Thank you all again for your support... I think DH and I have reached a sort of compromise. The thing that seemed to get him to come around was explaining that even if we weaned DS, he wouldn't stop needing to be comforted- weaning him prematurely won't make him less dependent, and all those toddlers walking around with pacifiers are simply demonstrating their need to suck for comfort. Then DS had a day when he ran a bit of a fever and wasn't feeling well (only the second fever of his life), refused to eat but wanted to nurse, and I explained again how the breastmilk is filling in the nutritional gaps, and that seemed to get through to DH too. He explained that his real issue is will continuing to nurse once DS approaches four, and we compromised and said that at 3.5 we'll talk it over again if DS hasn't self-weaned by then. He agreed (albeit vaguely) to stop making "I don't want any milk, because I'M a big boy" comments... I agreed to be less "militant" about DS's diet... And now DH has to go out of state for work for awhile, so we're just going to let it blow over.
Thanks for all your support...
You hit the nail on the head, smokering- I'll respect his right as a parent to weigh in on decisions, but I won't respect those opinions if they come from a place of willfull ignorance. I certainly wouldn't with discipline, or vaccinations- if he insisted on spanking DS, I wouldn't go along with it just because he makes up half the parenting team. And if he could have countered my opinion with facts or research or anything at all in support of his own claims that breastfeeding is damaging or unhealthy, I would have had reason to be open minded, but I will protect my son from pressure to conform to the unhealthy practices of popular culture, even if they come from his dad.
This has really opened my eyes to the challenges faced in trying to breastfeed in an unsupportive environment. No wonder women quit!
Thanks for all your support...
You hit the nail on the head, smokering- I'll respect his right as a parent to weigh in on decisions, but I won't respect those opinions if they come from a place of willfull ignorance. I certainly wouldn't with discipline, or vaccinations- if he insisted on spanking DS, I wouldn't go along with it just because he makes up half the parenting team. And if he could have countered my opinion with facts or research or anything at all in support of his own claims that breastfeeding is damaging or unhealthy, I would have had reason to be open minded, but I will protect my son from pressure to conform to the unhealthy practices of popular culture, even if they come from his dad.
This has really opened my eyes to the challenges faced in trying to breastfeed in an unsupportive environment. No wonder women quit!
