Need Advice on Finishing Weaning My Son

I believe I have finally completed the weaning process with my 2 1/2 year old son, so I know how you're feeling. We've been slowly cutting out nursings for the past 6 months or so. In the evening, we started having my husband put him to sleep and start a new routine, which helped a ton. Is that a possibility for you? If not, I found that just changing things up a bit helped him forget about nursing. Singing songs together, giving him some milk or water in a special cup, etc. We were down to a morning nursing every other day or even every third day, and he finally just stopped asking. It's now been 3 weeks, so I feel really good that he was ready to stop and did it on his own. I was starting to feel anxious about the fact that I was still nursing, and then read this article, which really helped me feel like I was doing the right thing. Might make you feel better like it did for me. http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/breastfeeding/... Good luck!

I know it is ruff to do it. It is your bonding time together.
I nursed my son till 18 months and my daughter 22 months.
I brought in the sippy cup. Gave them that and laid them down. My kids still took naps. You just have to stick with it
and not give in. Tell your child no and give them the sippy cup. It made me sad but it was time for me and my child.
L.

I found that a change in routine and/or distraction is what worked best for my son. He basically weaned himself when we moved him to a Big Boy Bed. Instead of laying with me in bed when I pulled him out of the crib in the mornings (which was his last nursing to go) I would go into his room and we'd sit in his bed and read together. Can you find something similarly snuggly - reading together or singing songs etc - that is enough different that he "forgets" about nursing? At this point it's about the things he associates with nursing, so if you can change the routine, he won't think to ask for it.

I'm so glad you're against letting him cry. I don't know how old he is but play with him and "tire him out". Stretch his arms from a lying position up and down 5 times. Stretch hem out to the sides the same way. Stretch his legs up and down then and follow with stretching them out to the sides. You can take him out for a walk (fresh air is a killer sleep inducer. Toddler swings or bouncy seat; when young ones kick their feet it bounces. Finish up with a warm drink of something.p.s. even a warm bath use to work for my kids to relax them.

I nursed my oldest till she was 15 months (would have continued longer, but her sister was only 3 months away!). I had her down to twice a day - nap and bed time. I used a sippy cup with milk to transition. I also tried to use the zodiac signs to determine when to wean and it does work better if you are working in the signs. Anyway, she finally moved to a sippy cup and it is now her comfort and she takes it everywhere. I held her just like I would to nurse, only I gave her the sippy (it took more than one attempt before she excepted it and didn't fight it). I also tried to wear clothing that allowed her to feel my bare skin on my chest and neck, so she still got the skin on skin contact. Good luck - I can't handle the crying to out method either!!

I didn't do all cold turkey. I figured the night one would be the hardest, so I cut out the nap first, then after a couple weeks the first thing in the morning, then another couple weeks the pre-bedtime one. I simply substituted a sippy cup of milk, holding him the same way, cuddling for a couple minutes, then put him down, and I took the cup with me. After they were all the way weaned, I just did the cuddle, no milk.

I've heard of some moms only allowing nursing for as long as one song. Does he ask for it still? If not, you can opt for the "don't offer" and that might help.
Can daddy put him down? Start on the weekend when he's home for a few days straight and make yourself unavailable, walk the dog or go to the store (i.e. out of the house). Daddy Can't nurse but can offer a book or rocking time and some music.
I weaned DS at 22 mos b/c i was pregnant and my milk dried up. It hurt when he nursed b/c there wasn't milk there and I told him so. So I would ask, "Is it ok if we be done now? It hurts mommy a little bit to nurse. Mommy can just cuddle with you instead." And he understood and was loving and concerned for me and ti all worked out well. Later, he would see me get out of the shower and say, "Mommy's milk all gone." It was adorable.

There are homeopathic remedies you can take to dry your milk up. They're safe for you and for him. If you want to know which ones, email me offlist and I can send you an email w/ the info.

Hi, D..

I had a very difficult time weaning my daughter from nursing before her nap and first thing in the morning. What my ped. recommended, and it actually did work really well for the nap one, was to give her my milk in a cup. Granted, the first day of this was not a lot of fun, but she was fine once she figured out the milk was in the cup. I think the big reason this was successful, though, is because I still cuddled with her in the rocking chair and read her a story. I had switched the routine to nursing and then the book a while before, so it wasn't too much of a stretch. After a few days, I handed her the cup with whole milk in it. No Problem!! I have to admit, this was not successful first thing in the morning. For this one, I just started giving her breakfast right away, skipping the nursing altogether. She wasn't very happy at first, of course, but she got over it quickly when she realized she was getting her favorite breakfast in the whole world. Oatmeal with peaches and bananas!! I got up early and had it ready for her first thing. Then we snuggled after breakfast. I weaned her at nap time before the morning one. For my daughter, I think it was the special, one-on-one closeness that she didn't want to give up more than the milk. She didn't even want that cup of milk after a few weeks. Hope this helps!!

We just went through this not too long ago with my 2 year old son. To cut the naptime nursing I started it on a weekend when we were going to be running a lot during the day. He would fall asleep in his stroller and by the time that 3 days had passed, he was "used" to not nursing at naptime. When we were home the next day I just created a new routine for naptime. Let him pick out books, laid down with him etc.

The nighttime one was the hardest for me to think about. I really thought he would fight me hard. We discussed the fact that he is a big boy now and didn't need to nurse anymore. I probably did this off and on for 2 months. One day he said "no more nursing" and I said tonight, you don't need to nurse and if you are ALL done, you can pick out a new toy. I swear to you, he never asked to nurse again. I had heard of this happening and I said to myself that my son would never give up that easy, but he did! It was a very slow weaning, but I feel that it was gentle!

Have you already structured a nap time and bed time routine that includes other things besides nursing? By this age we had a short ritual for nap time and a longer one for bed time, and simply left the nursing out of the sequence. At nap time we had a short story, arranged the various animals, talked about what we would do later, and sang a little song. The bed time routine was longer--bath, into pajamas, story or two, back patting and tucking in. If you haven't introduced those rituals yet you might be successful starting something that works for you and your son and do it for a couple of weeks--or more--and then phase the nursing out. He could hear you explain that "No, we won't nurse (or whatever term you use with him) today, but I will [pat your back, give you a kiss, read you a story, or whatever] and then you can go to sleep. He probably won't give up the nap for a while--he's little and needs to sleep! But you can phase this out with some supporting activities that over time will replace what sounds like a token nurse that he's continued because it's part of his routine now. Good luck!!

Hi D.,

I weaned my twins at around the same age. What worked well for us was just slowly cutting down on the nursing time. I would nurse for three books, then two books, then one, then none. I dropped the nighttime one last also and they did really well. On a related note, what worked when I wanted to stop nursing them all the way to sleep was changing the venue of the nursing from their room down to the living room. That worked great too and might help with the weaning. I got that suggestion from from Elizabeth Pantley's "No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers".