Weaning

In ancient writings, the word "wean" meant "to ripen" --- like a fruit nourished to readiness, its time to leave the vine… Weaning was a joyous occasion because a weaned child was valued as a fulfilled child; a child was so filled with the basic tools of the earlier stages of development that she graduated to take on the next stage of development more independently.
-- from The Baby Book by William Sears. MD and Martha Sears, RN, p. 187