Welcome to the Carnival of Weaning: Weaning - Your Stories
This post was written for inclusion in the Carnival of Weaning hosted by Code Name: Mama and Aha! Parenting. Our participants have shared stories, tips, and struggles about the end of the breastfeeding relationship.
I breastfed our son, on cue, day and night, from the day after his
birth. (You can read about the unpleasantly exciting birth in my
previous Carnival post.
From the start, I stopped everything and responded to his every cue for milk. At one stage, I figured out that he'd
figured out that I stopped everything and responded to his every cue
for milk.
When he started signing for milk when he didn't want milk but
just wanted me to stop everything, I had to laugh and learn to respond
to that a bit differently.
With our son, I learned
at
La Leche League that breastfeeding is far and away, bar none, no contest, baby, the best
and easiest way to ease a growing child's journey through our rough,
tough world.
Recipe
- Take one sad or mad child
- Fold closely in mother's arms
- Apply gently to breast
- Hold until fully done
- Repeat as desired
Result
- A happier, calmer, more grownup child
Magic like that is worth holding onto.
Weaning process - Step 1: Nature's weaning
So it was all "milk and who cares about honey because hey, there's
milk"
for the first two years of our son's life. My pregnancy with our
daughter was his first real experience of weaning - he was a few months
past two when he noticed:
- There was less milk
- It tasted funny
- Mummy said, "Ouch, time to stop!"
Reportedly, many children fully wean during a pregnancy, but our son simply adapted to all the changes. Long breastfeeding sessions were
too painful for me, but two-year-olds don't have a great need to
breastfeed for long either. He accepted the limitations, learned some
manners, and we both just kept on bonding.
Weaning process - Step 2: Night weaning
I
knew that I would be too tired with one newborn to also respond to our son at night. Our son did not like sleeping by himself in a separate
room, and he was a frequent waker. (I moved him from my room due to my
hyperalertness from PTSD, and I still can't help wishing it could have
been different.)
We had already reached the stage where
the breastfeeding response at night was very brief. Now we began Daddy
Duty - when our son awoke lonely at night, he was comforted to sleep
again by Daddy instead of me.
While our son did not
embrace the change with joy, at the age of two he was able to accept it -
the level of distress was manageable between him and Daddy.
Weaning process - Step 3: Bedtime
I knew there could be times when the new
baby would need me at bedtime. While our son could go back to sleep
during the night with Daddy, I still always breastfed him to sleep at
bedtime. I needed to go off duty.
This was probably the roughest toughest weaning
we did. One evening, I breastfed him (now 2y 9m) and then went to
visit my sister's house - and only came back when Daddy told me he was
now asleep. It was pretty late.
But I knew he had
Daddy with him. And I knew he was not 3 months old, or 6 months old,
but not far off three years old, with years of my love and strength
behind him, the communication skills to express his emotions, and the
knowledge of other means of comfort.
This isn't to say I
never responded to our son at night or fed him to sleep again because
of his new sister. But now he and I both knew he could do this without
me.
Weaning process - Step 4: New sister
I
was again in the hospital for an emergency surgical birth of our second
child, so our son had to do without me for a few days. It was brilliant
having him visit in those early days of milk engorgement - a newborn
hardly makes a dent but a 3 year old? Bring it on!
Word of warning
It
may be
that our son broke my waters early because I did not insist that the
bouncy boy be
super careful with my pregnant body during morning feeding sessions.
Undercooked babies are often extra hard work, and if there's any chance
that this warning could help someone else, it will be worth it.
He generally understood the new rule of Baby
Goes First: he still got to breastfeed but the baby needed milk more as
that was her only food.
Sometimes I actually tandem fed -
both at once - but it was physically uncomfortable to hold those
positions. And usually at least one of them was wiggly enough to make
me nervous about going two directions at once. So normally, he just learned to wait his turn.
Weaning process - Step 5: Life
Age 3, age 4, age 5, still awaiting his short turn at the breast
in the morning. Sometimes patiently. Often he would get a short
nighttime feed on one side before I took his sister for the long feed to
sleep.
But there were sleepovers at Grandma and Grandpa's or with school friends. He didn't miss me when I wasn't there.
And then he would get up and be more interested in a joke book than whether he got his turn.
And
not long after he turned 6, he often complained he couldn't get very
much. With his sister (3) feeding only a few times a day now, I'm sure
the leftovers
were pretty low. I told him that it was because he
didn't need it very much anymore. I mentioned how lucky he was, and
that probably none of his friends had gotten milk for this long.
Soon after that, I asked him if he was OK with not having milk anymore. No problem.
Was it hard for me to stop after all these years? Well, he was
getting pretty big and developing a real big kid attitude. It was
always very quick and even starting to feel not quite right anymore. It
really was time.
He has a couple of times wistfully said he wishes he
could still have milk. He still loves to get lap time, whenever we can
and especially when his sister is getting her short feeds.
Perfect.
Thank you for visiting the Carnival of Weaning hosted by Dionna at Code Name: Mama and Dr. Laura at Aha! Parenting.
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants (and many thanks to Joni Rae of Tales of a Kitchen Witch for designing our lovely button):
(This list will be live amind updated by afternoon May 21 with all the carnival links.)
- On Breastfeeding, Weaning, and One Mother’s Identity — Jessica at Natural Parents Network has been nursing one or more of her children since 1993 - breastfeeding is wrapped up in her concept of mothering and herself. She shares her thoughts on weaning.
- two tales of weaning — Aspen at Aspen Mama writes about their countdown to wean.
- Wean Me Gently — Tam at Please Send Parenting Books shares a beautiful weaning ceremony.
