DS is 1, and Im already desperate to wean! Help!

[Piratelady2525]

Sometimes the best of intentions just dont work out....sadly, I am really wanting to wean my son, who will turn one in just a 2 weeks.  I always said I wanted to let him lead the way in weaning, and would nurse him as long as he wanted to, but breastfeeding has never been a smooth road for us.  The only time he was a good nurser was when he was a tiny newborn.  Since then, we have been plagued with problems:  engorgement, cracked and bleeding nipples, not enough milk followed soon by over production of milk, and as he has gotten older, teething issues, latching issues, and distraction problems while nursing.  I am so worn out! 

Right now, he nurses 5-6 times a day, and also eats snacks and usually lunch and dinner of table food.  Then, because he has never been a great sleeper, we nurse at least 4 times at night. 

My question is, would I be a horrible mama to try to start a slow weaning process now?  I have come to loathe our nursing sessions, since it seems all I do is struggle with the kiddo while he kicks, squirms, and otherwise tries to do everything else while nursing.  I need advice, encouragement, whatever you've got! 

[D_McG]

If you feel guilty maybe try night weaning and cutting the days so that you're nursing a lot less and see if it helps? I cut my DD down to 3x day some time after a year.. and wrapped it all up by 20 mos or so. There is nothing wrong with weaning! It's a normal thing to want, IME. I was definitely winding down at that point. I love nursing babies. Toddlers, not so much

[pumpkin]

We recently convinced DD that Daddy could comfort her at night sometimes. Cutting out most of the nighttime nursing sessions made a huge difference for us.

Maybe start with trying to limit nursing a bit. You have to decide when will work best. Maybe it's night, maybe you can find an activity to distract from a mid-morning session. Perhaps cutting back a bit will help you. If it isn't enough than you are already practicing ways to wean.

[Bebe's Mom]

Sorry you have had so much trouble! I didn't have the engorgement/cracked nipples/supply/latch problems with DD. However, I did have biting and squirming and she wanted to nurse ALOT...I also wanted to wean when DD was a year, because it was really a difficult period. She was still biting and wriggling a lot and it was very frustrating at the time. I found myself really wanting to wean her. But she was not ready..She had started eating solid foods but nursing was still very important to her..I decided to stick with it and now she is 17 months and still nursing..It has gotten easier, especially since she has gradually cut back on her nursing to the point where she is sometimes down to 4 times a day. She has a cold right now so she is nursing quite a bit though.

I hope my story helps. Don't feel like a monster if you decide to wean, though. A lot of moms don't make it to a year. :)

I also wanted to add that night weaning really helped with my decision to keep nursing. I night weaned DD at 15 months and now I feel much better about day nursing. It was getting up at all hours of the night to nurse that was driving me crazy.

[PatioGardener]

If you want to night wean, this may help: http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html

[Piratelady2525]

Thanks so much for the advice ladies!  Its good to know that others have gone through this at the same time...its so easy to think "Why does my child do this to me?" when you are tired and sore, and think that it is only your baby that has issues.  I really liked the website from Dr. Gordon, it has some great ideas that I think we will try out for night weaning.  That may be a big part of the problem, since DS has never slept well, and I am very sleep deprived!