baby

This week Lauren Brant celebrated a very different kind of parenting milestone.

 

For 29-year-old Lauren Brant, who has a 15-month-old son with partner Barry Hall, breastfeeding didn’t come easy.

In June, the former Hi-5 member shared that while she established a “solid latch” with baby Miller within moments of his birth, three months after that, she started to struggle. Brant got mastitis five times, and battled between desperately wanting to breastfeed, and prioritising her own well being.

Ultimately, she was able to breastfeed, and on Monday, she decided to celebrate what had been both a beautiful and difficult time.

“Today I am having a morning tea to celebrate the fact that I was able to and did breastfeed Miller for 15 months,” she said on her Instagram story.

“I’m a bit emotional because that journey has come to an end, Miller’s completely weaned off breast milk, and he did that himself.

“I’m really happy for him that he is just developing into this beautiful, absolutely amazing toddler… but it’s also very emotional for me because I’ve lost my little baby.”

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Through tears, Brant described feeling “so happy” to be able to breastfeed, even though she sometimes felt like “a dairy farm”. “It got easy and I learned to really love breastfeeding Miller,” she said.

Feeling emotional about the milestone, Brant approached her mother and sister-in-law and asked if it would be possible to celebrate this moment.

“I haven’t heard of anyone else doing it,” Brant said, but she asked those closest to her if they could have a “morning tea where we can say, ‘that was a really amazing 15 months of my life with my first child, let’s celebrate the fact that he’s becoming a boy now and have a bit of fun.'”

“Mum’s kindly made some booby cupcakes and we’ve got mimosas and we’re just going to go and talk about the whole experience.”

For the event, Brant wore the floral headpiece she wore to her baby shower, feeling it would be “fitting” to wear it again.

“I encourage everyone to make a memorable occasion… it’s something to celebrate,” she told her followers.

“It was 15 months of amazingness, but there were also some really hard times in there, and I want to celebrate that.”

Image via Instagram.
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The mum finished her video series with a note that she didn't expect such "separation sadness" at the end of her breastfeeding journey, and there are likely a lot of other parents who don't expect it either.

In a post on her blog, Brant wrote, "For 15 months, I breastfed Miller. While the rest of the world was sleeping and the night was so beautifully still, I was staring down at this perfect little person I created."

"We all celebrated what was a big moment in my life. My family were emotionally there for me, whether they thought it was a big deal or not.

"I highly recommend you do the same, because it is an emotional time that you can choose to celebrate… or if you know someone who is going through it, organise a fun little event for them. They will love you for it!"