Weaning Toddler from Breastfeeding!

First, if you want to wean, go for it. But if you are just doing it because you think 2 is the magic cut off date, don't let that dictate when you wean. I, personally, because it worked for me and was what I wanted, let my kids self-wean. My oldest was almost 3, my youngest 3.5. So that is an option.
I got them both started on rice milk/coconut milk, then cow's milk. I started with a cup of 3/4 pumped breastmilk, 1/4 rice milk and slowly upped the percentage of rice/coconut milk. It took quite a while to transistion. I initially tried to just give them rice milk, that was immediately rejected! I just looked at the whole thing as a process rather than something immediate like the whole "broken boobs" method.

I would like to point out that a child doesn't need to drink milk of any kind. You can get plenty of dairy in him with yogurt and cheese. Yay for a kid who likes water!

For the weaning, can you substitute other cuddling, like reading a story on your lap instead of nursing before bed? Or have daddy go on with a sippy of water for a middle of the night wake up?

I would make sure he gets other dairy and let him drink water. What I did with my DD was make the sessions shorter and shorter. I'd tell her "just a bit" and then stop her when 10 minutes was done. Then maybe the week after it was 7 minutes, etc. I also increased other things that were calming and part of a bedtime routine, things like baths and books that DH could also do. It was gradual process, and it took a few months.

either pump some breastmilk to get him used to drinking milk from a cup, then gradually mix in some other kind of milk, or just let him continue with water and get his dairy and its nutrients in other forms.
daddy SHOULD be one of the people who puts him to bed and comforts him in the night. i've never understood parents who say their kids won't 'allow' it. it will actually work better to have daddy come to him during the transition period because there won't be an expectation to nurse.
khairete
S.

He will be just fine drinking no milk. My daughter did not like to drink milk for a long time. Then she suddenly liked it (maybe over time watching big brother change her mind). When she was the age of your son she only wanted water or juice. She was and is a very healthy kid. You can get fat, protein and calcium from plenty of other things. So, don't worry about him not drinking cups of milk. Weaning him is a hard process. You just have to be consistent and firm. Yes, it is about 2 weeks of total suffering for everyone, but then it is over. Think of it like boot camp and never give in!

Night-wean first. Then in a few months, you can cut down to once a day. But it should be gradual, and there will be days, especially if he gets sick, that you may want to nurse more than that one time for a couple of days.

Why do you want to wean? I preferred, like another poster mentioned, to wait until I could reason with them, so most of my kids went well past 2yo. But they were all night-weaned by 18mo. The longer you nurse, the longer they get all that good stuff that comes with it. If you HAVE to because of medical reasons or it's starting to make your skin crawl (not uncommon and a good reason to consider weaning, if you are beginning to resent it) that's one thing. But if you don't have to, don't. He will most likely wean around 3yo naturally.

Just tell him no, he is old enough to understand. Just tell him that your breasts no longer work because he is a big boy now (I have even heard of woman placing bandaids over their nipples). There is no real need for him to drink milk if he doesn't like it, there are other ways to get those nutritions and fats such as yogurt and cheese (talk to his doctor if you are concerned about sources/nutrition). If you can pump you can also start out by putting breast milk in his sippy and slowing mixing in more and more milk to get him used to the flavor over time.

My three were weaned between 18 and 22 months and none of them ever liked milk of any kind (well, they had it on their cereal and dairy in other forms, but they never liked actually drinking milk.)
I would cut the middle of the night feeding first. You will simply need to refuse it, and it will be hard, but after a few tearful nights, you'll both get over it.
You can still nurse at bedtime for a bit, but if you're REALLY wanting to get away soon then cut that one out as well. I LOVED nursing my babies, but breastfeeding is a relationship, in my opinion, not a one way "baby gets what he wants for as long as he wants it" kind of thing so make sure you go ahead and end it when you are ready to end it. The mama is ultimately in charge and the child WILL adapt, I promise :-)

If you wait another year, you can reason with him;). That is what I did when my daughter was about 33 months. I broke my wrist and was on pain killers and told her she couldn't nurse because of the medicine I was on. Good luck!! I know it is difficult.

agree with previous poster - try tiny amounts of milk mixed in with your breast milk, and keep increasing over several days

Thank you for your ideas so far! For those who recommended not weaning yet, I would love to, but I'm having some health problems and need to take some herbal remedies that aren't ok to take while nursing. I have loved breastfeeding and hate to stop, but I think it's time. My husband and I would also like to be able to go on a child free trip since it has been quite some time. I will try your suggestions. Thank you!

With my last one, my husband had to take over bedtime duties for awhile. NOTHING else worked. It was tough, but after a couple of nights, no one missed that time but me! Good luck!