It has been nearly 10 months since my son weaned. You can read our full breastfeeding/weaning story which I wrote a few months before he weaned. His weaning process was a compilation of gentle techniques that I employed to encourage weaning combined with his own natural self-weaning process.
To be honest, there was a time that I didn’t think my son would ever wean. After nearly 4 years, I was SO READY for him to wean – and yet, in the end, I really WASN’T ready.
Weaning is such a bitter-sweet time.
Your little one is growing up! Your baby is gone! Toward the end of our nursing journey, my son nursed very infrequently. There were times that he would go days or even weeks without asking to nurse. Just when I thought “he must be done” he would nurse again.
I would be sitting at my computer at night after my son was in bed and all of a sudden I would realize “I don’t remember that last time he nursed” – it could have been days or weeks – I simply couldn’t remember! It would hit me like of ton of bricks! And I would cry! I always wanted to remember the last time – like the final chapter in a really good book – I wanted to cherish the memory of the end the same way I had cherished our beginning! Then when my son would nurse again, I would pay even more attention – concentrating on every time he did so that I would remember. And then, again, it would be days or weeks and I wouldn’t remember when the last time was that he even asked to nurse.
In the end, my son nursed for his final time sometime in July 2009. We went to visit my parents out of state for the 4th of July and he didn’t nurse the entire time we were there. But he did nurse when we got back home. He was weaned by his 4th birthday, which was July 23rd. So sometime between July 8th and July 23 2009 was the end of our nursing journey – I have it narrowed down to a range of days…but the exact day and time I just can not remember. It’s bittersweet – and sometimes it makes me sad that I can’t remember the end of our journey – but it was a good journey! And I have so many memories along the way!
Did your child self-wean? How long did your little one nurse? Do you remember the last time? Please leave a comment and share your journey!
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My story is very similar. My daughter went through phases when I never thought she’d wean, and by the end she was nursing every few days, then every few weeks. I remember nursing her in June, when I was in my first trimester with her sister, and I remember mentioning to a friend that it had been a few weeks since she last nursed in July or August. One day she asked to nurse, and it had been a few weeks, I was now in my second trimester, and I was pretty sure there was no milk left since she had been complaining about there not being much milk the previous few times she had nursed. She climbed up into my lap and began to nurse. Only, she had forgotten how.
It was such a bittersweet time. It was apparent that my nearly 3 1/2 year old was now a big girl, and while I was looking forward to the time with the new baby, I was sad for the loss of that time with my big girl.
It is nice to know that I was able to meet her needs until she was “full term” on her own.
In the same month our daughter turned two I became pregnant with our second child. For awhile breastfeeding was a painful, miserable experience for me and I thought I would never enjoy nursing my toddler again. I stuck with it because of it’s importance to my daughter and also because I think it will help ease the transition when our baby is born. I couldn’t imagine nursing an infant in front of her just a few months after taking her precious milk from her.
To my surprise the series I’ve been writing on nursing my toddler has brought the joy back into our nursing relationship. As I began looking more into the nutritional benefits I determined to stick it out for longer nursing sessions. Although my soreness had decreased my daughter had become accustomed to shorter sessions because it was all the discomfort I could handle in my first trimester. Rather than a few sip sessions per day I have begun allowing her to stay a long as she wants and the results have been dramatic. She’s more content and sweeter all day. I have fallen back in love with nursing my toddler!
.-= Mommypotamus´s last blog ..Breastfeeding Myths Part 2 =-.
Thanks so much for sharing your story Monmmypotamus! I appreciate it! You might also be interested in the series of posts that I did on tandem nursing which you can see here: http://blog.mothersboutique.com/category/breastfeeding-info-tips/tandem-nursing-breastfeeding-info-tips/ (scroll down to see all of the different posts in this category). — Judy
Hi Judy. My little girl and I are still nursing at nearly 14 months. This post reminds me so much of when my baby was 8 months old and went on a nursing strike. As a first-time mom, I didn’t know if this was the “end” or not. Would she nurse again or not? And I felt such sorrow for not memorizing every single tiny detail of our very last nursing. Still to this day, 6 months later, I try to pay close attention to every nursing session in case this one is the last one.
@Tracy Yes, a nursing strike is a very scary time. My son went through one at 13 months. Thanks for sharing your store and enjoy every moment of your nursing relationship with your little one. — Judy
Yes! I need to read more stories like this..sometimes I feel so guilty for wanting him to wean and then knowing I will miss our time together. Of course I now have a second child to look fwd to nursing but I don’t think it will be the same as my first!
[…] Do You Remember…: This is a memoir of my own personal breastfeeding journey and its end. Please stop by and share in my journey. […]
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