Today's the day.

For a while we've been telling Gareth that when he's three, it's time
to stop nursing. He's been down to one nurse at bedtime for months
now. He did have a good long nurse last night, and I told him it's
the last time.

Of course, he rolled out of bed this morning and thumped his head and
wanted a nurse, and he broke his balloon in the dentist office and
wanted a nurse. I'm dreading bedtime tonight.

But I can't believe he's three already!

Michelle
Flutist

--
In my heart. By my side.
Never apart. AP with Pride!
Katrina Marie (10/19/96)
Xander Ryan (09/22/98 - 02/23/99)
Gareth Xander (07/17/00)
Zachary Mitchell (01/12/94, began fostering 09/05/01)
Theona Alexis (06/03/03)

In article ,
says...
OK. I know you have a "right" to make this decision, but I am
still sad about it, and wonder if child led weaning wouldn't be
better. I promise not to comment on it again. :-(

Well, we're coming up to the point that I don't always feel
comfortable nursing him. Three is pretty much my comfort level. He
will also sometimes get a bit too physically aggressive when his baby
sister needs to nurse, because he's feeling possessive.

Not to mention his nursing technique feels different, and hurts.
Nursing him through Theona's pregnancy seems to have helped to avoid
any soreness, but since she was born he's the one who gives me any
soreness.

And, while I did expect some of this reaction; HONESTLY Larry, I
nursed him for three YEARS! I don't even get one pat on the back?
*sniff*

Michelle
Flutist
--
In my heart. By my side.
Never apart. AP with Pride!
Katrina Marie (10/19/96)
Xander Ryan (09/22/98 - 02/23/99)
Gareth Xander (07/17/00)
Zachary Mitchell (01/12/94, began fostering 09/05/01)
Theona Alexis (06/03/03)

Michelle J. Haines wrote:
In article ,
says...
OK. I know you have a "right" to make this decision, but I am
still sad about it, and wonder if child led weaning wouldn't be
better. I promise not to comment on it again. :-(

Well, we're coming up to the point that I don't always feel
comfortable nursing him. Three is pretty much my comfort level. He
will also sometimes get a bit too physically aggressive when his baby
sister needs to nurse, because he's feeling possessive.

Not to mention his nursing technique feels different, and hurts.
Nursing him through Theona's pregnancy seems to have helped to avoid
any soreness, but since she was born he's the one who gives me any
soreness.

And, while I did expect some of this reaction; HONESTLY Larry, I
nursed him for three YEARS! I don't even get one pat on the back?
*sniff*

You get one from me, Michelle. Big pat plus gold star

I did the tandem routine, so I know where you're coming from. And I weaned
Aurora while I was pregnant with Vernon in part because she just could NOT
seem to get the technique right and nursing her was like nails on a
chalkboard!

FWIW, I weaned Julian when he was 3y2m for similar reasons. He was down to
one nursing session in the morning by then. I said it was like his morning
coffee. And the way I ultimately convinced him to stop was via bribery with
a remote control monster truck. After a couple of days, he really didn't
seem to miss it any more.
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [7/22/97], Aurora [7/19/99], and Vernon's [3/2/02] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

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What does it all mean? I have *no* idea. But it's my life and I like it.

In article NAGRa.11310$u51.80@fed1read05, says...

You get one from me, Michelle. Big pat plus gold star

Thank you, now I feel better.

My husband's reaction, BTW, was to tell me to tell the people who
think he hasn't nursed long enough to go pound sand with the "why
don't you bottlefeed him" people and the "haven't you nursed him too
long?" people.

I did the tandem routine, so I know where you're coming from. And I weaned
Aurora while I was pregnant with Vernon in part because she just could NOT
seem to get the technique right and nursing her was like nails on a
chalkboard!

Yes. I get a teeth-gritting, hair-raising, "Get OFF me!" reaction.
And when I cut a nursing session short because I can't stand it
anymore, that inducing a temper tantrum, too.

FWIW, I weaned Julian when he was 3y2m for similar reasons. He was down to
one nursing session in the morning by then. I said it was like his morning
coffee. And the way I ultimately convinced him to stop was via bribery with
a remote control monster truck. After a couple of days, he really didn't
seem to miss it any more.

I'm pretty sure he'll keep asking for a while, since when he visited
me in the hospital after Theona was born, he immediately asked to
nurse. He's a pretty stubborn kid and can be single-minded. But
I've been working on replacing nursing with lots of cuddling, so
here's hoping it won't be too bad.

