Weaning Complete....

It is with both great joy and sadness that I announce my third, and final, child has been weaned. She breastfed for 25 months, longer than any of the others. Actually, she nursed longer than the other two COMBINED. She was a boobie hound, boobie-holic, whatever you want to call it. She took to nursing like a champion and never looked back. I tried to cut her back slowly, but she is just not that type of child.

It became clear to me that there would be no child-lead weaning here. If I wanted to be done, I had to call it, cut her off cold turkey and deal with the repercussions. I made the decision to do so about 3 weeks ago. It was not until about 3 days ago that she stopped asking for boobie. She has been having temper tantrums for the duration of the weaning, which I cannot completely attribute to the weaning. I mean, she did just turn two.

My boobs got engorged almost immediately, which was actually helpful when I told her they were broken. Every movement, every time she touched them, shoved her hands down my shirt, or even looked at them too hard, they hurt like CRAZY. She could tell I was in pain. I saw the empathy in my little child's eyes. She could somehow see that this was hurting me too. She stopped asking except for at bedtime. That has been a struggle, and continues to be, although she does not ask anymore. She does try to pull them out. Yes, I know it may sound creepy to some that I have to fight off a two year old. But that is because you are sexualizing the situation. Remember, we are talking about innocent breastfeeding. No nasty comments please.

So now, my little one has been weaned, and as far as I can tell I will never again nurse another baby. I am both happy to have my body back, and sad that this part of my life is over. I try to focus on the happy to have my body back part.