Breastfeeding a Toddler

Maisarah will turn 21 months old on Wednesday next week. Alhamdulillah I have still managed to continue breastfeeding her. I'm 3 months shy from reaching my goal of giving Maisarah breastmilk till she turns 2 years old. Currently she is still drinking only breastmilk. Occasionally she will have her yogurt snack or have cheese or some milk aded to her food. But mainly she is still on Mommy's milk. My stock pile has dwindled to about 10 bottles in the fridge and freezer. Daily I'm able to express a total of 6-7 ounces while she now drinks 6-8 ounces while I'm at work. Hence, so far so good. I'm praying hard to Allah that this Ramadhan won't cause my milk production to reduce further. However, I am prepared to supplement Maisarah with UHT milk if Allah decides otherwise.

Anyway, lately breastfeeding her has sometimes created incidents which amuse me and others in my family. Below are the things she does while breastfeeding:

• She will demand I breastfeed her while lying down. She always says 'Mommy baring' (Mommy, lie down). If I say 'Mommy duduk la ye?' (Why don't I just sit down?). She will reply ' Tak boleh'.
• If she is not satisfied with one br*ast, she will say 'Tukar tet*k' (Change breasts) or 'Nak belah kiri/kanan' (I want the left/right side) which ever one is free. Sometimes her 'left/right' is correct. This also happens when she feeds in the middle of the night. She started doing this since she was a little over one year old but at that time she would say 'Ukar Ekek'.
• Also, ever since she was a little over one year old, she would breastfeed freestyle, i.e. some times while sitting or she would start feeding while lying down next to me and then get on top of me or raise her bum in the air (i.e. tertonggeng). These acts never fail to make my mom laugh.
• Lately, she will feed on one br*ast and twist ('gentel') the ni*ple of the other as if she is tuning the radio. That will tickle me and some times she will resort to pinching the ni*ple which then makes me raise my voice at her.

Well, no matter what she does, I am truly greatful to Allah forgiving me the pleasure of brestfeeding Maisarah. I am surely going to miss our bonding/cuddling sessions together when the time comes for her to wean. For now, I will treasure each and every feeding session with her.