Positive story about unplanned weaning
I want to share my story because things went differently than expected, but it turned out to be a positive experience in the end.
I know lots of us in this group are here because we’re about to get pregnant or newly pregnant, wondering what’s going to happen with our nursing relationship with our children. I was very much planning and hoping to nurse my first through my second pregnancy and to tandem nurse afterwards. I loved nursing her, the closeness it brought us, the ability to soothe her, the fact that she was benefiting from the antibodies in my breast milk, etc. However, I knew that I couldn’t control the effect my hormones would have on my milk supply, and I was also quite a bit sicker than with my first and had some mild aversion. I believe my supply decreased pretty significantly, because my daughter gradually through the first trimester stopped asking to nurse quite as often, and nursed for shorter and shorter periods at bedtime until she just stopped being interested at all. I’m so glad that I was able to hold all this loosely during that time, and did not try to force it or keep her nursing as she lost interest. Ultimately, our last nursing session came and went without me realizing it. I’m not even sure of the exact date, but I sensed it was coming. And yet, our relationship has remained as close as ever, I got relief from the physical strain of nursing, and I still have another breastfeeding journey to look forward to with this next baby.
I wanted to share this as a positive counter-point for the many moms who post here with worries about ending nursing earlier than they expected. I am not here to convince you not to grieve the end of one nursing journey, but just to reassure you that it may not be as difficult as you fear at this moment. Your special relationship with your nursling continues, and the foundation you built with nursing for however long will always be there. ❤️