Michelle
Flutist

--
In my heart. By my side.
Never apart. AP with Pride!
Katrina Marie (10/19/96)
Xander Ryan (09/22/98 - 02/23/99)
Gareth Xander (07/17/00)
Zachary Mitchell (01/12/94, began fostering 09/05/01)
Theona Alexis (06/03/03)

OK. I know you have a "right" to make this decision, but I am
still sad about it, and wonder if child led weaning wouldn't be
better. I promise not to comment on it again. :-(

Larry

Michelle J. Haines writes:

: For a while we've been telling Gareth that when he's three, it's time
: to stop nursing. He's been down to one nurse at bedtime for months
: now. He did have a good long nurse last night, and I told him it's
: the last time.

: Of course, he rolled out of bed this morning and thumped his head and
: wanted a nurse, and he broke his balloon in the dentist office and
: wanted a nurse. I'm dreading bedtime tonight.

: But I can't believe he's three already!

: Michelle
: Flutist

: --
: In my heart. By my side.
: Never apart. AP with Pride!
: Katrina Marie (10/19/96)
: Xander Ryan (09/22/98 - 02/23/99)
: Gareth Xander (07/17/00)
: Zachary Mitchell (01/12/94, began fostering 09/05/01)
: Theona Alexis (06/03/03)

Michelle J. Haines writes:

: And, while I did expect some of this reaction; HONESTLY Larry, I
: nursed him for three YEARS! I don't even get one pat on the back?
: *sniff*

Many. You'll get so many you'll fall over.

:-)

--Helen

Michelle J. Haines writes:

: And, while I did expect some of this reaction; HONESTLY Larry, I
: nursed him for three YEARS! I don't even get one pat on the back?
: *sniff*

You're right. If I had the choice of convincing everyone else to
nurse three years, and convincing you to nurse 4, then I would easily
choose the former! I guess my pat on the back just missed a little.
:-)

Now, if we could convince even a few of those formula feeders to nurse
even half as long as you did. :-)

Larry,
ever the radical

In article , says...
Michelle J. Haines wrote:
: [ . . . ]
: And, while I did expect some of this reaction; HONESTLY Larry, I
: nursed him for three YEARS! I don't even get one pat on the back?
: *sniff*

Well, I'm not Larry, but pat,pat,pat,pat,pat,pat,pat!

Well done, Michelle!

Thank you, Richard! And everyone else who said kind things that I
didn't respond to directly. Baf, Barbara, Helen, and Tine, at least.
If I missed anyone else, it's because I haven't seen your post yet.


Michelle
Flutist

--
In my heart. By my side.
Never apart. AP with Pride!
Katrina Marie (10/19/96)
Xander Ryan (09/22/98 - 02/23/99)
Gareth Xander (07/17/00)
Zachary Mitchell (01/12/94, began fostering 09/05/01)
Theona Alexis (06/03/03)

G'day

Michelle wrote:

I don't even get one pat on the back?

Pats on the back and a big hug. I can imagine how hard it must have been
to stop after so long.

Barbara said:

And the way I ultimately convinced him to stop was via bribery with
a remote control monster truck.

ROFL. I can just see this is the sort of thing that may happen with DS
if/when I am the one who decides to stop first. The apparently strong
gender bias towards wheeled objects despite no encouragement has blown
me away.

DrRuth

Michelle J. Haines wrote,

For a while we've been telling Gareth that when he's three, it's time
to stop nursing. He's been down to one nurse at bedtime for months
now. He did have a good long nurse last night, and I told him it's
the last time.

Well, congratulations for giving Gareth such a good start in life! IKEWYM
about hitting a comfort level. It turns out that mine is around three and a
half, and that's when my boys each weaned. I didn't exactly set a deadline,
but what I did was accompany each of them to a store to pick out something
really nice that they were interested in. Son #1 picked out a drumset and son
#2 chose a basketball goal. Then I told them that that was a "big boy toy" and
when they were ready to be a big boy they could have it. Big boys, of course,
do not have nummies. ;-)

Son #1 weaned easily--he walked away from his last nursing, said, "I'm a big
boy now," and never looked back. Son #2 had a harder time making the break and
will still occasionally talk about how hard it was for him to stop--but with
him, we were trying to conceive our daughter and were concerned that at 39 I
might be more borderline fertile than I was with the boys. I think weaning him
was worth it, and I don't think that encouraging a child to wean at three or
three and a half can be considered premature by any means! Even the Nurse in
_Romeo and Juliet_ weaned Juliet at age three....you can look it up.

Mary Ellen
William (8)
Matthew (6)
Margaret (1)