Time to Wean

So at 16 months, we are officially done breastfeeding. I know some women find this a sad milestone, but I am pleased to be finished. I enjoyed breastfeeding, but nursing a toddler was really starting to wear me down. At 13 months Baby M still nursed every 2-3 hours and I was having trouble keeping up my weight (I know, some of you are saying nice problem). Plus the hormones associated with breastfeeding were causing some other troubles which my OB/GYN summed up as "60 year-old vagina." But most importantly, the frequent nursing was affecting my relationship with Baby M. I resented his constant whining and tugging on my shirt. When he wasn't nursing instead of playing with him I just wanted a few minutes to myself.

I tried to start weaning him at 13 months, but he was not ready. He became extremely clingy and refused to eat solid food. At the end of November I noticed he had a renewed interest in food so I started limiting his nursing sessions. I went from feeding on demand to feeding him 4 times a day-- morning, before each of his 2 naps, and before bed. (We had stopped nighttime feedings a few months prior.) This change was the most difficult of the weaning process. We spent a lot of time outside and away from home so that Baby M could keep nursing off his mind. If he was really insistent or feeling bad I would go ahead and nurse him, but eventually we were consistently nursing 4 times a day. Then, serendipitously, Baby M dropped his second nap, so we were down to 3 times a day. Dropping the nursing session before the main nap was problematic since Baby M has always needed to be nursed to sleep. I tried replacing the nap with a drink, a story, rocking, nothing worked. Ultimately, I started planning car/stroller rides around his naptime, which worked, but now he must be in the car or stroller for his nap. It's okay for now, but I'd like to get him in his crib for naps eventually.

We held steady with the night and morning feedings for a few weeks as my husband and I debated which feeding to drop next. The nighttime feeding was part of his bedtime routine, would he sleep if we left it out? But the 5AM feeding usually secured an extra 30-60 minutes of sleep time for all of us, we certainly didn't want to lose that. Not being morning people, we decided to drop the nighttime feeding. Instead of nursing Baby M after his bath, my husband read him a story and tucked him in to bed. We prepared for screams of protest, but instead Baby M just rolled over and went to sleep. He didn't seem to miss the nursing at all. I was a little disappointed, but my husband was so proud of himself for successfully putting Baby M to bed.

After 2 weeks of one feeding a day it was time to drop the morning feeding. At 5AM instead of bringing Baby M back to our room for nursing and dozing in the bed I got up, played trucks with him and gave him some animal crackers to munch on (his favorite snack.) And that was that, no drama at all. Once in awhile he'll point at my chest and look at me quizzically, but I just shake my head and he goes back to whatever he was doing.

I thought I was going to make it through the weaning process without any engorgement, but after 3 days of no nursing my breasts became sore and lumpy. Not terrible, but definitely uncomfortable. Hopefully it won't last long. Now that we're not nursing constantly we have much more time for playing soccer, making playdough, and chasing the dog. I do sometimes miss the chance to sit down and relax, but I think it was definitely the right time to wean.