Georgie has just gone down for the night, and she hasn’t had a single drop of breast milk today. This makes me a little sad, as it is our first day with absolutely no feeds and I will really miss feeding her! She is now 13 months old and she has been steadily losing interest in her feeds, naturally weaning herself over the past month or so.
The first day that we offered her a cup of whole milk instead of a feed after lunch is pictured above, and as you can see she wasn’t bothered at all by the switch. By this stage she had only been having three short feeds a day, and wasn’t really asking for it anymore – just taking what she was offered and coming off fairly quickly. Each feed that we have stopped has been replaced with a cup of cows milk – she will now have a cup with breakfast, after lunch and another after dinner.
I am feeling a little bittersweet and weepy this evening to think that this phase of our relationship is over, and that I won’t be having anymore milky milk cuddles with my little girl, but it is the right time to stop feeding her… My baby is growing up so fast! I was worried that we were weaning her off a little early but to be honest, other than after a few big oopsies after which she wanted a comfort feed, she hasn’t asked for a feed once since we started cutting back on them – which was both reassuring and a bit sad! It has been a very natural process as we have taken our cues from Georgie instead of trying to force the change on her.
On the plus side, I can now have a couple of drinks without worrying about whether I have any milk expressed – though I expect I am now a complete lightweight… And I can wear a normal bra again! Oh, underwires, how I have missed you…
We’ve been nursing for 2 years now. Self-weaning is just not happening yet. I’ve tried regular cows milk, lovely organic jersey milk, oat milk & almond milk but nope, not having any of it other than a few sips..all said & done I’d probably feel lost now if I wasn’t nursing but next Summer I definitely want my boobs back – little camisoles & pretty bras are calling me!
I would have gone on longer with Georgie but she definitely took the lead on stopping. She just wasn't bothered when she didn't get it (as long as she had something else instead), and had been losing interest for a while. It's been four days now and it is really weird not feeding her AT ALL!