What Did You Do?

Start slowly giving her half breast milk and half whole milk in a bottle with a wide nipple, the ones with the plastic in them.

Hi A.,

I breast-fed my daughter until the day she turned 1. I was very adamant about having her weaned by the time she was 1. What I did was 2 weeks before her first birthday I only breastfed her when she woke up, and when she laid down at night for bed. Then the following week before her birthday I only breast-fed at night before she went to bed. The night of her birthday was the last night I breast-fed, and she never even tried again. I think the earlier you start to get them weaned the easier it is on everyone. After they turn 1 there really is no nutritional reason for them to continue nursing. So you might need to be as strong headed to her about stopping as she is everyday =) I myself have a head-strong toddler, and if I would of continued breast-feeding I couldn't imagine trying to get her off now. The best thing to do is wean, I'm sure you can talk to a lactation consultant, or even your daughter's pediatrician. Hope this helps, and good luck!

A.,

Here are some great links from www.breastfeeding.com, www.babycenter.com and www.lalecheleague.org on weaning!

http://breastfeeding.com/helpme/helpme_tips_weaning.html

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babybreastfeed/8497...

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/weanhowto.html

** Here is a very cute (funny!) baby clip to watch whenever you feel frustrated - guaranteed to put a smile on your face**

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individ...

Breast of Luck!! lol

-C.

HaH! I thought I was the only one! I breast fed my son til 3 yrs old. My Mom ( who didn't beleive in breast feeding) thought this was awful. she told me that he was going to take me to the Prom and leave outside so he could come out for a sip. Now that I look back I think I did it just because she didn;t approve. But I was going through a hard time. My husband left us when he was a month old and I moved to a new town, to a run down house ( there were weeds growing out of the floor) and with no money. Thank God for my 13 yr old, he babysat and did what he could. we fixed up our little house as best as we could and often times we didnt even have money for electricity. I had a wood cook stove and oil lamps and pretended to camp all the time. I was working as a waitress for $1.50 an hr. So it was also a comfort thing too. It was just as hard for me to wean him than it was for him. We slept in the same bed because that is all we had, his brother slept on a palet on the floor until we could afford furniture which was 3 yrs after we moved. I used to wear big tshirts all the time and he would just go under it and start nursing and then run off. so I started wearing tighter shirs and tucking them in, it was too much trouble so he pretty much weaned himslef after that. we also told him that toties were for babies and that he was a big boy . my neighbor had just had a baby and he saw that the baby nursed so he figured he didnt want to be a baby anymore. we had a few relapses but at 3 yrs 4 months he quit, and I cried because my baby had grown up. I remarried when he was 7 and he told his stepdad that he coudl have his chocolate and strwberry tooties now, but relinquishing his spot in my bed was another story.

I weaned my daughter at 15 months, I had to because I was pregnant with her little brother. I started taking away one feeding at a time, the ones she liked least and over a few weeks kept dropping them.and offered her a sippy cup or bottle instead- (go for the sippy cup). the hardest part for us was that she was nursing to fall asleep ( I know bad habit)- so we had to get her to fall asleep without nursing-we gave her a bottle with milk.. eventually she got one with water once she was over the weaning.. once we did that she wasn't as attached to the nursing anymore. If you can just try to take is slowly, just one feeding dropped at a time.. and maybe wait a week before dropping the next one.. you may even decide to keep the one last feeding.. I hope this helps

I had to quit nursing my daughter when she was 17 mos because I was pregnant with our 2nd child and I was EXHAUSTED ALL the time. my OB told me to just stop. cold turkey. she told me that it was going to be a hard couple of days...well, that turned into a hard couple of weeks, but we did it. I would sit in the room with her in the dark and rock with her in the chair. if she wanted to be in the nursing postition, I would put her in the position, but wouldn't actually nurse her. finally her appetite for real food grew and now we have a new night time ritual. this time, instead of rocking, we lay in her bed togther until she falls asleep. it was really hard for me, but it worked for me.

Hi A.,

I know what you are going through I breastfed my son til he was 2 1/2 and I had help from my husband to get my son to wean. What we did is if wanted his nummy nummies ( that what he called it) and it was durning bed time my husband would take him into our bedroom( We co-sleep) and lay down with him and before you knew it he was out. I started wearing sports bras to bed becuase he just used to lift up my shirt and start nursing. After a couple of weeks he completely stopped. It's not easy but hang in there

A.,
I am still nursing my son at 16 months and am finding that the don't offer, don't refuse plan is actually working well for us. I know this my take longer than you are looking to spend but I thought I would share. You could also use this method in conjunction with the previous mommy said about slowly removing one feeding at a time. I have found my son being less and less concerned with nursing as we go and we don't have any battles of will. Good luck!