- You say potato, I say bleeeuuuuch... — Anelie at Mindcradle had read the books and knew just how to introduce her baby son to solids—unfortunately, he had other ideas.
- A Post Called Weaning — (Not) Maud at Awfully Chipper writes about how weaning her son took longer than she expected.
- On Weaning, Pregnancy and Emotion — Shannon at The Artful Mama talks about her mixed emotions as she allows her son, Little Man, to guide her through his weaning process.
- half of her life — Staci at Springpatch Jam looks back on her nursing relationship with her first born.
- Is it just this After Forty Mom or is it harder to wean when its your last? — Amanda of After Forty Mom shares her emotional journey towards the impending self-weaning of her toddler daughter.
- Nursing Limits — Jorje of Momma Jorje shares how she has weaned her toddler down to minimal nursing and her guilt about the decision to do so.
- Weaning Video Series #1: Preparation for the Weaning Process — Why is weaning such a taboo topic? Dionna at Code Name: Mama got mamas from across the blogosphere to start talking about weaning - on video. Come check out the first video in a series of five that she'll be posting this week.
- Weaning due to anxiety — Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes talks about how she had to wean to preserve her mental health.
- When Will I Wean? A Guest Post — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama hosts a guest post from a mama who contemplates when her breastfeeding relationship will end.
- On His Own Terms — Momeeezen shares her heartbreak from when her son weaned much earlier than she anticipated.
- Our Weaning Story - Sudden, Surprised, and Embracing a New Season — Weaning doesn't always go how we imagine. That Mama Gretchen shares the story of her daughter's sudden weaning and how she has embraced this new season of motherhood.
- A Tale of Two Weanings — Valerie at Momma in Progress shares the similarities and differences of how her nursing relationships with her now six-year-old and four-year-old daughters came to a close.
- She Doesn't Remember — Alicia at Lactation Narration finds that her 6 year old no longer remembers nursing, only one year after weaning.
- It's The End of the World As We Know It — A story about the end of a tandem nursing relationship on Never Mind The Rain: A toddler moves on to a new phase in her life before mom is fully ready.
- A Natural End To Our Breastfeeding Relationship — With two self-weaning children, Jennifer at Our Muddy Boots does not know when the end will come, but that it will be natural and without regrets.
- Child-Led weaning: It's Not Extreme; It's Biological — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children explains why child-led weaning is based on biology rather than social constraints.
- 6 Years of Natural Weaning in 5 Steps — Jess at miniMum shares how and why she let her first child stop when he was good and ready.
- Is This Weaning?: A Tandem Nursing Update — Sheila at A Living Family bares all her tandem nursing hopes and fears during what feels like the beginning of the end for her toddler nursing relationship.
- Memories of Weaning: Unique and Gentle — Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife shares her weaning experiences with her two sons, each one unique in how it happened and yet equally gentle in its approach.
- Weaning Aversion' — Gentle Mama Moon shares her experience of nursing and unplanned weaning due to pregnancy-induced 'feeding aversion'.
- Three Months Post-Mup: An Evolution of Thoughts On Weaning — cd at FidgetFace describes a brief look at her planned (but accelerated) weaning, as well as one mamma's evolution on weaning (and extended nursing)
- Weaning my Tandem Nursed Toddler — After tandem nursing for a year, Melissa at Permission to Live felt like weaning her older child would be impossible, but now she shares how gentle weaning worked for her 2 1/2 year old.
- Every Journey Begins with One Step — As Hannabert begins the weaning process, Hannah at Hannah and Horn's super power is diminishing.
- Reflections on Weaning - Love Changes Form — Amy from Presence Parenting (guest posting at Dulce de Leche) shares her experience and approach of embracing weaning as a continual process in parenting, not just breastfeeding.
- Weaning Gently: Three Special Ideas for Success — MudpieMama shares three ideas that help make weaning a gentle and special journey.
- Guest Post: Carnival of Weaning — Emily shares her first weaning experience and her hopes for her second nursling in a guest post on Farmer's Daughter.
- 12 Tips for Gentle Weaning — Dr. Laura at Aha! Parenting describes the process of gentle weaning and gives specific tips to make weaning an organic, joyful ripening.
- Quiz: Should You Wean for Fertility Treatments? — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries talks about the key issues in the difficult decision to wean for infertility treatments.
- I thought about weaning... — Kym at Our Crazy Corner of the World shares her story of how she thought about weaning several times, yet it still happened on its own timeline.
- Celebrating Weaning — Amy at Anktangle reflects on her thoughts and feelings about weaning, and she shares a quick tutorial for one of the ways she celebrated this transition with her son: through a story book with photographs!
- Naturally Weaning Twins — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings discusses the gradual path to weaning she has taken with her preschool-aged twins.
- Gentle Weaning Means Knowing When to Stop — Claire at The Adventures of Lactating Girl writes about knowing when your child is not ready to wean and taking their feelings into account in the process.
- Weaning, UnWeaning, and ReWeaning — Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy discovers non-mutal weaning doesn't have to be the end. You can have a do-over.
- Prelude to weaning — Lauren at Hobo Mama talks about a tough tandem nursing period and what path she would like to encourage her older nursling to take.
- Demands of a Nursing Kind — Amy Willa at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work shares her conflicted feelings about nursing limits and explores different ways to achieve comfort, peace, and bodily integrity as a nursing mother.
- Breastfeeding: If there's one thing I know for sure... — Wendy at ABCs and Garden Peas explores the question: How do you know when it's time to wean?
- Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Two, Three? — Zoie at TouchstoneZ discusses going from 3 nurslings down to 1 and what might happen when her twins arrive.
