independence once they can communicate via speech, so this is a more ideal time to wean. While a mother is breastfeeding she spends much of the time observing her baby with her eyes and communicating with her baby via body language. The language of loving touch as well as the language of chemical communication via the oxytocin, serotonin and other hormones produced during the time of feeding. I found that once my babies were weaned I needed to actually physically spend more time looking at them to check on them, and I relied a lot more on their verbal communication.
I had my babies close together purposely because I wanted them to be able to be companions for each other, I breastfed all of them till the next one was close to birth and then weaned. By the time my toddlers were around the one year old mark they were usually only breastfeeding three times in 24 hours. One time in the early morning, one time at nap time after lunch, and once more at bed time. Sometimes they would wake in the middle of the night and nurse back to sleep as well.
Weaning was very dependent on the needs of my toddler. If they were unwell or going through some sort of change( i.e.: moving house) I would not push the weaning, I would wait till things were more or less settled and they were in a good space emotionally. My kids always spent a lot of time with daddy even while I was still breastfeeding them, so it wasn't a big deal to have daddy take them and rock them to sleep while watching a late night movie. We were never big on forcing the kids to go to sleep at a certain time. When they were tired they would sleep. However we were careful to have an atmosphere conducive to being tired at night. We made sure that all of the children spent time outside every day in the fresh air, and we had a routine at night which signaled time for sleep. With the older children preparing for bed it was natural that the toddler would want to go to sleep as well.
I usually started the weaning with an explanation. "Now you are getting to be such a big girl/ boy we are going to try something new. How about we read book before nap time. I usually while I was reading they would fall asleep. The key was to keep them distracted. With a younger baby this might mean taking a walk with them in the pram, or dancing to soft music with them on a shoulder, patting their bottom as they go to sleep. I avoided using dummies as I didn't want to have to go through an other weaning later.
I weaned one feed at a time. Once the baby had gotten used to not having a feed at a certain time, usually my body would have also adjusted. Because breast milk is produced in response to the needs of the baby, your brain has to get used to the idea that it doesn't need to produce enough for that extra feed. If you try to wean cold-turkey, you will find it very uncomfortable for a few weeks as you will keep producing milk, and may even develop mastitis. Pumping doesn't help, because you will be stimulating more milk production.
Once the nap-time fed was gone, I would work on the going-to-sleep feed. This time I would swap jobs with hubby. I would get the other children ready for bed and hubby would take the baby and keep her (or him) in a different room until the baby went to sleep either on the lap while listening to a story or being rocked or simply sitting on the lap while daddy watched evening TV. The bed-time and night feeds were usually the hardest to quit. It could take several weeks to a month to get the baby used to it. By the time the baby was around one year old I found they were sleeping through the night and would only wake for one feed in the early morning around five or so. So when they started sleeping through, they would naturally wean. The early feed was easy to distract with a cuddle in bed, and if the baby was persistent, then either mommy or daddy would have to get up and get them a drink from the kitchen.
The whole weaning process from start to finish could take several months to happen. I never forced the issue, wanting it to be as gradual and natural a process as possible, for both mine and the baby's sake.
Before I talk about weaning I should add a caveat: I firmly believe that weaning from breastfeeding should happen gradually and that it should be done at the baby's pace. Babies and toddlers breastfeed because it provides not only nourishment, but a vital connection to mother which has important developmental benefits which are both physical and psychological. The World Health Organisation recommends that breastfeeding should continue till the child is around 2 years old. In times past it was common for a child to breastfeed till they were fairly independent and could speak. The tongue action of sucking which occurs in breastfeeding develops the tongue for speech. A child develops more independence once they can communicate via speech, so this is a more ideal time to wean. While a mother is breastfeeding she spends much of the time observing her baby with her eyes and communicating with her baby via body language. The language of loving touch as well as the language of chemical communication via the oxytocin, serotonin and other hormones produced during the time of feeding. I found that once my babies were weaned I needed to actually physically spend more time looking at them to check on them, and I relied a lot more on their verbal communication.
I had my babies close together purposely because I wanted them to be able to be companions for each other, I breastfed all of them till the next one was close to birth and then weaned. By the time my toddlers were around the one year old mark they were usually only breastfeeding three times in 24 hours. One time in the early morning, one time at nap time after lunch, and once more at bed time. Sometimes they would wake in the middle of the night and nurse back to sleep as well.
Weaning was very dependent on the needs of my toddler. If they were unwell or going through some sort of change( i.e.: moving house) I would not push the weaning, I would wait till things were more or less settled and they were in a good space emotionally. My kids always spent a lot of time with daddy even while I was still breastfeeding them, so it wasn't a big deal to have daddy take them and rock them to sleep while watching a late night movie. We were never big on forcing the kids to go to sleep at a certain time. When they were tired they would sleep. However we were careful to have an atmosphere conducive to being tired at night. We made sure that all of the children spent time outside every day in the fresh air, and we had a routine at night which signaled time for sleep. With the older children preparing for bed it was natural that the toddler would want to go to sleep as well.
I usually started the weaning with an explanation. "Now you are getting to be such a big girl/ boy we are going to try something new. How about we read book before nap time. I usually while I was reading they would fall asleep. The key was to keep them distracted. With a younger baby this might mean taking a walk with them in the pram, or dancing to soft music with them on a shoulder, patting their bottom as they go to sleep. I avoided using dummies as I didn't want to have to go through an other weaning later.
I weaned one feed at a time. Once the baby had gotten used to not having a feed at a certain time, usually my body would have also adjusted. Because breast milk is produced in response to the needs of the baby, your brain has to get used to the idea that it doesn't need to produce enough for that extra feed. If you try to wean cold-turkey, you will find it very uncomfortable for a few weeks as you will keep producing milk, and may even develop mastitis. Pumping doesn't help, because you will be stimulating more milk production.
Once the nap-time fed was gone, I would work on the going-to-sleep feed. This time I would swap jobs with hubby. I would get the other children ready for bed and hubby would take the baby and keep her (or him) in a different room until the baby went to sleep either on the lap while listening to a story or being rocked or simply sitting on the lap while daddy watched evening TV. The bed-time and night feeds were usually the hardest to quit. It could take several weeks to a month to get the baby used to it. By the time the baby was around one year old I found they were sleeping through the night and would only wake for one feed in the early morning around five or so. So when they started sleeping through, they would naturally wean. The early feed was easy to distract with a cuddle in bed, and if the baby was persistent, then either mommy or daddy would have to get up and get them a drink from the kitchen.
The whole weaning process from start to finish could take several months to happen. I never forced the issue, wanting it to be as gradual and natural a process as possible, for both mine and the baby's sake.
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