Gradual/Gentle Weaning Tips - Page 2

[Blessed1]

So glad I found this thread! I am in the same season of my life right now.  My little one will be 2 in June and I am trying to find a way to gently wean her.  She is teething her final set of molars and as soon as they poke through, we will be weaning for sure.  I feel the same exact way as you gals and I am ready to wean already.  I love nursing my toddler but it is time. it is definitely time. 

Can't wait to hear about your experiences.

[TillyBarry]

Glad to find this thread, as I am going through the same process.  My son will be 2 in June and we are getting ready to start TTC number 2, and I am ready to be done nursing before getting pregnant.  We have been down to two nursings a day for a few months, morning and night, sometimes just once a day as I work three nights a week.  Today and yesterday I have not nursed him.  But offered him " hot chocolate" (chocolate super greens and warm milk) first thing.   this worked the past two days.  I did nurse him this afternoon as he was very upset when he woke up from his nap.  I hope to have him weaned in the next few weeks.

[vegrunr]

So nice to be able to come here and discuss such a big step with other mamas.  My little guy just turned 20 months on Monday and we are down to only nursing upon wake up in the morning.  My husband gets him, brings him into our bed and he nurses then cuddles for a bit.  It will be hard to stop this routine but I know that once I decided to cut out this nursing we will have to do something totally different because the bed/cuddles he associates with mama milk.  He has yet to drink any milk from a cup but loves smoothies so I think I will get up as soon as he does and make him a smoothie while dad hangs with him for a bit.  I know he will be upset but hopefully after a week or so the new routine will be established and he'll be ok.  My husband and I haven't had a night away from him either since he was born so the idea of us getting a night together and morning to sleep in is exciting.  I kinda feel guilty but also know that for me/us it will be best.  We are TTC in July and I am ready to have a month or 2 with no nursing before I'm pregnant : )  Good luck mamas! 

[expat-mama]

Anyone else really, REALLY struggling along?

 DS had another bad cold and with the canines still coming up I was back to nursing him all night long last week as well as a few additions during the day. He's better now and for the last two nights he's had hour-long relentless screaming fits, complete with violent kicking and hitting and begging and crying.  We have about 2 or 3 of these type of fits during the days now too (they're shorter lived) and the only way I've found to totally distract him and calm him is with you tube sesame street. Although I'm not exactly dead-set against TV, we are (were?) "tv-free" and it saddens me to resort to this and feels like a giant failure and cop-out on my part. Sigh.

I don't know where to go from here. I feel so stuck and this is getting me depressed and hopeless feeling. I just want to be done and short of cutting him off cold-turkey or going away from him for a week (which I can't do) I'm totally at a loss as to how to move on. Even when back down to our minimum nursings (morning, nap, bedtime) it's impossible to cut down from those. I can't take the tantrums and no naps and everything. Utterly lost here and starting to wish I had weaned him at 9 months or some ridiculously young age so we BOTH wouldn't have to go through this. 

Many of my reasons for weaning come from wanting to TTC again, and now it's kind of hard to look forward to doing this again sometime down the line with another baby. 

Thanks for the venting space. 

[RStelle]

Hi everyone, DD is only 14 mths and I don't plan to wean for quite a while yet, but I have been slowly cutting down the amount of times that she nurses a day because I felt like she was getting too needy with it. I've started replacing some nursing sessions with some snuggles and a bottle of warm cow milk mixed with a little chamomile tea. It gives the milk kind of a sweat flavor, and she is very comforted by it. Now she needs to nurse much less. I know they say no bottles after 1 but the Dr. says they just made up that rule for people that are giving their kids soda or apple juice all day long, so it is fine. It really works like magic for us!
 

[NewBeginnings1]

Originally Posted by NewBeginnings1 

My 18mo loves his milk. But in anticipation of getting him to fall asleep on his own, I now nurse him 5-10 minutes before i put him down for nap time, then I read him books and put him down. We're working on moving bf to the beginning of the bedtime routine instead of the end. It's going okay, but could be better. He still eats every 3-4 hours and twice at night. 

Just a thought!

Update: We've been weaned for 2+ weeks. One day I faced him out on my lap as I read books to him and gave him a sippy with water. Then I skipped the nursing portion of the routine, and he didn't notice. I copied this routine for nap time. For a week or two, he would nurse once a day, usually after the nap for comfort. Then, I began having a fun snack ready for him after his nap. Having family stay with us for a few days helped distract him and completely day wean. He started to only wake up once a night, then not at all. After a few STTN days, I declared him night weaned. Now I offer him a water bottle and recite a book from memory to him or sing him back to sleep when he wakes up, about once a night with teething. He accepted it without tears. I cannot, however, put myself or him in nursing positions, or he will ask for milk. If he is grumpy, this can cause a problem. But by changing our habits, there has not been a problem. Best of luck to all! I'm so happy that we were able to wean peacefully. I said good-bye to nursing my 21 month old son and I am looking forward to nursing our daughter this fall!

