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!