Mum holds ‘weaning party’ after three years of breastfeeding her daughter

The party to mark the end of their nursing journey was meant as a celebration, but then the comments began to roll in.

Image: Instagram @julie_mom_reels

Julie Michele Kahut is a social media content creator and busy mum of two. With well over a 120,000 followers across multiple platforms, she mostly shares short and humorous snippets about her family life.  Posts and videos that include her husband Justin, their Christian values, their beautiful home and aspects of her role as a stay-at-home mum.

A few days ago Julie posted a throwback clip of her family enjoying some cupcakes and balloons to celebrate her almost three-year-old daughter’s last breastfeed.

“Found this in my drafts and thought I’d share,” the mum wrote alongside the video.

“ I weaned Abby back in January and it went so much better than I expected. 

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this. 

RELATED: Mum puts makeup on toddler with ‘confusing’ result

“Obsessed with breastfeeding”

“She went from being obsessed with breastfeeding to being weaned in one day. I spent a week explaining, and we had a family party celebrating her becoming a big girl.

“Now if only I can get my kids to fall asleep without having to be in the room with them.”

One of the first to comment on the celebratory post and the success of the weaning party was her husband and mortgage broker, Justin Kahut.

“I was a little concerned she was going to still be breastfeeding in middle school…” Justin wrote under his wife’s video.

“I’m thankful she got the good stuff as long as she did. This was a great idea to wean her though, it worked unbelievably well.”

A few other commenters began to praise the mum for her breastfeeding efforts and then things began to go rogue.

RELATED: I need my in-laws to help with daycare – it’s not forever

"A joyful transition"

While most of Julie’s other parenting clips typically garner twenty to thirty comments on, this post began to attract hundreds and then thousands of comments from people from all corners of the internet. 

Some had very strong opinions and missed the point about the party, instead just criticising Julie's “weird” but personal decision to breastfeed her three-year-old child.

Others were just confused about the concept of a weaning party.

“Everybody’s all upset about the 3 years,” wrote one befuddled follower.

“I am more confused about throwing a party??”

While Julie ignored most of the judgemental or nasty comments about her personal feeding choice, she did answer a few of the queries.

“I don’t think it would have worked to wean her without throwing a party! I had to get her excited about becoming a big girl! 

“It’s hard to understand when you don’t go through it, but if you have a three year old who throws tantrums because you are not breastfeeding, you end up breastfeeding again!”

Julie explained that wanted to celebrate the end of this part of her motherhood journey, while making the process a “joyful transition”.

“We definitely had a unique and wonderful bond that has continued. Instead of nursing her now, I often cuddle her and give her a back scratch!”

RELATED: ‘My breastfeeding boobs made it impossible to sleep'

"Good job mamma!"

In response to the strangers who continued to write nasty comments, Julie responded with facts.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends breastfeeding for at least two years. The Academy of American Pediatrics (AAP) states that there’s no evidence of developmental of psychological harm from breastfeeding into a child’s third year or beyond.”

And as one of the supportive commenters pointed out, “Good job mamma! No one knows when it is time to wean - except you.”

Originally published as Mum holds ‘weaning party’ after three years of breastfeeding her daughter