Weaning 18 month old?

[newmom08]

Hi there I need some input on weaning my 18 month old dd. I've read a bit, and it all sounds fine on paper. My point is that while my milk has tons of nutritional benefits for dd, it is my breasts that she can't live without! They are such a comfort to her, and the only way she goes to sleep is nursing. And this is wonderful for both of us...most of the time. The problem is that I am the only one who can put her to sleep. I guess I'm just wondering how others have done this? I just don't see how she will ever stop nursing if I am her only comfort? I don't want to break her heart and take away her comfort, but it's been 18 months. My dh and I never get time for ourselves because I always need to be there to put her to sleep and comfort her. Some people tell me "oh she'll stop when she's ready" but how is that ever going to happen? We're supposed to go away for 4 days for a wedding in May (she'll be 20 months) but how can I? And we're thinking of trying to get pg soon...will my milk dry up? Someone out there who has done this please help!!! Thanks in advance

[BetsyS]

In my experience, there isn't a lot of support for mama-led weaning on MDC. Most people choose to do a more child/baby-led approach.

That said, I have two that both self-weaned at 18 months. BUT, I was pregnant both times (they both weaned when I was exactly 20 weeks pregnant). I think my milk was gone, and they gave up.

I did cut down on the number of nursings that they had starting around 12-13 months. That is where I feel comfortable--everyone is going to make their own choices. So, for us, weaning is a very slow, 6 month process.

What worked for us was to take away one nursing at a time. Both my boys had fairly predictable nursing times (before and after naps, first thing in AM, bedtime, etc). They also both had a time that they were least interested. I just picked a day that I wanted to start, and at the time of the least interesting nursing of the day, I offered food and water instead. They went for it.

I dropped one nursing every 4-6 weeks, replacing it with food. That leads to a 6 month period of weaning. Obviously, if you want to do it faster, then you drop them closer together.

At the end, my boys were nursing before naps and bedtime, and they weaned themselves from that. They just pushed it away one day and never asked again.

[listipton]

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ma+led+weaning
mama led weaning support

[tinybutterfly]

Hi!

I am going to move this to Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy.

[pbjmama]

Unfortunately weaning may not change how much comfort your dd gets from your breasts. My ds still wants to lay his head on my breasts and sometimes pats them too. I think you can figure out ways for someone else to put her to bed at night with out weaning, if you want. Could you try a night out where you could come home if needed? Just so you are out of the house and see how the caregiver does when baby doesn't have the mom option. How does she go down for a nap?

Milk drying up in pregnancy is not predictable. Some women start to dry up before they even get a positive test. Mine went from milk to colostrum at a little over 20 weeks. You just won't know until it happens. And, not all children wean on their own just because there isn't any milk.

Please don't hear what I'm saying as anti-MLW. I MLW my ds and I'm happy about it. As long as it is done gently I think it is fine and good. I'm just not entirely convinced your goal is total weaning, it sounds like you just want to be able to get a break.