Weaning Jules

Well, the time has come.

I am still nursing Jules, at nearly 17 months. I have been happy to do so, as Jules loves his nursing and I have enjoyed it as well - the closeness, the time together, and the nourishment I am giving my boy. Not to mention all of the health benefits for both him and me.

He was nursing about 3 times a day, and once or twice at night, for a total of 4-5 times a day, and that was working well. In the past two weeks, however, Jules has started to want to nurse more and is eating less. Fundamentally, I don't have a problem with this, however he is now wanting to nurse 6-7 times a day with 3 of those during the night. I am just getting too tired, especially as he'll nurse at night once, then 30 minutes later want to do it all over again. Then three hours later, he does the same thing.

So, I've decided, with Steve's support, that I am going to actively wean him. I had hoped that we could go through the weaning process in a more natural way, ie that he would gradually become less and less interested and so his feeds would taper off and my milk would dry up. This is not happening, and I'm at the point where I can't sustain what he is demanding. I know this a contentious issue for some, but I've been a parent long enough now to feel confident in my (our) decision, as we have to do what's right for our family.

Our first step is switching roles in putting Jules to bed. I had been nursing him to sleep (which is no longer working anyway), and Steve was doing the dinner cleanup, and now Steve will give him a bottle and cuddles before bed and I will do the cleanup. Jules wouldn't accept a bottle from me, (for the first time today he pointed to my chest and tried to pull my top down when he wanted nursing), so it definitely has to be Steve who gives the bottle. During the day, I am going to try to nurse him a for a limited time (eg 5-10 mins), then offer the bottle.

Our first night was tonight, and it went well. He is asleep, and there were no tears. I was sitting in the living room worrying, though, about whether by doing this I am jeopardising my bond with my son, as we have such a great relationship now.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.