On Weaning Adam

Weaned!
Originally uploaded by candy.

You'd think that 29 months sounds a bit old to be just now weaned, but actually the natural weaning age for a human is later than age 2 1/2. It's only us Americans who are in such a rush to hurry along the process.

Ethan had nursed until he was about 26 months old and weaned fairly easily right after I found out I was pregnant with Adam. Since Adam is my last baby, I was in no rush to wean him, but I started to use the "don't offer, don't refuse" method sometime after he had turned one and he was eating and drinking other things. Gradually, he nursed less and less. By the time he was 20 months, I was even able to go away for a weekend and he was fine.

A couple weeks ago, Adam was sick and his nursing picked up again for a few days. I noticed that my energy level was comprimised and that I felt really "touched out" by the end of the day. With Adam being so big, he tended to kick and squirm as he was nursing, which started to get uncomfortable. I figured that at least I was ready, and I knew I'd take the next chance I got to encourage weaning.

Last Friday, Adam was back down to nursing breifly in the morning and sometimes before nap. It was more of a routine for him than something he couldn't do without. That night, he was running in the hallway and banged his head on a corner. He was beside himself in pain. To comfort him, I held him and he asked to nurse. I held an ice pack to his bump and he calmed down. This was to be our final nursing session. It wasn't a conscious thing at all. The next day, Jonathan was home and spent most of the day with the boys. Adam had fallen asleep in the car instead of being put down for a nap by me. When Monday came, I realized we hadn't nursed all weekend. I decided to see what happened, and I made a couple routine adjustments. In the morning, Adam now goes straight to the breakfast table as opposed to us cuddling on the sofa watching Bear In The Big Blue House. For nap, we've been going for a drive, and a couple times, I just put him in his crib to play at naptime and he's fallen asleep. It has been more than a week now and Adam seems to be his same happy self, not any worse for the experience.

I will probably need to avoid going topless for a few weeks, or holding him in a cradle position, so as not to remind him, but I am pretty sure he's done now. This is the first time I've had my body all to myself since 1999. It is sort of bittersweet as Adam is my last child, but I will definitely be celebrating with some bra shopping soon!