To wean or not to wean? That is the question!

   When I had my third child, I knew I wanted to be sure to exclusively breastfeed him. After a very interesting birth experience, I did everything they say to do to avoid problems with breastfeeding like avoiding bottles early in our breastfeeding relationship. I also set small breastfeeding goals of 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, etc. My ultimate goal was to reach 18 months of breastfeeding. Well, we a little over a year passed that goal at 2.5 years old.

To wean, or not to wean? Just under a year ago, we found out we were expecting our fourth baby, who is now nearing three months old. Over these last few months, we have been tandem breastfeeding. I've had to experience periods of jealousy from my son. I am well aware of the benefits of breastfeeding into toddlerhood, but sometimes it is frustrating to deal with him wanting to nurse after the baby having a marathon nursing session. 

On the other hand, it has also helped Avery ease into the transition of being a big brother instead of the baby.   It can be very easy to just offer a nursing session to calm him down. On top of that, there are so many other benefits to him. Some moms practice child led weaning until age 3 and some even longer than that. For now, we are going to keep doing what we're doing.

Image source: thealphaparent.com