My daughter is 16 months old and still nurses to go to sleep. I have been trying to ween her for the past 4 months. I got it down to bed times only, but I am ready to be done with nursing her. She eats very little, so in a way I am afraid she won't get enough nutrition. She does have some medical conditions. However, I feel like she doesn't eat as much because she knows she will just get "Mommy". Can you share your experiences and give me a little advice? I appreciate it.
Thank you for the advice. It is so good to get different points of view from other moms who can relate. I admit, my will power is not as strong as I would like when it comes to not running to the rescue when she begins to scream or cry. I feel like she will eventually ween herself, but then again I feel like she will nurse until she's five if I allowed her.
I definitely will try having dad take over bedtime, but the only problem is that she is with me throughout the day so I have to work out a naptime routine and plan. I am sure we'll get it worked out.
Thanks again for helping me feel that I am not crazy for still nursing my daughter and for suggesting things I did not even begin to think of. I appreciate your time and hope to help you one day.
This is a hard thing to do - What worked for me was Daddy putting her to sleep, rocking, etc (while I cried outside the door) I think it was harder on me than her even though I was really done with it.
Also, she is old enough for a big girl reward - another thought.
Have you considered going to a LLL meeting? Most of the ones I've been to have had a lot of mothers with multiple kids who have experience with weaning. The nice thing about a breastfeeding support group is that their more likely to have nursed the full year and have experience weaning a toddler. Weaning a toddler is SO different from weaning a baby, isn't it?!
You can find local groups online:
http://www.lllofnc.org/LocalGroups.html
Weaning is such a personal thing. It's hard to know what might work for a toddler I've never met. You might find this site helpful, though:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/index.html
Also, try breastfeeding message boards, too. You might get more experience with weaning a child with a personality like your daughter's. lol If you just do a search on breastfeeding message boards, you'll find a bunch.
This place is great, but why not use all your resources, right?
T.,
The way I weaned my sons (2 1/2 and 16 months) was to work down to one time a day (like you've done) and then when I was ready for them to stop all together I turned over bedtime duties to daddy so that they weren't smelling me and looking for milk. It took only a few days for them to adjust. Then after she's weaned have daddy go another week or so on bedtime duty just to make sure she's not still looking. It's tough to have her cry for you, but I think it will be easier on her not to have you put her down when you aren't going to nurse. Good luck!
K.
Congrats on nursing so long! I have no personal advice because my DS weaned himself at 8 months when he realized he could eat on the run with a bottle instead of laying still with Mommy. However, a great book to check out is "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley.
I had the opposite with my second son, he weened too soon!!! But he let me know when he was done nursing. And your daughter will let you know when she is done, just let her take her time and nurse as long as she wants. But if you are ready to ween RIGHT NOW, offer her a bottle or sippy cup of breastmilk at bedtime and if she accepts that, slowly substitute whole milk or formula mixed with the breastmilk until she's just drinking the milk. You'd be surprised how easy this will happen. Good LUCK!!
I am going through the same thing, only my son is going to be two in May. I have accomplished getting him to sleep without it, although it is not without a serious battle. He screams like a lunatic, tearing at my clothes, hitting me, even trying to bite me. But I stand my ground and after a lot of laying him back down over and over and over he finally just passes out. It has gotten easier in the last week, but I don't have the willpower at 3am to get up and have the same battle. I even tried bandaids on my nipples at one point and it worked really well until he was ready to go to sleep and then he just ripped them off. But I think the key is just to stay strong and consisent in your efforts. Maybe since she is younger you would have better success with one of those methods. My kid is extremely stubborn and persistent. I hope this helps a little bit.
I weened my daughter when she was 16 months old. I gave her a pacifier. Turned out she just wanted to suck,so I guess I really didn't ween her.
Have you tried just plain "cold Turkey"? I know it may see cruel but that was the only way I could do my son. It was a rough couple days but once he realized that he was not going to get mommy milk he seemed okay. Our situations are quite different though. I weaned him when he was 6 months (he's now 14 months) because of my severe PPD (and he started to bite). I am not sure if this will help any but good luck.
