I’d never really planned when we would stop breastfeeding. Not because we wanted to keep going forever, more because- whilst it was working for us both, why stop? If he cried, it was the perfect comfort, if he wouldn’t go to sleep, it worked a treat… it was the trick up our sleeve whenever we needed it!

We’d mix fed Otis from about 4 months, starting with just one bottle of formula each night and upping it when I went back to work when he was 9 months. Over the past few months his bed time feeds had become bottles too, to give me some freedom, so we were probably only feeding 2-3 times a day.

Then one afternoon I was sitting at home thinking how sore my boobs were! And that was when it hit me, we hadn’t fed for 3 days! He hadn’t asked, I hadn’t offered.. is this it? Are we done? I had kind of expected it to be something that we had to decide upon, that there would be a monumental ‘final feed’, but there wasn’t. That really was it.

It was a weird mix of emotions, because I really did enjoy it.

I was unprepared for it because it was so unexpected.. I had presumed we would go well into toddlerhood, because unless I decided to stop, I couldn’t picture it ending until now.

I was sad that I didn’t make a note to really take in what was our last feed.. I actually don’t even know when it was..

I’m was glad that it came from him, and I never had to feel like I was ‘taking it away’ from him.

My baby is well and truly grown up!

He was never very ‘cuddly’, so those were his calmest, gentlest moments of the day! Were they gone now?

Actually, he did become more cuddly after dropping it. He cuddled his ‘doggy’ more and will just sit on my lap occasionally too, which he NEVER did before!

But that was it, our journey lasted 19 months, we were very fortunate to have an easy ride, and I really did love it!