Congratulations on your pregnancy! That is so exciting. I have heard that children can and do self-wean when the mom becomes pregnant. Sometimes there is less milk, other times the milk might change in taste slightly.

As far as what to offer instead - children under 2 do need to get fats in their diet. I am not a physician or dietitian, so I can't say exactly what kinds of fats they need. But I read somewhere that brains use fat to build and to protect mylean sheaths (sp?). Both my kiddos are offered whole milk, but also get fats from sources like olive oil (I use that a lot in cooking), butter, nut butters, and avocado.

Does your son take a bottle normally? I ask just because if he doesn't, I'm not really sure that he'd need it. But if he seems to need/want soothing in that way, then there would be no harm.

Maybe someone else will have good advice about what to do for the milk vs. no milk situation.

- Stephanie

PS My 15 month old has been doing the same thing - wanting to nurse and then only nursing for a very short time, then pulling off and going to play again. A couple of times she has asked to nurse, and then when I get her cuddled to me, ready to nurse, she shakes her head and says, "No, no," then gets down. I think it is a little self-weaning but I have no explanation for it (like you do with a pregnancy). She has opportunities to drink other things (whole milk or water flavored with herbal non-caffinated organic tea) during the day. I have been trusting her body to tell her what she needs to drink and I follow her lead. I'm not offering to nurse her, but I never refuse her requests to nurse. She still nurses in the morning, before nap, before bed, and 1-2 times during the night. Plus she often will want a comfort-nurse a couple of times during the day. But the nursing sessions are much shorter (except for those bedtime/naptime ones).