how to wean your 14 month old gently??

[enchantinglysimple]

hi ladies i have been nursing my 14 month old dd since birth and she has never been give a bottle at all. I am getting to the point I would like to begin weaning her, but I don't want to do it cold turkey I would like to proceed gently. She still nurses quite a lot because she doesn't have to many teeth (only 4) and she eats solids but mostly mushy stuff. But she doesn't nurse every couple hours like she used to. Although this week she has been nursing more than she usually does. I know many of you feel nursing until at least 2 is the best but if you intend to tell me not to wean and how could I make this horrible decision to wean, please do not comment! I just want to know a gentle approach on how to wean my daughter. And if this helps she doesn't walk yet, she scoots on her tummy but doesn't crawl yet fully either.

Thank you!

[D_McG]

At that age I cut us down to 2/x day and overnight. So it was just nap and before bed and then overnight (cosleepers). It made it very managable. Once I did that she really picked up her eating.

As to 'how'.... If she asked outside of our designated times then I did anything but nurse her. So we had a snack or a cuddle or a drink or whatever. It was fine after the first couple of times, IIRC. I was upbeat and confident.

Once I had us down to that I eliminated those when she was 20 mos or so.

[enchantinglysimple]

Originally Posted by D_McG

At that age I cut us down to 2/x day and overnight. So it was just nap and before bed and then overnight (cosleepers). It made it very managable. Once I did that she really picked up her eating.

As to 'how'.... If she asked outside of our designated times then I did anything but nurse her. So we had a snack or a cuddle or a drink or whatever. It was fine after the first couple of times, IIRC. I was upbeat and confident.

Once I had us down to that I eliminated those when she was 20 mos or so.

Thank you! That sounds like a very easy and gentle way to go!

[Juvysen]

Around that age I started to wean my DD down most of the way because I was expecting another baby at 18 months. We night weaned around 13 months, but during the day, I would offer other things (a drink, a snack, a cuddle) if she asked to nurse. I'd only nurse her if she turned down all the other things.

FWIW, my dd didn't have many teeth at that age, either, but she still could eat pretty much anything... the teeth didn't seem to matter too much in that, so you could try other stuff, too.

My dd ended up continuing to nurse occasionally until she was 2 1/2, but it was mostly comfort nursing if she fell down, or whatever. I don't think it would have been overly hard to move past that, I just didn't have the energy or interest to try.

[mambera]

Yeah I think the teeth are irrelevant. They are under the gums anyway so the gums are hard, they can handle a lot.

My DD got her first edge of a tooth at 15 months (no that is not a typo) and she's been eating our table food since she was about 6-7 months old. She can handle pretty much anything that isn't like really tough meat or crunchy vegetables. Pieces of soft meat and cooked veggies are fine. Now that she's got almost one whole tooth through she can use it to pierce fruit skin so she can actually eat a whole uncut peach or apricot as long as we are careful about the stone.

[lisalu100]

With 14 mo DD we are down to 3-4 sessions a day. I partially night-weaned at 11 mo, which was a bit tough, but then she got sick, and I nursed through the night again. I have night-weaned again this past week, along with refusing to get her out of the crib (which is next to my bed). In a week, I have gone from nursing every 3-4 hours through the night, and up at 5am, to two wake-ups in the early hours which require me putting her paci back in, and a 7am wake-up. There is no doubt in my mind that the total one hour of crying this week (with me lying in the bed next to her crib) is worth the extra two hours a day sleep that we are both getting. So I am glad I night-weaned again.

I cut down my day nursing by "don't offer, don't refuse". We've picked up a day nursing since nightweaning, but I don't mind that.

I think the common advice is to drop one session a week until your DC is weaned. I've been offering cow's milk, and DD enjoys it.

Good luck Mama, don't feel bad for doing what is right for your family.