A Win for Weaning: Gabe's Journey

First time nursing Gabe

Weaning Gabe started nearly a year ago. I wanted to cut out night feedings first to help him sleep longer and in his crib. It went disastrously. We made some progress, but it all went down the drain when more teeth came in. I decided to try again when Justin's family came to town in April since we would all be sleeping together in the boys' room. It took several more sleepless weeks to get him sleeping in his crib. He would only wake up once or twice, and I would nurse him and then put him back in his crib. Eventually he was sleeping through the night.

However, he was still nursing during the day. I whittled it down to three times: once in the morning, once before or after nap, and once before bed. The nap time session was cut out first and then the morning one, so he was only nursing before bed.

The first weekend in July I went to my cousin's wedding. Gabe went one night without me and milk. I nursed him for the last time the day I came back from the wedding, July 4. How fitting that it was Independence Day.

A couple days later, my family came to visit. While they were here, Gabe was easily distracted and tired, just like when Caden was weaning. Once they left, he remembered again. I told him, "No more milkies. All gone." He was very upset. After about a week, he stopped fussing about it. Whenever he saw my naked chest, he would sign "milk" and then go "Ah! Ah!" and I would turn him down, but he wouldn't cry.

Soon he stopped asking for it and drank regular milk instead when he was in the mood. Last week, he looked at my chest, signed "milk," shook his head no, pointed to the fridge, and asked for a cup and straw to drink some milk. I knew then that we were truly done and he was okay with it.