Weaning

Last time nursingBefore Trey was born, I made a commitment to breast-feeding him for as long as I could.  Thankfully, we had very few problems with nursing.  It was very natural to me. It gave me a chance to really bond with him and to give him the best nutrition possible. I am very thankful that I have been able to nurse him for 20 months, but weaning must come at some point. For us, it finally came. It is just one more reminder that my baby boy is growing up.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends breastfeeding until the age of 1, but the World Health Organization recommends 2 years. When I went back to school last June, I was able to find times during the day to pump milk for Trey. After we hit the 1 year mark, I decided to just keep going.  With our trip to Ghana, I figured that nursing would be the easiest solution to console a 13 month-old during 24-hour periods of travel (and I believe that I was right). While in Ghana, I seemed to fit in with every other mother that nurses anywhere and everywhere. I tried to be a little more discreet  because I felt that all eyes were on me trying to see if a white breast was any different than what they were used to seeing. Since we returned from Ghana, I have been trying to determine the best way to finally wean. We cut back to only morning and night for the past couple months, and he is fine with whole milk during my absence. About a month ago, I weaned him down to once at night after being away from him for 4 days.  Realizing that the next several months were going to bring a lot of change for Trey, I didn’t want to try to add weaning into the mix. Our trip to Atlanta and Macon over the weekend seemed to be the perfect break. I nursed him for the last time last Wednesday. Before bed, I now give him whole milk in a cup but continue to hold him in the same rocking chair and sing him the same songs. He’ll take a few sips from the cup, then put it down, ask for “Mil..” and proceed to try to lift my shirt. I gently remind him that my milk is “all gone” and thankfully he doesn’t fuss too much when I tell him he has to drink from the cup. The process of weaning is thankfully going rather smoothly.

3 thoughts on “Weaning

  1. Lauren

    Congrats on extended BFing! I hope that weaning continues to go smoothly for you. We’re praying for you as you prepare for big changes this summer!

  2. Rachel

    Heidi,

    You are an inspiration to breastfeeding moms everywhere for sticking with it this long–even though he’s a “big boy”, I’m sure it’s still hard to give it up!

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