DH and I have been TTCing for 1.5 years, with no luck so far. We've both been tested, everything looks fine (his sperm count is good, I'm ovulating and hormone levels are good). The obvious next step I can make is to wean my almost 3yo DS - I'm not sure I want to take that step, and I don't even know if it'll help us conceive, but I'm considering it more now that he's approaching 3 and we're still not PG. I had planned to do child-led weaning, and I don't feel a rush to wean him otherwise, but I do want to get PG before there is a huge age gap between kids. If weaning is what it will take, then I have to at least consider it.
So the questions/issues that I am concerned about: DS currently nurses upon waking, nurses to sleep for nap (and maybe after nap to get more sleep, if he's still super cranky), and then nurses to sleep at night. He is usually pretty grumpy when waking up, so denying him his "nursies" first thing in the morning is challenging (he's pretty adamant about it, and is hard to distract with something else). He also almost always nurses to sleep, so that's another challenge - he'll lie in bed with me and cuddle at bedtime, but as soon as he's ready to actually go to sleep, he wants to nurse, and he's pretty determined about that. Since most of his nursing occurs when he's tired and therefore less open to other suggestions/distractions, I'm worried it'll be a difficult transition.
On the flip side, I could take the initiative to drop his nap. He's usually okay without it, and while I won't say he doesn't need the sleep, he would probably manage alright and make up for the sleep at night. The benefit is that it would be much easier to get him to sleep at night. So potentially it would cut out the mid-day nursing completely, and maybe even make dropping the bedtime nursing session easier. However, when he doesn't nap, he usually wakes up 1-2 times at night to nurse (which he doesn't do on days that he did nap), and it might be difficult to get him back to sleep without nursing him. As well, I'm not sure if I'm really eager to lose out on naptime, which is my little break during the day, and also allows DS to enjoy more time with DH in the evening... Definitely pros and cons to the idea.
Anyways, I'm not sure what to do. Whenever he finally weans, I want it to be a gentle, non-traumatic process - he's a sensitive little guy, and while I know it may not be easy, I don't want it to be too difficult on him. And honestly, I know that I could wean him and still not get PG, so I need to be mentally prepared for that, so that I don't regret weaning him "unnecessarily". But I don't want to be TTCing for several years. Additionally, while we are TTCing, DH has to stop taking a medication that can affect sperm count/quality, which means his quality of life decreases somewhat. So the longer it takes us to get PG, the longer he has to deal with back pain and stiffness, which is difficult for him.
Sorry to ramble on - just trying to explain my thought process and figure out what the best move is. I appreciate any thoughts/advice - thank you!
So the questions/issues that I am concerned about: DS currently nurses upon waking, nurses to sleep for nap (and maybe after nap to get more sleep, if he's still super cranky), and then nurses to sleep at night. He is usually pretty grumpy when waking up, so denying him his "nursies" first thing in the morning is challenging (he's pretty adamant about it, and is hard to distract with something else). He also almost always nurses to sleep, so that's another challenge - he'll lie in bed with me and cuddle at bedtime, but as soon as he's ready to actually go to sleep, he wants to nurse, and he's pretty determined about that. Since most of his nursing occurs when he's tired and therefore less open to other suggestions/distractions, I'm worried it'll be a difficult transition.
On the flip side, I could take the initiative to drop his nap. He's usually okay without it, and while I won't say he doesn't need the sleep, he would probably manage alright and make up for the sleep at night. The benefit is that it would be much easier to get him to sleep at night. So potentially it would cut out the mid-day nursing completely, and maybe even make dropping the bedtime nursing session easier. However, when he doesn't nap, he usually wakes up 1-2 times at night to nurse (which he doesn't do on days that he did nap), and it might be difficult to get him back to sleep without nursing him. As well, I'm not sure if I'm really eager to lose out on naptime, which is my little break during the day, and also allows DS to enjoy more time with DH in the evening... Definitely pros and cons to the idea.
Anyways, I'm not sure what to do. Whenever he finally weans, I want it to be a gentle, non-traumatic process - he's a sensitive little guy, and while I know it may not be easy, I don't want it to be too difficult on him. And honestly, I know that I could wean him and still not get PG, so I need to be mentally prepared for that, so that I don't regret weaning him "unnecessarily". But I don't want to be TTCing for several years. Additionally, while we are TTCing, DH has to stop taking a medication that can affect sperm count/quality, which means his quality of life decreases somewhat. So the longer it takes us to get PG, the longer he has to deal with back pain and stiffness, which is difficult for him.
Sorry to ramble on - just trying to explain my thought process and figure out what the best move is. I appreciate any thoughts/advice - thank you!
