Any tips and tricks on how to prepare him?

[Saarland]

Hi,

I was wondering if you might have some tips and tricks for me.

My son just turned 3 years old and I want to try to get him off the boob. Of course he does not want to stop and I do not want to rush him either. I do not mind if it takes a while, I just want to start preparing him slowly and gently. But how? He still drinks A LOT. On bad days every hour and a half and he can stay on for half an hour without a problem. And even at night he still wants the boob. He does not really care about the milk. It is the sucking that relaxes him I guess. But I am also nursing a 2 months old baby and I must say that I am getting tired from all this nursing.

So, how could I best prepare him? What to tell him? Are there books to prepare kids for this? I mean, they have books to prepare them for the birth of a sibling etc... Why not for weaning? Any ideas?

By the way, just trying to get him to cuddle with me instead is not working. I tried that already. Also tried massages, singing with him, rocking him..... Did not work at all.

Thank you!

[annettemarie]

Moving to Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy since you're asking about mother-led weaning.

[anyalily]

I don't have advice for you but I am in the same boat. My 27 month old daughter is still nursing quite a lot and I want to continue the relationship for the next handful of months but just cut back so I have a bit more peace.

I talk with her about how someday we will both decide together that she won't have milk everyday and that every kid does that as they grow up. I can distract her pretty well and for a couple of days I had her only nursing in bed. She would ask for milk and I would say, "oh, the next time we will have milk is in bed." And then later she would ask and I would ask her "when is the next time we are having milk?" and she would answer, "bed!" with a smile. It was sort of a game.

But then, the weekend came and my being home all day (I work part time and she is home with papa) the milk bar was 24 hour service again.

Now, I am thinking of trying that again, but I am mainly interested in starting with getting her to go to sleep without milk as a first step this time. I have no idea if that is feasible.

Didn't mean to hijack your thread, but I just wanted to weigh in what I am mulling over...

Good luck mama. If you find a good book, please post the title here. I have been given the advice of picking one location where we can nurse and just getting them used to the idea of limits. Perhaps that would work with your little one?