Weaning - Saint Paul,MN

how old is she? how do you know shes not doing it for food?

even if shes over a year, bf-ing is very healthy and good for her. it provides a TON of immunity and immune system boosts that otherwise she wouldnt receive. also, breastmilk "grows and changes" as your child does, so its made perfectly and specifically for her needs at her age. its magic!
no reason to rush it even if shes older and even if you think shes not doing it for food. if shes under one year, she is still doing it for food, even if you think shes not; you would have to still give her formula which isnt as good as bf-ing, so you might as well keep up the good work through a year.

if any of the above is irrelevant, and you simply want to wean her because you are not enjoying it or you just want to be done, then remember first of all that its a gradual process; otherwise, she could "regress" in other ways. what i mean is that if you cut her off from something that brings her not only great nutrition but great comfort as well, shes going to show signs of missing it in her behavior, her sleep habits, etc.
so the best way that ive found is to gradually taper the nursing feedings off. the easier ones are the ones during the day. try not to sit in the normal spots where you would nurse her, even rearrange the furniture if you have to. if shes acting like shes going to want to nurse, replace that with another bonding activity of some kind to distract her; reading a book, snuggling/play, holding her and singing, whatever you can think of. and remember, again, you might only be able to do this one nursing session at a time. if shes nursing before a nap time, then you will only be able to work on dropping one at a time.

either way, i want to reassure you that you are indeed giving your child the best! even if shes only doing it when shes tired shes getting important nutrition and immunity, and shes also getting a fantastic bonding experience through you! :) i know i missed it when my son self weaned at 20 months...! i still wish we had paid more attention and let him go longer, but i guess when he was ready, he was ready. go with a "dont ask dont refuse" type of thing by doing the above, and trying to start doing it before shes asking/fussing to nurse.
make sense? i hope it did... i hope it helps you. let me know if you have any questions, otherwise another great place to go for help is the la leche league; www.llli.org. if nothing else contact a leader near you for real mom tested advice :) good luck!

first let me ask how old is she? I mean do you want to wean her? Sometimes it's easier to wait until the child is ready. But on the other hand if she is older and you are just done then this is what i do. When I'm ready to wean my babies (the first at 12 months and my second around 13 months) I just made sure I have a bedtime and naptime routine. So like for nap I did diaper change, book, song nurse then bed. So when I weaned I kept everything the same and just didn't nurse. My first daughter had a little harder time and cried for a couple days but my second didn't even cry. it was like she didn't even care. Also if your baby like to sip on something just put some water in a sippy and she if she will just take that to bed. Water won't hurt her teeth or anything so it doesn't matter if she falls asleep while sucking. But really as long as you keep the rest of the routine the same it shouldn't be too bad.

I would also like some answers to this.

First, be sure you are BOTH ready to wean. When YOU determine this to be the case, then understand that to be successful and content with this process, it will need to be gradual. Nurse her only at nap time and bedtime...not just when she is sleepy. Then when you and your baby are comfortable with that stage, remove the nap time feeding. You can replace this with a bottle of water (a sippy cup will work if she refuses a bottle). Expect her to be reluctant and be sure to stay with her and soothe her through this adjustment. Eventually...when you and your daughter are comfortable with this new routine, replace her bedtime feeding in the same way. She will likely respond better to this beause she will be accustomed to the process she knows from naptime. Rely on your instincts to tell you when and how. With a first child, it's so easy to get caught up in the advice you get from well-meaning relatives and friends...even doctors. But at the end of the day, remember that she will only be this age and go through this process once. So be sure you handle it in a way that will be comfortable for you both and you are confident will offer no regrets when you're through.

When toddlers breastfeed they receive incredible amounts of anitbodies and immune-boosting organisms that they simply can't get from anywhere else. Even though your daughter is nursing once or twice a day, she is still getting these nutrients in hyper-concentrated amounts. In fact, the levels of antibodies are even higher now then when your daughter was an infant. You can wean her now, but she will get sick more often. Why not let her wean when she's ready? The US is the only place where many women wean their children before 2 years. Worldwide, the average age is 2-5 years.