Seeking Moms That Have Weaned a 2 Year Old ( or Around 2) - Chicago,IL

I weaned my daughter at 27 months. I had weaned her down to 1 time a day at bedtime with only one breast so we were down to about 5 minutes a day. We had gone out looking at big girl beds and we told her that as soon as she got a big girl bed there was no more nursing. She accepted that and even told me that she was done when she got her big girl bed. She asked for it for about 5 days after she got her bed but I told her that it was all gone and that she was a big girl. She accepted it with no problem. Now she wants me to lay with her in her bed. (Be careful with that though, it has created another habit.) We limit it to 5 minutes of laying down with her with the lights off after stories and prayers, same length as nursing. I didn't have to pump at all and didn't leak at all. She is 30 months old now and two weeks ago, she asked to nurse. I just remind her that mommy's milk is all gone. A cuddle usually does the trick. Honestly, the seperation was worse for me because I treasured the time.

Good luck!

H. L.

Hi C.,
Congratulations on getting to your next chapter of your relationship with your daughter.

I stopped nursing my son around 19 months. It was a up and down transition, but we made it. We slowed down like you did and I did not have to pump. I was never engorged after he was done.

We, like you, talked a lot about mommy's milk being gone. Its been a year and he still points to my breasts and asks if there is milk in there. I think he talked A LOT about it after he was done (the weaning was his choice), and maybe about a month later he asked to nurse and I let him and there wasn't anything there and then never again did he ask. I did ask him one other time after he was talking about it and he said no, as if he realized that their purpose was no longer to feed him. He thought it was funny.

Have fun with this new phase and congrats again for making it this long!!
B.

I think it's wonderful to have nursed your baby for 2 years. It's a beautiful gift. I nursed 2 babies for 2 years. My kids are grown now. I did it kind of gradually. By 2 years they aren't nursing that much. I didn't pump. Things went back to normal. Lot's of cuddling helps. Offering a special cup of juice or milk might help too. It seems to all work out. I remeber being a little stressed about it at the time but I think whatever you do or say with love is the right thing. Good Luck!

Hang in there C.. If you've made it 2 full days w/o nursing you are on your way to complete weaning. My oldest daughter nursed until she was nearly 2 1/2. I had been trying to do it gradually for several months prior to that. Then I had some dental work done and needed medication that was not safe to take while nursing. It turned out to be just the blessing I needed. I had started telling my daughter that mommy's milk was "yucky" and would make her sick. I mentioned "medicine" in my milk so she'd understand this was serious business. She was reluctant at first, but knowing the medication wasn't safe gave me the resolve not to give in. After I completed the medication, I just continued to tell her mommy's mik was yucky, since she was getting used to not nursing anyway.

There will still be times when she'll test, even if she hasn't nursed in weeks. Just be polite and clear that the 2 of you will no longer have mommy's milk. Whatever you've started telling her, stick with it. It will make it easier to understand and accept if you are consistant.

Good luck! If my Rachel weaned - anyone can, there has never been a baby who loves to nurse more than she did!

First and most importantly...CONGRATS on a long and wonderful nursing relationship!!!!!!!!!!

My daughter weaned right before she turned 2 (22/23 months). She started slowing down around 1 1/2 and then just kept nursing less and less until at the end she was only nursing once every week to 2 or even 3 weeks.

Since it was such a slow transition my milk just became less and less until it was finally gone. She def. asked a few times after I thought we were completely done and still does every once in a while. I am pregnant now so I think that has a lot to do with her asking because we read books nad talk about how babies nurse. But I just always tell her I don't have any milk now, it is all gone. A few times after weaning when she persisted I would let you *try*, but the milk truly was gone so she got nothing out and she had really forgotten how to nurse.

My advice would just be to take it slow and wean down gradually. That will be best for both her and you. And make sure to be gentle with her when she decides to ask again. Sometimes I think they just ask to see what we will say. And when you say yes, they don't really want to do it anyway, they just wanted to make sure you were still there for them if they needed you.

Good luck!
and
Congratulations!

