It has truly happened: Bubsi is no longer nursing! I am a little bit baffled, to be honest, as I did not expect her to wean this quickly. Yet here we are, her last snack of breast milk was in the morning of July 18, 2017. My first nursing relationship has come to an end.

Baby-led weaning and my expectations

I believe I wrote previously that we practice baby-led weaning with Bubsi. The concept, made most famous by British nurse Gill Rapley but obviously been practiced forever, is based on the idea that the baby decides when to eat solid foods. And how much solids, and which. Basically, you do offer a number of foods to your child daily, but if he or she prefers to nurse then that is what you do. From the start this seemed to be the most natural way of weaning to me, and as nursing was going well I did not see why Bubsi should stop it before she was ready. The World Health Organization suggests that the natural age to self-wean for children is between 2.5 and 7 years, so I was certain our nursing would still continue for a while.

Alas, Bubsi weaned herself. Just as she hit 2.5 years, she started forgetting to nurse. To be fair, I did not remind her either. My first trimester being pregnant had caused my nipples to burn when she was nursing, and I was happy she did not ask to drink often or for extended periods of time. It is possible she noticed I was uncomfortable, but I never refused her access. Being pregnant might have changed the taste of my milk as well, although Bubsi did not comment on this. Soon we noticed that if I was not around, she would no longer ask to nurse and would switch to whatever food or drink was around without an issue. With less demand from her side my supply dwindled quickly.

There is still milk, even without nursing

It took me a while to realize our nursing relationship had come to an end. The few and in between snacks made it difficult to say for sure. But when Bubsi had not asked to nurse in two weeks, I decided to tell her that my boobs have no more milk now because they prepare new milk for her sibling in the belly. And she was so excited! Not a little sad. She keeps saying how there will be new milk for the baby to drink when it “walks out of Mama” and she asked if she could try how new milk tastes then. We will see. I am glad she got to decide when and how to wean herself. Besides, I still have milk, though I am sure its composition is truly changing to adapt to the needs of the unborn.