Weaning Celebration

[MandiA]

I know it sounds a little strange when you read the title of my post alone, but here are the details....My 2-year-old daughter and I are nearing the end of our breastfeeding time. It has been a gradual process. I LOVE nursing her and she loves to nurse. The reason we are completing our breastfeeding has to do with the fact that I am pregnant and she has a lot of food allergies. I want to have a "clean slate" for our next baby in case there are food issues and elimination diets again. Also, I want to have enough energy to be a great mommy to my babies. Yes, this is REALLY hard for me to do, let alone admit amongst others-especially in the child-led weaning circle where I thought I belonged. The decision is made and now I am looking for ways to make the completion and transition special (and hopefully easier) for my baby girl. The last nursing to go is the naptime session. It is the only one we have left and her 27 month birthday is planned to be our final nursing day. I am totally crying as I write this. It is really hard. I keep thinking back to the article Peggy wrote in one of the magazines that talked about weaning and how there are so many weanings  throughout motherhood. It really helps me. I know there are going to be other times when I know the next step is right, but still struggle to do it. Yes, I really think this is the right decision, but no, I don't want to do it... Anyway, I want the day to be special and I want to emphasize it as a rite of passage and moving on to the next phase and not a loss (as much as possible). Does anyone have any suggestions? I want to do/have something that symbolizes that day to both of us...to her, so I can remind her if necessary and she asks for milk and to me, so I can know that I did everything I could to ease the transition for her. I am not sure a "party" is the right thing or a gift or certain activity...I am kind of stuck. Thanks!

[dancinindaizys]

I remembered reading something in the bible about a celebration and feast when Jesus was weaned, so I looked it up and thought you would appreciate this article as much as I did. It is called Scriptural Parenting. It has a lot of scriptures that talk about nursing and mothering during bible times. I wish I had found it sooner. I bawled my eyes out reading it(:

Good luck with weaning her. It was very hard the first two babies and I'm going to nurse this one forEVER and ever(:    ~Krisi

 http://www.nfpandmore.org/bfscriptural.shtml

[dancinindaizys]

O, and this one talks about Abraham's son anyhow(: Could've swore I read one about Jesus's weaning feast. I'll have to keep looking(:

"And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned" (Genesis 21:8).

[MandiA]

Thank you!

[lunarlady]

We had a full on party. First, I asked her how many more times she wanted to nurse (safe question because she can't count past 10). She picked 4, which was faster than I anticipated. Then we went together and picked a weaning present, wrapped it together, and told her she could have it when she weaned. Each time we nursed, we counted down. (I struggled not to cry on the last one.) We baked a cake, and frosted it together. We let her pick the foods for the dinner, did candles, and sang "happy weaning day to you". We let her stay up an extra half hour and made a big fuss about how she wan't a baby anymore.

It was hard because I was on the child led boat too, but tandeming wasn't working out for us. My DD was a little older, too, so that may be why it worked well for us.

She did ask to nurse a time or two after that, but a gentle reminder that she had weaned and an offer to play a game/read a book and we were fine.

Good luck and HTH.

[IngaAnne]

Originally Posted by MandiA 

I know it sounds a little strange when you read the title of my post alone, but here are the details....My 2-year-old daughter and I are nearing the end of our breastfeeding time. It has been a gradual process. I LOVE nursing her and she loves to nurse. The reason we are completing our breastfeeding has to do with the fact that I am pregnant and she has a lot of food allergies. I want to have a "clean slate" for our next baby in case there are food issues and elimination diets again. Also, I want to have enough energy to be a great mommy to my babies. Yes, this is REALLY hard for me to do, let alone admit amongst others-especially in the child-led weaning circle where I thought I belonged. The decision is made and now I am looking for ways to make the completion and transition special (and hopefully easier) for my baby girl. The last nursing to go is the naptime session. It is the only one we have left and her 27 month birthday is planned to be our final nursing day. I am totally crying as I write this. It is really hard. I keep thinking back to the article Peggy wrote in one of the magazines that talked about weaning and how there are so many weanings  throughout motherhood. It really helps me. I know there are going to be other times when I know the next step is right, but still struggle to do it. Yes, I really think this is the right decision, but no, I don't want to do it... Anyway, I want the day to be special and I want to emphasize it as a rite of passage and moving on to the next phase and not a loss (as much as possible). Does anyone have any suggestions? I want to do/have something that symbolizes that day to both of us...to her, so I can remind her if necessary and she asks for milk and to me, so I can know that I did everything I could to ease the transition for her. I am not sure a "party" is the right thing or a gift or certain activity...I am kind of stuck. Thanks!

MandiA, I'm not yet in your position, but I truly feel for you. My son, who's almost two, also has a lot of food allergies. I've been on a strict diet due to his allergies, but know I want another child and am at an age where I shouldn't wait too much longer. I also feel my body might not be able to take care of all three of us on such a limited diet. After my son's second birthday, we will be working on a slow wean. I have so many emotions from guilt, to sadness, to relief. I'm sorry I don't have any advice for a weaning celebration, but remember that even though you won't be breastfeeding your daughter much longer, you will always be a huge comfort to her. I still remember being a small child in my mom's arms in the rocking chair as she sang to me. It was the most comforting thing on earth. Maybe a new bedtime cuddling routine will help ease the transition for both of you.