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Home > Child-Led Weaning: Jill

Child-Led Weaning: Jill

Written by:  Jamie

Images and Text by Jill Petrush Rogers

“My son hasn’t asked for ba-ba’s in 3 days, I’m sad”-  my sister-in-law posted.

I thought to myself, “Wait, what?!  He’s two.  He’s still breastfeeding…really?!”

You see, before my nephew was born, I was never really around a breastfed baby, let alone a toddler!

When I became pregnant, I knew that I wanted to breastfeed (thanks to my sister-in-law and a few other close friends), but my original goal was still one year.

mybaby

Our first son begrudgingly arrived via c-section on October 17th, 2010.  I went against my birth plan 100%.  I was angry.  I didn’t get the birth that I wanted and I was going to be damned if I failed at breastfeeding too. 

Somewhere between day one and year one, not only did we become a breastfeeding family, we became advocates…lactivists, even!

After celebrating our son’s first birthday, my husband and I both thought, “Why cut-him-off?  Just because he turned one?!”

And so…we continued.

When we decided to expand our family, I was secretly afraid that my pregnancy would cause him to wean. 

When asked, I would tell people that I would continue to breastfeed until one of us no longer wanted to.  I was still comfortable in our breastfeeding relationship; so I wanted weaning to be on his terms.

Very early on in my second pregnancy, he decided to go on a hiatus.  For four days he did not speak of “milkies”…neither did I.

I cried. 

I began mourning the loss of our breastfeeding relationship. 

And then, in typically toddler fashion, he asked for “milkies” again. 

To say that I was relieved would be an understatement.

He continued to nurse throughout my pregnancy.  At 34 weeks I went into pre-term labor, which was thankfully stopped.  After that, we had abbreviated nursing sessions.  We would talk about what it would be like to have a baby brother and sharing his “milkies”.

On August 17th, 2013, we welcomed our second son, and I became a tandem breastfeeding Mama!

As far as I can tell, weaning is not in our immediate future.  He is now 3 ½ years old and more of a milkie monster than ever before.  But…he’s a toddler.   He has a mind of his own and is quickly gaining his independence.

bikehelmet

I may never know when his last nursing session may be, but I can tell you one thing…when it happens, I may just have to call my sister-in-law to tell her that “I’m sad.”  

Jill Petrush Rogers is a tandem breastfeeding Mama and a Certified Lactation Counselor. Her mission is to help other Mamas meet and/or exceed their own personal breastfeeding goals, and to be a tiny part of the huge movement to make breastfeeding a “norm” in our society. You can follow Jill’s personal journey on her blog The Galactagoddess
Apr 9, 2014Jamie
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