he plans to go cold turkey

My son is turning three tomorrow and he says, "Tomorrow is my birthday and I will be three and I won't get side anymore." He's been saying for a while that when he is three he will be done with side. ("Side" is his word for breastfeeding.) I'm be happy to be done, but he still nurses several times a day. I've asked him, "Do you WANT to be done nursing when you are three?" and he says yes. He has told me that if he asks to nurse I should say, "No side for you. You are three now." He's telling me to cut him off. But I've been through toddler weaning before and I'm thinking in my head, dude it's just not that simple... but my kids are very different individuals. Could it be that simple? I've told him he doesn't HAVE to be done. I asked him, "Will you cry when I tell you no?" He said, "Yeah, but you tell me no because I will be done when I'm 3."

So what do you all think? Should I support his goal by standing firm? Or should I cave the minute he asks? I don't NEED him to wean just because he's three, but if he wants to do it, I'm totally ready to be done when he is. Anyone else have a kid who suddenly decided to be done and followed through?

wow, i dunno, but watch out for that kid when he's a teenager!!

:pop

No kidding. He kissed the waitress this morning at breakfast.

Hubba hubba!

I think if you're really ready to be done, and he is confident in his decision, there's no harm in ending the nursing journey at this point. But if he asks and seems like he's changed his mind, there's no reason to force him to stop- unless you decide that you're ready, even if he's not.

This is only somewhat related, but my nephew was a big pacifier user, and his parents prepped him that at three he would be too big for pacifier. My parents watch him a day a week, and when he arrived after his birthday, he found the pacifier that was at my parents house and handed it to my father and explained that he was done with it. And he really was. I think you're doing a great job checking in, but honestly, my preschooler can be so stubborn, it's wonderful to see an example of that being used for good and not evil.:lol

I remember this articlehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/nyregion/21freda.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 talking about her 2 year old just announcing he was done. No details, though.

YES, my DD who just turned 4 decided that when her baby bro was born, she didn't need to nurse anymore. She quit cold turkey and hasn't asked to nurse once since she has made the decision.

I thought she would cave, but she hasn't and its been 11 days!

Well, he woke up and asked for side once he saw it was light out (freshly night weaned, by the way). I said, "But you're three now." He cried with the saddest face and a single tear, saying, "No I'm still two!" I think he thought he would feel differently when he turned three. I told him it was OK to have side when he's three but he just kept insisting he was two, and I kept telling him he was three. So he didn't nurse and we came downstairs for breakfast but he was super crabby and didn't want to talk about anything or have breakfast. He went back to arguing about being two. I said, basically: Look. I am fine with giving you side if you want side. But you can't just decide that you are two when you want side. Your big sister just turned nine and she doesn't look or feel any different than she did when she was eight. Same with two and three. You are getting bigger slowly and if you want to be done nursing at three you can be done, or you can have less side now that you are three, and maybe stop before you turn four. But I'm not going to pretend you are two just so you can have side. I need you to understand that you are three now. Then he said with a sigh, "OK, I'm three. Can I have side?" I said, do you want me to say yes? He said yes. So he nursed on his birthday. But later he asked for it again and I said, you are three, you can wait until later for side. And he seemed to like that. I think someone planted it in his head that big boys don't nurse, and he really wants to be a big boy. But he's fine with being big enough to nurse less. I really didn't think he knew what he was talking about when he said he'd quit. But that would have been kind of cool... well, a little rough on mommy's heart and breasts, but still cool. Like Dara's story; Go Miranda!! Just need to teach my boy that big boys wash their hands EVERY TIME they go potty.:rolleyes:
Thanks for the input folks! You know how some folks would react to that kind of question.. "Woah! If they are old enough to say they are done, then..." First time in a while I really needed a LLL crowd!

thanks for the update!