Ever since Afeeq was born, we have been trying to get Iqie off my breasts ;). I read somewhere that it is advisable for Muslim mothers to stop breastfeeding their children when they are already 2 years old. Iqie celebrated his 2nd birthday on 01 November 08 - a few weeks after Afeeq was born.
Trying to stop Iqie proved to be strategically difficult. He would scream and shout "nenen" (his word for breast milk) if he was deprived of his daily doses. He would not stop until something was done, and he really sounded like an ambulance or a high pitch broken record. Not only that, he would compete with Afeeq to get to the source. He wouldn't push Afeeq away, instead, he would go for the second opening. The victim would be me... manhandling two children at the same time. It was like having to breastfeed twins... As a result, Afeeq would always be the losing party - having to be diverted to formula and bottle.
Serious effort to stop Iqie (and to give more attention to Afeeq) started 2 weeks ago. Someone suggested a substance called "jadam" - it tastes bitter. But after serious consideration, Hubby and I decided against it. Instead, a better alternative was given by one of my sisters - to use coffee powder and rub it on the source of Iqie's affection.
The first week was hell... Iqie cried and threw tantrums. We had to face sleepless nights as he would wake up several times and cried for me. I would try to distract him by showing the coffee powder. He didn't like the taste of it... Thus, louder cries and more shouts of "nenen".
Psychologically, we thought that Iqie's suckling helped him doze off. Depriving him that meant he had nothing to occupy him to put him to sleep. So we gave him our cellphones to play with. He would listen to the music and watch the videos that we have in our cellphones till his eyes couldn't take it. Once he decided that it was enough, he would put our phones down, adjust his position and close his eyes. Then that was it - he would be asleep.
Now, after a few weeks practising that, Iqie is accustomed to us putting him to bed with something to play with. To help him doze off, Afeeq must be placed beside him so that he has a company. He rarely wakes up in the middle of the night too. But when he does, he doesn't ask for "nenen" anymore. Instead, I would take him to the kitchen for a glass of fresh milk and he would go back to sleep immediately after that with me holding his hand.
So, lately, we have quite peaceful nights and Afeeq is now not on bottle anymore when I'm around.
ieja
Trying to stop Iqie proved to be strategically difficult. He would scream and shout "nenen" (his word for breast milk) if he was deprived of his daily doses. He would not stop until something was done, and he really sounded like an ambulance or a high pitch broken record. Not only that, he would compete with Afeeq to get to the source. He wouldn't push Afeeq away, instead, he would go for the second opening. The victim would be me... manhandling two children at the same time. It was like having to breastfeed twins... As a result, Afeeq would always be the losing party - having to be diverted to formula and bottle.
Serious effort to stop Iqie (and to give more attention to Afeeq) started 2 weeks ago. Someone suggested a substance called "jadam" - it tastes bitter. But after serious consideration, Hubby and I decided against it. Instead, a better alternative was given by one of my sisters - to use coffee powder and rub it on the source of Iqie's affection.
The first week was hell... Iqie cried and threw tantrums. We had to face sleepless nights as he would wake up several times and cried for me. I would try to distract him by showing the coffee powder. He didn't like the taste of it... Thus, louder cries and more shouts of "nenen".
Psychologically, we thought that Iqie's suckling helped him doze off. Depriving him that meant he had nothing to occupy him to put him to sleep. So we gave him our cellphones to play with. He would listen to the music and watch the videos that we have in our cellphones till his eyes couldn't take it. Once he decided that it was enough, he would put our phones down, adjust his position and close his eyes. Then that was it - he would be asleep.
Now, after a few weeks practising that, Iqie is accustomed to us putting him to bed with something to play with. To help him doze off, Afeeq must be placed beside him so that he has a company. He rarely wakes up in the middle of the night too. But when he does, he doesn't ask for "nenen" anymore. Instead, I would take him to the kitchen for a glass of fresh milk and he would go back to sleep immediately after that with me holding his hand.
So, lately, we have quite peaceful nights and Afeeq is now not on bottle anymore when I'm around.
ieja