[vegrunr]

We have been weaned for 1 1/2 weeks now.  We were down to just AM nursings upon wake up.  Last weekend we visited our in-laws so I figured maybe it would be a good time to cut out the final nursing in a different environment, less associations. It worked fairly well.  He did and still does ask for milk and sometimes even sheds a few tears, which in turn makes me want to cry.  But overall, it has been much better than I anticipated and I feel okay about how it went.  He was very grumpy for the first week in the morning without "ma mik" but it is getting better.  The past 2 mornings we change his diaper, read a book or two and immediately go downstairs for bfast which seems to help. His sleep was already improving drastically the past few months but he has slept THROUGH THE NIGHT for the past 4 nights or so which makes it about 8 total times since he was born over 20 months ago.  Not sure if this is related to the weaning or what but I'll take it.  His nap is also lengthening but I have heard that sleep begets sleep so maybe that is it.  We are also outside a lot with the warmer weather and he is a busy toddler.  Good luck to you mamas and your little ones through this process.
 

[bri276]

I'm sure the better sleep is related to the nursing.  DD2 has STTN several times ***for the first times in her life*** since I've started the weaning process.  She still nurses several times during the day, but is astronomically better about falling asleep with her dad rocking her or me patting her or just plain laying down next to me.  I'm actually shocked how well it has gone.  There have been tears and tantrums for sure, but they're improving compared to when she was nursed on demand. 

July 1 is d-day!

[CStone1]

A good book to read on the subject of gentle weaning is "How Weaning Happens" By, Diane Bengson

[bri276]

It's hard to believe but this former boob addict is finally weaned!  For about two weeks now.  There have only been a few moments of real sadness from her, which was difficult but I held her and even cried with her once and she seems to be understanding that I will always still rock her, hold her and comfort her, just without nursing.  I have more patience for her now that she isn't nursing...it felt like it was draining the life from me.  My hormones are coming back into balance which feels amazing.  She does get frustrated and has to learn how to calm down without a boob in her mouth, and has had some pretty epic tantrums, but that's her age, too (almost 22 months).  I'm really confident that it was right for ME, I'm sure it wasn't "right" for her, she would have gladly nursed until kindergarten, of course, but I did my best.  I feel happy that I gave both kids the exact same time period- EP'ed 21m for DD1. 

I'm glad I'm not having any more kids because if I did, I would honestly dread nursing more than morning sickness, more than the pain of childbirth and more than sleepless nights.  It's just not my thing.  But, I did it as long as I could.  And now that she's weaned she's eating and drinking other things much more, so I think if anything, she'll gain weight which is good (plus I'm pretty sure my milk was getting kind of crappy compared to a wholesome diet since I lost my grandmother and started eating so much junk food and take out- ;)

[wildmansmom]

I'm so glad I found this post! It's hard to find BFing Mamas of 2 year olds who are actually trying to wean.  DS turned 2 in June and DH and I agreed that we would wean before he started pre-school in August.  We are stuck at bed time and early morning but he's still asking several times during the day. We night weaned a month ago and took 2 or 3 weeks before he stopped asking at night.  I feel so guilty, especially when he says "Please nurse Mama?" and I think that's what is holding us back.  I'm also 7 weeks preggo with our second child and although I know I can nurse through pregnancy, it's just one more reason to cut off these last 2 sessions.  I'm going to give the firm and guiltless attitude a shot and just deal with the inevitable tears.  If I don't wean him now I'm sure he would be nursing at 4 or 5, which just isn't going to work for us.  2 years was double my original goal of 1 year!

[mamayogibear]

My dd weaned right around when she turned two and was gradual about it herself. Like she started sleeping through the night at 18 months and then was at daycare all day so she was basically only nursing once in the morning and once at night when she was almost two. My ds on the other hand is almost two and is nursing at least six times a day and waking me up at least twice at night! It is driving me crazy and I really want to sleep again, lol. I don't know if I need him to totally wean but I would love to just nurse when he wakes up and when he falls asleep instead of having him constantly ripping my shirt off of me. I guess for starters I am going to wear more fitting shirts and just not let him have easy access all the time and offer him a cup of hemp milk when he trys to nurse. I am thinking of trying to night wean and deal with his crying over the weekend but I'm afraid that Sunday  night I will just give in and let him snuggle so he'll be quiet and let me get a couple of hours of sleep...