When Weaning Doesn’t Go As Planned // Part 2

“Well, well, well, how the turntables…” -Michael Scott (The Office)

Honestly, I didn’t expect to have a follow up to my original post about weaning. Here we are though, 6 months later, and weaning is still not going as planned.

My baby boy is now 20 months old and still nursing. Not ALL the time, but most of the time when he wakes up in the morning and when he goes to sleep at night, with a few nap time nursing sessions scattered throughout the week. Before I had kids, I always said I would never be “that mom” who was still nursing her baby when they were old enough to ask for it, yet here I am. That’s the funny thing about what you think life will be like when you have kids vs. when you actually have kids, the two don’t always go hand in hand. And you will most likely be “that mom” who you never thought you would be a few times. Motherhood likes to come in and humble you like that.

The amount of people who have shown their surprise / shock when I mention that I’m still nursing has kind of shocked me lately. I have had many people tell me that it’s time to stop, which I was not expecting. Although it really doesn’t offend me that people have expressed their opinions to me about it, I am always a little surprised. I get it, because before I nursed Logan if you would have told me I’d still be nursing my 20 month old I would have probably said that was highly unlikely. It’s our journey though and we’ll decide when it’s time to stop. The timing just hasn’t felt right yet.

I have been feeling so torn about our nursing journey coming to it’s inevitable end soon. Do I still want to be nursing in 6 months? NO. Do I still want to be nursing in 4 months when he turns 2? Also no. For myself, nursing a toddler is far more difficult than nursing a baby. I had fairly easy transitions in to nursing my newborns, with the help of lots of Honest Company‘s nipple balm! Nursing a toddler is a whole new ball game. Kind of like nursing a shark who is thrashing around in the ocean. It’s safe to say that I’m ready to have my body back to myself for a little while.

However, nursing is the only way that we have known to be together, so it’s a big transition for us.

Breastfeeding is such a sweet and natural bond for you and your baby, and it’s hard to give that up, especially when you’ve had that bond for so long. TWENTY MONTHS. Almost two years. That’s a long time. I know that technically it’s not like he needs it anymore since he’s already eating us out of house and home and drinks plenty of other drinks, but it’s his comfort and partly mine as well. The way he snuggles up to me after he falls asleep nursing is one of my most favorite things, and I just have so many sweet memories of that over the past year and a half.

Our oldest was younger than Logan when we got pregnant for the second time. Being pregnant / having a baby / breastfeeding for the past 4 1/2 years is my comfort zone. I love having a baby in my belly or breast-feeding. It’s hard for me to think that I’ll be doing neither within a few months … until it’s time for another baby.

If you’re in the midst of weaning your little one, know that there is no one size fits all way to go about it. Follow your baby’s lead or lead your baby, y’all will figure it out together. Also, if you have any advice send it my way because at 20 months, I still don’t know how I’m going to fully wean!

Meghan Culpepper
Meghan lives on the Northshore with her husband, Brandon, and their two boys. She grew up on the Northshore and happily settled back in to raise her family there. When she's not playing referee between her 4 & 2 year olds, she enjoys watching the Food Network and trying to actually learn how to cook (or bake!) Meghan loves being a boy mom and can probably win at any kind of Ninja Turtle trivia.

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