Weaning gift for a toddler?

[starling&diesel]

I just started another thread about my milk drying up due to pregnancy ...

It seems that there is no milk left, and so dd (26 months) is not nursing.  I think this is her weaning.  Unless we dry nurse through until the new milk comes.  DD is very upset that the milk is gone. 

I wonder if anyone has ever given their child a gift to mark the transition?  To ease the sadness? 

Someone suggested a special cup, but she doesn't really associate beverages in a cup with nursing. 

Any ideas? 

[annettemarie]

Aw. that's bittersweet, isn't it? Could you come up with a little weaning story to tell her, maybe about a child who weans and then is happy to seethe new baby nurse? And then maybe a gift to go along with the story? Is there a "big girl" thing she is really looking forward to?

[Sonneva]

My DD was 33 months when I weaned her. I let her pick out a book that we could read at bedtime instead of nursing and took her out for a weaning lunch just the two of us. She doesn't usually get alone mommy time, so it was special for us. She also loves books, I wrote her a special story in the front cover of the book about our nursing relationship.

[starling&diesel]

Thanks for the replies, mamas. 

I asked dd if there was a special big girl gift that she wanted and she said that she wanted a fuzzy, baby duck.  So that's what we got!  I also got a chapter book and am reading that after lights out (by book light), which she thinks is very mature and Big Girl because that's the kind of book I read.  Sounds a little odd, but it's working.  We're reading the Winnie-the-Pooh stories.  A chapter each night.  So the nights are getting better, but the mornings are still rough.  She's very upset.  I let her 'check' to see if there's any milk, but when she finds there isn't, she's very upset.  I like the idea of the personalized book ... I think we'll do that too.  Thanks for chiming in!

[annettemarie]

It doesn't sound odd at all-- it sounds like you listened to her. Congratulations!!

[Tamera]

One of my most prized possessions as a child was a personalized book. I think that's a great idea!

[TiredX2]

That sounds very sweet and so very respectful of your daughter.