Greetings, all. I had a call of a different kind today I thought I'd
share--different in terms of what I usually hear from moms in this rural west
Tennessee area.  The mom of an 8yr old (who only breastfed 3 months and "weaned
herself" after having many bottles to supplement the milk supply) and a nearly
2yr old called, most upset. Seems her 2yr old had abruptly weaned himself and
had not nursed for 4 days. He was fine about it, but mom was a wreck. She was
depressed and not ready for him to wean "so suddenly." We talked a while, and
she told me he had just been nursing 1-2 times a day before that. (When she
first told me about the weaning, it sounded as if he had gone from many times a
day to nothing!)

Nobody in her family had ever breastfed, except for her grandmother who was
thrilled that she had done it. And, nobody in her family could imagine WHY
anybody would WANT to breastfeed a 2 year old, and were convinced she had made
him nurse the last year or so. And they certainly couldn't understand why his
weaning this way could possibly be anything for her to be upset over!

She needed a sympathetic ear, which I gave to her. We talked about how weaning
is an emotional situation, especially when it happens sooner than mom expects or
wants. We talked about ways to continue the relationship with her son without
breastfeeding. She was at a loss to figure out how to comfort him since he is
cutting 4 teeth and has been ill (no doubt contributors to the weaning). And we
talked about toddlers in general, and weaning in general. I encouraged her to
allow herself to "grieve" in order to work through her feelings. She thanked me
and I told her she was welcome to call back any time.

When I hung up, I thought about how unusual it is for me to get a call like that
here where most folks cannot comprehend nursing past 6 months--simply because
they have not been exposed to toddler nursing. This would not have been too
unusual when I lived in the Atlanta GA area, but here it was a first!

An hour or so later, the phone rang again and it was the same mom. Seems she
babysits for another baby, a 1 year old breastfed baby whose mom comes and
nurses her at lunchtime. When the other mom arrived and sat down with her baby,
the mom who called pointed out to her son, "Look what baby ?? is doing!"  He
looked at the other baby, grabbed his blanket, ran to his mom, climbed on her
lap, latched on and nursed for 15 minutes!!  Mom was ecstatic! She said she had
to call and tell me, because she figured I was the only one who would understand
her excitement. Made my day!

Just felt like sharing that one.... :-)

Melissa Vickers, IBCLC
[log in to unmask]

PS. I borrowed "The Fugitive" video with Harrison Ford from our library today,
and got a preview of the Chicago Hilton and Towers where the LLLI conference
will be. My 12 year old told me I could stand in the doorway to the ballroom and
know that Harrison Ford had stood there, too!

Have a lovely day!