If I wean him now, what are the odds he'll start back up once the baby's born?

[CallMeMommy]

I have a 20-month-old that's still comfort nursing, and I'm 20 weeks pregnant. I dried up a couple of months ago but he still wants "buh" when he's upset or going to sleep. Right now the act of nursing is making my skin crawl. I don't know if it's because I have no milk or because he just latches on and doesn't do anything, but it's seriously squicking me out. I can't explain it. I'd have no problem tandem nursing, and actually hope it happens, but really don't think I can hold out until August. If I wean him now, is there a chance he'll start up again once I have milk? Or will he forget how to latch correctly, or just lose interest completely? I really wanted to do CLW with him and will be devastated if I have to prematurely wean him, but I just can't keep going at this point.

[MiaMama]

I seriously limited my DD when I got pregnant with DD2. She was 2.5, so a bit older, and still nursing 4-10 times/day and some at night. With the new limits, she nursed a few times a week, and I would often count down from ten and make her get off. I had DD2 Mar 19, and DD1 is now nursing again daily. I really wanted to nurse her because she is underweight.

So "not quite weaning, but very close to it" worked for us.

[jodieanneanton]

While pregnant with DD2, I limited my DD1 (2 1/2 yrs) to only one nursing session per day, two minutes on each side because I found nursing her to be so painful. Before we started a nursing session, I would say "only two minutes" and then at one minute left, I would say, "one more minute." Then, FINALLY, when time was up, I would say "We have to let go of mama on the count of three. One...Two...Three..." I would comfort nurse on occassion but I limited that to only two minutes on one side and only resorted to nursing when all other methods to soothe failed. This is what worked for us.

Sorry I cant give you a more specific answer to your question. From what I hear, some kids can unwean, some can't. If you really don't want to wean, maybe try cutting down on nursing sessions for now and see how you feel.

[MilkbarMom]

My older daughter started nursing again after her sister was born. Her break was about a year long, from early in my pregnancy 'till her sister was about months old. Once she re-started, she nursed for another year, until she was 4.

[D_McG]

I weaned my son at the end of my first trimester when he was 22 mos. He never asked to nurse after I had DD (but OTOH I wouldn't have let him. Perhaps if I had told him that it was an option all along it would have been different!).