My daughter and I weaned at 19 months and I never had to pump. It definitely helped that at that point we were only nursing once/day. The final weaning was led by my duaghter, so as far as losing interest I can't really answer your question. It was me who initiated the two weanings prior to that though, and she didn't seem to miss them at all. It was probably around 6 weeks from the time I started consciously weaning her to our last nursing session. I think it's best, if you can, to cut out one nursing at a time. Good luck!

I stopped nursing when my daughter was 2 as well. The transition was a pretty smooth one. We had cut back to a couple times a day and she had even skipped a day here and there on her own the weeks before we stopped. Like you, I told her ahead that soon she was going to be big enough to drink only big girl milk instead of nursing. Once we stopped entirely, she did ask to nurse once every day or two for the 1st couple weeks. I would tell her she was a big girl and offer to get her big girl milk. Most of the time she was fine with that.

There were a couple challenges for us: We would snuggle at bedtime but having milk in a sippy cup made her think more about nursing so we changed the routine and just read books and snuggled with no beverage before bed. The other thing I had to be careful about was not letting her see my breasts at all for a few months (getting dressed, out of the shower, etc.). The minute she saw them she would ask to nurse even if it had been weeks since she last thought of it. Altogether it was easier than I thought it would be. I only remember one bedtime, a few weeks after I stopped, when she was insistent on nursing and nothing would console her. I told her that mommy's milk was all gone. Not sure if I want to admit this in writing, but I did end up letting her nurse, fully thinking there would be no milk and she would see that it was gone. I was wrong and that set us back for a couple days. That said, the look on her smug face was priceless when she was nursing and she stopped to say "see Mommy...milk". She knew she had won that one.

I did not need to pump at all but, as I mentioned, we had already been slowing down in the months before we stopped. Good luck.

congratulations on a long and wonderful breastfeeding relationship and moving onto the next phase without mommy milk. i weaned both of my kids on their 3rd birthdays after talking about it for months in advance. the transitions were pretty quick and much smoother than anticipated with each of them. it was only days before each came to terms with no more "nummies" and requested a snuggle or sippy instead, depending what kind of comfort they were seeking. it did take a week or few to get into a new nursing-free bedtime and naptime ritual but even that was mostly free of tears or dramatics.

if you do not feel full you will probably not need to pump or anything, especially as it sounds like you are reducing feedings slowly and your body has time to adjust and reduce your supply accordingly. with my daughter i did not have any trouble with engorgement at all and did not need to pump. (when i weaned my son my daughter was still nursing so i didn't need to then either.) if you feel any discomfort, i'd try to hand-express rather than pump just so you don't send your body the wrong message, but even just a little pumping to reduce the pressure shouldn't cause a problem i wouldn't think.

I have a 2 1/2 year old who I stopped nursing @ 22 mos. I really now that I think of it, can't remember how I really did it. I think I just told him that 'boo-boo's' are for babies and that he is a BIG BOY. I think when it was hardest was when he was upset, that's when he wanted to nurse. He still to this day has a fascination with my 'boo-boo's' -- he tries to grope them whenever possible! I have tried to get him to put his arms in my armpits instead to be less embarrassing in public. He still tells me sometimes that 'boo-boo's are for babies.' and then we even get the occasional 'I'm a baby!' but overall he did it pretty easily, just remind them how BIG they are, they want to be big kids so that's I think what worked for us. Good luck, I think girls have to be easier than boys!

Congrats to you for nursing your little one so long!

My older son was 29 months when he weaned. I didn't have any set time period, it was just starting to feel like time and then the day we introduced his big boy bed, he was so excited to sleep in it. I asked him if he wanted gilkies like we normally did before bed and he said no, he just wanted to go to sleep in his bed. So he did. That was it. So simple and easy. I had stopped pumping at about 14 or 15 months (was working full time) and we used frozen milk, then some cow milk in bottles at daycare, then he lost the bottles and we only nursed in the morning and at night, then only at night. I did not have to do anything. I think my body was really creating so little at that point it was no problem. It did take several months before my breasts kinda "stopped" funcutioning that way I think.....they firmed up a little after about 6 months or so. Not quite the same as they were before, but I noticed a definite difference.

AFter the first night, I would lay down with him in his big boy bed and cuddle him for a while until he went to sleep. He never asked to nurse again and was very happy with the cuddling (as was I!)

I hope everything goes well!