I need tips on weaning my 15mo old from one night feedings. I work and I only see him when I get home, so it's harder for me since that's our way to connect. I talk to him and say "no more booboo", he looks on me like I am crazy. I try to ignore his cries, that doesn't work. I try to substitute, that's not working, he tosses the object/toy. It was easier with my first son, this one is more clingy and dependent. He's mostly with dad, so having him "divert" the baby away from me, isn't really a solution either. I have run out of ideas that are practical. Let me know your thoughts.
Thank you moms for your advice, suggestions, support. In my heart, I really don't think he is ready to wean, but I feel pressure from outside forces when he wants to nurse and people see that and they ask how old my son is and turn up their noses when they know I still nurse him to that age. As others of you have said, he knows when it is time.
try skipping a day keep him really busy do that for a week or two then go to two days the three and so on. and if you get engorged take a shower and just express enough to get some comfort then apply an ice pack. it took me about two months to wean and get my breasts back to normal. gl
why wean him? Children should naturally wean themselves when ready. You work all day, he misses you, he may need this comfort to know you're still there for him. The longer you nurse,the healthier your child. Don't substitute with artificial breast milk or breast milk from another species, your human child needs human milk, not cow, sheep, elephant, etc
If the process of weaning doesn't work (either now or when your son seems more cooperative), I have heard that mommy getaways can work. If you could go away for 1 or 2 nights to sort of break the routine, it could help. (Although, I realize it may not be totally practical or feasible for you.)
Good Day,
When I had my son, I was feeding him naturally; and he had gotten to the point he was "self-serving" himself by opening up my shirt and helping himself! I could not get him off of me! Finally I had to keep him with a friend for 2 days; and when he got home, he was weaned; and went straight to a sippy cup! Only his cup! I missed him something awful, but that is the only way I could get him to use only his cup! If push comes to shove, maybe you will need to try this also, but I am hoping someone else can offer a better solution to you! Good luck!
Kathy N.
PS: He is a very healthy young man even now! Seldom gets any kind of sick!!! It was worth it all to have be healthier then most!
Unless it is really important to you, just let it be. He won't be nursing when he's 10. If you need it to happen though...Keeping him really busy, as suggested by Gibby411, is what worked for me. Best wishes!
Maybe too soon for him? k
Don't wean him yet?.
If he will take milk from a cup or bottle try giving him some and cuddling him at the same time. That sometimes worked for my daughter. Also, since she understood the concept of "broken" and "hurts" I told her that nursing was broken and it hurt Mama, that also helped.
Hope this helps a little.
Good luck!
Kudos for nursing this long! You should be proud that you've provided for your son this long, but there's no shame in continuing to nurse him for as long as you're both comfortable. Curious why you want to wean?
You want to make sure you do it slowly if you're committed to weaning. You'll shock your body if you do it suddenly and could quite possibly end up engorged. As a Nursing Mothers Counsel peer counselor, we generally recommend to drop 1 feeding, then wait 3-5 days before dropping another to give your body time to adjust, but you only have one feeding to drop. I would try to cut down on the amount of time he feeds; ie: 15 minutes for a few days, then 12 minutes for a few more, then 10 minutes for a couple, and so on until you've weaned. If you son is still determined to nurse, it'll take a little longer. If he's ok with weaning, it could take a couple weeks.
You probably won't get engorged if you take it slow (depending on how much milk you're currently supplying), but you can use cold packs to help with swelling and express just enough for comfort. However, you do NOT want to take a hot shower as heat keeps the milk flowing. Try to keep the spray off of your breasts if/when you take a shower.
To help distract him, have dad cuddle him to sleep instead of you; maybe with a sippy or bottle of your milk.
Feel free to check out our website for more information and tips at http://www.nursingmothers.org and have a great weekend!
