So, I’ve been waiting to write this post for a couple of weeks. I guess I wanted to make sure that it was for real, that it was officially over. And it is.
E and I have said bye-bye to breastfeeding. Crazy, huh? Or maybe not-so-crazy, after all she is 22 (almost 23) months old. I didn’t really see us nursing past her second birthday (Though I know many people do and kudos to them!), so I knew that the end was creeping up on us. As of today, E has been weaned for a little over two weeks. Her last nursing session was Jan. 4. March 2, 2012 to Jan. 4, 2014, 22 months of breastfeeding. That’s a long time – so much longer than I ever expected to breastfeed when I was pregnant! I mean, at that point I couldn’t see beyond that first year, so that was my goal. Blew that goal out of the water, didn’t I?
A collage of E nursing throughout the months (left) and E’s last nursing session (right).
Weaning went very easily for E and I. By 22 months, she was only nursing once a day (before bed) and there had already been a few days here and there where she hadn’t nursed at all. Our nightly nursing sessions were getting shorter and shorter and E was becoming less and less focused when at the breast. It just felt like time. I can’t explain it any better than that. E did ask to nurse a couple of times after I decided to call it quits and there were a few tears on her part but no more than you would expect from a tired toddler not getting what she wants. Honestly, she dealt with the transition really well. I’m very proud of her.
And I am proud of myself. Keeping the breastfeeding relationship alive and strong for 22 months is no small feat. It required a lot of dedication. Thankfully Papa Bear was endlessly supportive and encouraging (I think he was actually sadder than either E or I that we were done breastfeeding.) and I couldn’t have asked for a better support network than our family and friends. I am a lucky gal and I am well aware of that!
I am also grateful that I got to choose when to wean, rather than have circumstances force it upon us. We did not have to wean before either of us were ready. I know not everyone gets to make that choice.
I always thought I would cry and be extremely sad when it came time to wean E. I thought that it would be a hard decision and I would feel like I was losing something that we had always shared. But when the time came it just felt like the right next step and I actually didn’t cry at all. I know we will never lose the bond that breastfeeding helped E and I strengthen. Breastfeeding was a very natural thing for E and I and, because of that, so was weaning. It just happened, easily and without a struggle. I couldn’t have asked for any better!
In some ways it was like letting go of the last vestiges of babyhood but she will always be my baby and she is so amazing in the here and now, growing and learning, that I can’t be sad. I just marvel as she changes and evolves.
It’s always a little sad closing the book on a very important and meaningful chapter in your life but it’s also satisfying when you know the story was fully told beginning to end. I’m so happy that breastfeeding was such a fulfilling, enriching and joyful experience for both E and I.
