Boob vs. food part 3 – there’s no milk in there

Three years old and weaned

I’ve been writing about weaning for years now, but this may be the final installment of Boob vs. food – for Hugo anyway. You can check out part 1 and part 2 to catch up on our weaning  journey.

Aside from the continued health benefits that Hugo received from breastfeeding, I had decided to let him wean when he was ready. I did night wean him over the summer, just by having one conversation, really. Nursing had become something that woke Hugo up rather than helping him get to sleep. Most days, he only nursed for a few minutes before going to bed. Breastfeeding still helped us a lot when he had a stomach virus in September and wanted nothing to do with Pedialyte or a natural alternative that I whipped up.

Ever decreasing supply

I was away from Hugo overnight for two days in September and two in October. Each time I pumped at night, I noticed that my supply was dramatically decreasing. I managed to pump 3 ounces when I was away from him for a weekend last April and by October, I couldn’t even cover the bottom of a bottle so I just hand-expressed a few drops. I started wondering if Hugo was putting me on when I asked him if there was any milk when he was nursing.

Pregnant and breastfeeding

Breastfeeding during pregnancy was painful at times, and I had some experiences of feeling extreme aversion. By the second trimester, I felt like I’d gotten over that hump and pretty much expected to be tandem nursing next year when Hugo’s brother was born.

The last time

Hugo was sitting in my lap last month watching Thomas videos on YouTube in preparation for bed. Turning off the videos was always followed by “boob-boobs on the couch” for about two minutes lately, then I would lie down with him in his bed until he fell asleep. I was starting to suspect that there was no milk at all, especially since Hugo would stop a session or switch sides with zero protest. I was tired. I decided to check it out for myself.

I pulled up my shirt and tried to hand express for a minute and there was nothing on either side. When the last video had finished, I told Hugo that there was no milk and he kind of just glanced away. Of course, he knew this. There were only a few weak protests. Since then, he asked and tried a couple of times but knew deep down that it was over. All about a month before his third birthday.

I’m not sure that Hugo was quite ready to wean, but we had a good run. Hopefully, he won’t be too jealous of the baby. He claims to understand that babies need a lot of boob.