Tuesday, March 25, 2008

In sickness and in health

Eldest is now 3 years and 11 months old, and Baby is 19 months or so. We've all been ill recently. Both children stopped eating real meals, and Baby reverted almost entirely to breastmilk for a few days. Eldest took a few meal-sized breastfeeds too, as she went from ill to convalescent.

Eldest still has an excellent latch. Baby's latch is poor now; I think she's teething. I do wonder when Eldest will have her last feed. She goes up to a week between feeds now, perhaps sometimes more, and they seem to be directly related to a combination of physical and emotional ill-being. 

Baby isn't weaning any time soon. She still needs night feeds, especially when she's ill (it helps keep her sinuses clear) and a few feeds in the daytime. I'm hoping to get her sorted with a feed-to-sleep routine soon, and then when that's in place change carefully to a no-feed-to-sleep routine. If she could go all or most of the night without needing me, I'd be delighted.

Of course if I had to I could night-wean her forcibly but the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages to us as a family right now.