18 Month Old Who Loves to Nurse

The easiest way to night wean him will be to get him out of your bed. You might check some of the message boards at www.mothering.com/discussions for tips on how to do this. I was able to get my son to sleep through the night at around 12 months, but he was in his own crib so if he woke I would just send my husband in to comfort him instead of me.

You may find that your cycles return once you cut back to 1-2x nursing per day. You can also try taking Vitex, an herb, to coax them back into existance. I started taking this when I was about 15 months postpartum (still nursing my son and hadn't gotten mine back yet) and about 7 week later I ovulated and immediately got pregnant. We're expecting #2 in June of this year, and my son weaned completely about 6 weeks ago.

I do think his habits will change somewhat when you wean, but don't worry if they don't. Toddlers are picky about eating. Just look at what he eats during a week, rather than during a single meal - and you'll feel better about him getting a balanced diet :) Continue to offer him lots of healthy choices and if you hit upon something he likes one day, let him have at it. I don't think it's worth it to make food into a power struggle - this is one of the few areas where kids feel like they can have some decision-making power.

My youngest was the the same, he was 15 months old when I weaned him. For me I started by cutting down on the nursings during the day and letting him wait for a couple extra minutes at night before I went to him. During the day I just stopped offering it to him and tried to redirect him to do other things. I didn't refuse him just tried to take his mind off it for a while. Eventually he was only nursing right before bed and in the mornings. Then came the hard part (yeah I know like it was easy before:)). I'm a single mom, so I ended up staying with my mom for a weekend. She is the greatest. I tried holding him to put him to sleep, but of course he wanted more of me. My mom ended up taking him and rocking him until he fell asleep. It took three days, but by the time we went home he was weaned. He's my picky eater too. Try having him 'help' with dinner. They really do like to eat what they helped make. I hope this has been some help to you.

I just successfully weaned my 16 month old that also loved to nurse all the time.He to was not interested in food,so we were concerned that he would not receive enough nutrition.I took away his feedings through the night and he started sleeping through the night.Then on at a time and he started showing more interest in food.Every time he went to nurse I would offer him a snack and he would cry and pull at my shirt but I stayed strong.You have to decide what is best for your family.Once you decide stay on track and you will succeed

Even though your child loves to nurse, it's time to move on if you want another baby. Just remember you gave him 18 long months of nursing. What an accomplishement. I nursed my first 2 kids for 13 months and my most recent baby for 15 months. Weaning was hard for me, but we had to go through a lot of crying. I am sure he'll start to eat more if he's more hungry since you'll stop nursing. The hardest part for me was weaning before bedtime. We still have trouble with our 15 month old who cries before bed now. Breaks my heart, but there's not a whole lot we can do if we want teach her to fall asleep. But for me, it's time to stop. My dr. told me that past 1 year, they aren't getting much nutrional value from the milk anyway, it' more for comfort. GOod luck. In the end it will all work out.

I have an online breastfeeding support grp if you'd like to join:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bfsg/

The best advice my friend told me was this (and family bed, nursing at night)... she had a 20-mo old in family bed and wanted to night wean. She talked about it all day, saying she could have mommy's milk only when it was light outside. So when DD awoke at night, she said she loved her, but she'd have to wait until it was light outside and that they would cuddle instead. She cried of course. She cried a few times that night and did for the next couple of nights, but it got better and better. The mom stuck to the plan and didn't cave in. And it worked.

I caution to do just one thing at a time though. Night wean first, then be steady for a cople of wks so that he's secure, then try to move him onto a mattress at the foot of your bed so he feels close to you still.

hope this helps!

Oh, can I relate! I think my daughter would have nursed her way to preschool if I let her! I too also had her in our family bed through her nursing months. I kind of thought that around 1 year or so she would lose interest and weaning would happen naturally but at 14 months she was still nursing at night, in the morning, and 2-3 times during the day.
I started by weaning the daytime nursings. It probably sounds silly, but I tried to just stay really, really busy (going to the park, for walks, over to visit at friends' houses, etc.) during the day so it would be easy to redirect her to more exciting activities when she got the urge to nurse. After about 2 weeks, she was pretty comfortable not nursing during the day. Sometimes she would try, but generally only if she was really tired or upset and wanted to be comforted. Again, I would just re-direct her attention at those times. Next, we put up a crib in our room. I started by putting her down for naps there. My pediatrician gave me advice on this or I never would've made it - he said she can cry for up to 15 minutes; don't break down and go in before 15, but don't leave her cry for longer than 15. The first time I left her in the crib I thought my heart was going to explode as I walked out and left her screaming. I sat watching the clock, and literally, as the clock showed 15 minutes had passed I got up to go get her and by the time I got to the door she had stopped crying. That gave me a lot more confidence to keep pushing her own bed, but don't lose heart if you don't have the same luck right away! After 2 days of naps only, she was put to bed for the night in her crib with similar results as her 1st nap. Once she was successfully nursing only before bed and in the morning, and successfully sleeping in her own crib I worked on weaning the rest of the nursings. Morning went first, using the same technique of taking her mind off nursing and on to something more exciting - including eating table foods! The before-bed nursing session was certainly the hardest to break. That took a couple of weeks, as I didn't hold out firmly. (which I don't regret) I would try my best to make her abstain, but if I was rocking her and she was spending the whole time crying and searching I would let her nurse for a couple of minutes. I tried to keep the nursing brief and get her in her bed as soon as she was done.
I hope my experiences can be helpful! Good luck!

