Weaning the Eskimo

Another post I have been avoiding is this one: the post about weaning the Eskimo. As far as I can tell, there are two reasons to wean your child: 1. It's the right time for you. 2. It's the right time for your child. If you're really lucky, those two coincide. I was lucky. The Eskimo weaned about a month after his second birthday. The last day he nursed was June 18th. Weird that I remember that, huh? But I do, and I likely always will.

I had recently discovered I was pregnant back in June, which explained why it was hurting SO much to nurse the Eskimo. Honestly, it felt like he was chewing on me. I couldn't nurse without cringing and it was reminding me of those first few painful weeks after we brought him home as a newborn. Weaning ended up being pretty simple for us. The Eskimo hadn't been showing nearly as much interest as he used to, and we happened to be heading out of town at that time. I decided the change in routine was a good opportunity to gently wean him. I just stopped asking him if he wanted to nurse, and stopped automatically sitting down to nurse with him at nap and bedtime. If he asked, I nursed him without hesitation, but with the change in our normal routine/location, he kind of forgot about it. He only asked once or twice and then we were done. It made me a little sad that it was so easy, but at the same time I was very grateful.

I am thrilled and blessed to have been able to nurse my son for so long. When I started our nursing journey, I really didn't expect to make it to six months. I was uneducated and we had a very rough start. But, six months came and went, a year came and went, we survived a couple of lengthy nursing strikes, and suddenly two years had passed. I'm sad that we no longer share that bond; I miss the one-on-one time we had before bed every single night. But we've replaced it with reading a story before bed, cuddling, and he recently learned how to say "I love you", which melts my heart every time. So, with the end of one stage, we begin another.

The Eskimo, nursing while reading his favorite book, back in January.

The Eskimo knows I have a tiny baby in my tummy and the other day, he pointed at my breasts and said, "Milk for tiny baby". Well, yeah, pretty much! I hadn't explained any of that to him, but he figured it out all on his own. He asked if he could have some milk, but my supply has completely dried up with the pregnancy, so I told him there wouldn't be any milk until the tiny baby got here. He was completely fine with that. Every so often now, he'll pat my chest and say "milk for tiny baby". It's adorable, but a little embarrassing when we're out in public. ;)

I think this is a really good opportunity to thank my husband for his unwavering support. There were a couple times when I thought I should just give up and wean, and he just looked at me and said, "why?". All the flimsy reasons I had at those times went flying out the window when I realized he not only supported me, but he thought what I was doing was great. We are both looking forward to having a brand new nursling come February!