I personally think its just a growth spurt and HE LOVES HIS mommy!

My little boy was the same way. He was nursing almost exclusively at a year and then by 15 months or so he wouldn't eat anything. The doctors said he had to stop nursing so he'd start gaining weight and because his iron was really low. So I went out of town and had my mom watch him for a few days. Then he took his sippy cup for her and didn't try to nurse because I wasn't there. When I got home, we didn't nurse and he only tried a couple times.
Now he's a little over 2 and he's still a really picky eater. He will barely eat meat or veggies but he does love fruit and carbs. The doctor said as long as he drinks milk (which he does) that she's ok with his diet. She said milk has protein, and vitamins and that we could add a vitamin if I want. He's still pretty skinny but I think he'll learn to eat more as he gets older. Keep trying new foods. I think weaning is very important to get him to start eating. Otherwise he feels full from the milk and doesn't notice that he's not getting enough calories.

I wouldn't do the nursing and the bed at the same time. My kids all responded to sleep training by waking less at night, so that made BF easier. Anyway choose one to tackle first. Get Dr. Weissbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. There's actually a section on transition from the family bed. For weaning, just start eliminating feedings, about one a week or more depending on how fast you want it to go. The night feedings you might have to do all at once. Keep offering the foods even if he doesn't eat them. No child ever starved that had food offered to them. It will pass, just make sure you're a good example. Good luck!

WHO the World Health Organization promotes nursing til age 2. Especially with picky eaters this can be helpful to give them the nutrients they need. Human milk is designed for humans and cows milk is not superior.

Night nursing can be frustrating but the nursing to go to sleep is usually the one that continues the longest and it can be beneficial to both of you. After nursing to sleep you may want to have your spouse sleep next to him with a water bottle. Overnight, he can soothe back to sleep and offer water when thirsty. I get thirsty at night myself and have to get up for water so it is not abnormal.

In my group of friends, we have found that children that were that serious about picky eating had some major food allergies. You may look into that as a potential underlying issue.

As far as the sleeping issue. Why not put a toddler bed next to yours. We have done this and the child is close at hand which is fabulous but we have our space back. Sharing sleep is an important thing for children this age.

Hopefully this will change or he'll starve. Sounds like he's so use to nursing, that's what he prefers. Better start that weaning soon honey.

T.,
Between 15-18 months they start to get picky. Just keep giving him a variety of food and he will eventually be eating everything again. Again at age 4-5 they become picky again. If you are a healthy role model he will develop good eating habits as an adult no matter how picky he may be now. I only nursed till the kids were 6 months and with more kids it eventually stopped at 3 weeks. As he gets older it will be difficult because he has also made this his comfort thing. I'd decide to either start with night or day. Which is he less attatched to? Delete those feedings then move on to the next. Hopefully some moms who have more experience with this will answer.

when i weaned my daughter at almost 2, i remember cutting out one feeding slowly but the best advise i got was from emailing my local la leche woman who sent back a very loving and supportive email with good suggestions. no suggestions on the others, except ours was 8 months when we transtioned her to her room. we put her crib in our room first and then moved it. we also started napping her in there first. some told me that was too many transitions, but it worked for us. and by the way, if you are not ready to wean, i did concieve while nursing....
good luck!

Hi T.,

I have a 3 year old son. At aroun 18 months we transitioned from the family bed in 2 ways. First - every other night my partner would help him fall asleep. He would nurse first for a few minutes, and then I would leave the room, and she helped hime fall asleep without any more nursing - there were lots of tears at first, but she held him, and comforted him through it. By the third night, he would fall asleep, and he started to sleep much longer stretches (Like 8 hours!)

The second thing we did was transfer him - asleep - into his own bed - that way he got used to waking up there - and we got our bed back.

We did not wean completely - but cut WAY back, and nights became easier on all of us.

good luck to you
D.