Advice for Weening a 16Month Old from Nursing

Ah, I have a 19 months old son, and I am in the same boat. I have cut down on the feedings--just for naps and at night. I do not want it to be painful for him. I don't have any more advice, but would love you to share some with me once you get some advice.

Wean gradually (it's best for both of you). A good book to read for that is "How Weaning Happens," by Diane Bengson.

SPOON!!!!

With my oldest daughter (who nursed 2 1/2 years), I gradually cut down until she was nursing only in the morning and at bedtime. The bedtime was the hardest to lose. I found she liked being spooned to sleep almost as much as being nursed to sleep. Once my milk dried up (when I was 6 months pregnant with my second - ouch!), that was that. There was no cold turkey, no substituting with a bottle, just spooning and talking and cuddling. My second daughter weaned herself at 10 months - she was done a month earlier but it took me that long to realize I was forcing her to nurse. But she loved the spooning. And still does at 3!

my friend put bandaids on her nipples and told her son that her "boobies were broken". he gave them each a kiss and just accepted it. he was about 17-18 months. my kids stopped nursing on their own, so luckily bypassed this situation. good luck.

Make sure you hold her and give her a cup. Start with perhaps playing with other friends, and making sure all the time to give her cups of milk, water juice.

It might be that you are very distracted and this is one way she has your complete atention. Maybe think of just cutting back nursing time and reading or talking with her. She might just need the assurance that you are there. I nursed both my girls for 2 years no harm no foul. Hope this helps a little.

Aloha T.,

Kids are amazing. They will usually ween themselves when they are ready. My first one, switched to the bottle very naturally when I dried up at 7 months. My second stopped nursing on her own before the age of 2......just in time for the surprise of another pregnancy!! My last one weaned himself at about 2 1/2. I didn't have to try with any of them. They just slowly drank less and less until they stopped asking for it!

If you are concerned about a smooth transition you can also probably call your local Le Leche League.

Marie-anne
http://www.healthyohana.net

I used what I called the "apology method". Similar to what you'd do if you were out of apple juice or anything else requested, I'd sincerely apologize and explain that I didn't have any but would give it as soon as I did and then quickly offer an alternative. After about a week of longer and longer breaks, I simply explained that they were "empty". I would always make a big show of getting the last drop out of a carton and show how it was "all gone". Not sure how well this might work for you but it worked for me at the time. I do have to admit though, it's now backfiring 10 months later with him pointing, groping and asking periodically if there is any "mama milk" there and to "lemme see"!

Hey there -

I think that it should viewed as an exciting adventure for both of you. Tell your daughter all the wonderful things that you will do with her because of this transition. More hugs. More loving other ways. And get her gifts. I suggest books, music, DVD's, fun stuff. Not sugar. When she asks for nursing, give her a treat. And jump up and down and tell her look at you! You are so brave and so wonderful to help Mama through this! And Mama is here for you. We'll get through this together. Tell her that you have felt honored for this time for her, but you feel it is time to take the next step. And this is good for you too. You don't have to feel bad about your decision to stop. I sure hope this helps. Good luck to you!

hugs....R.

Good for you to have nursed so long!!!!!!!!!! How did you wean your other children? I'm planning on nursing till about 18m, I think. I'll be looking for ideas soon too. I've read a lot about it and think I have an idea, we'll see. I liked what they had to say in What to Expect Your First Year.

The best way to do it is to take it slowly and eliminate one nursing session at a time over a period of weeks, and replacing that nursing session with another activity like reading together or just cuddling. The hardest thing to do is to wean suddenly over a short period of time - that can be very upsetting and result in the child acting out. It may help when you eliminate the bedtime feeding (which is usually the last to go), to have your husband take over the bedtime routine for at least a couple of weeks until your little one no longer associates going to bed with nursing.

Good luck!

My husband took over the night-time routine. He would say prayer and sing songs, while rocking her until he put her into bed. As long as I wasn't in the room, it was never a problem. For the midday naps, the nursing became so brief, they just seemed to stop naturally.
good luck

I night-weaned DS2 when he was 2, and am almost done weaning him now (he's almost 3). What worked for the night weaning was I put band-aids on my nipples (2 band-aids each, criss crossed) and told him they were broken [grin]. Worked well. What I didn't expect was how engorged I'd be 24 hours later.

DS2 had been eating 3-4 times all night long since forever -- I didn't realize how much he was eating (in addition to the regular food during the day). So not feeding him caused me to have too much milk (and gain weight, thpppt).

So I gave in during the day, but put the band-aids back on at night. That was a mistake. If I'd just dealt with the engorgement, he'd be weaned totally by now. At least I was getting sleep! But I do recommend the band-aid solution very highly.

(La Leche League recommends "don't offer, don't refuse" as a natural way to wean. And with many babies this works well, so I recommend it too (worked for DS1). It didn't work on DS2, though, at least for the night weaning, but every baby is different.)

Good luck!

Go on vacation. Worked for us and the transition was quick. We were down to only nursing in the morning and before bed so I was shocked when it happened so fast. Vacation was enough of a change that they didn't think about it because they were thinking about the next adventure.

I'm not gonna lie, It's gonna be super hard. I started little by little....instead of 5 times a day i when to 3 and then 2 and then only once a day. Then i tried to offer her milk instead. Then one day i got really sick so i had to take antibiotics so i could feed her anymore. =( i was really painful and sad but she stop asking a couple days after. She was 16 months old when i stop nursing her too.
Good luck

Hey Tina,

There is no easy way to ween babies from nursing!! But to do it!! But the longer you take, the harder it will be!! The best time is starting in the daytime cause night time is the worst!! My son was very hard, it took a week for him to stop crying but eventually he got it and took the bottle and then the cup!! Good Luck!!

V.

Hi T.,

My name is H. and I am a retired breastfeeding mom and a certified lactation consultant. I nursed both of my girls for two years and I can understand wanting to wean. When I weaned my first child, it was complete nightmare. I could not sit where we usually nursed, we could no longer shower together (it was just easier, she showered with me from 1 week old.) I could not be seen naked and she cried for atleast 3 weeks. She would not fall asleep on her own and she had never slept with me before. ECT! ECT! ECT!
This was not a happy weaning process. Lets not let this happen to you. I will attach my weaning information but will also include how I happily weaned my second child. After we were done breastfeeding, she asked for breastmilk twice. Once, she excepted the answer and the second time was about six months later. She asked me for na na's (thats what we called breastfeeding, it was more descreet, nobody else knew what she was asking for)I gave her the same explanation that I always did and she laughed like she had made some kind of joke. Must have been an inside joke because I didn't get it.

When My second child turned 18 months (its not to early to try this along with your younger child. You would be surprised how much they really understand:)

So, when she was being offered na na's (2-3 times in 24 hours, usually once upon waking, once upon returning home from work and once for bedtime) I would just casually say two to three times a week with a big smile......" when you turn two years old and we have your birthday party(or any day "weaning party", though I wouldn't call it that) you will be a big girl, too big for na na's."
That was all I did. It was a little easier with the second child, we also had a bedtime routine set up for her sister, now we just included her into it. The first child I let fall asleep on the couch watching that dreaded tv. You be surprised what bad habits parents will create, just to change one behavior. Good luck I hope this helps!

WEANING

Whatever your reason for weaning, you and your baby are entitled to a safe, comfortable and gradual way to end your breastfeeding experience. Weaning too quickly may cause physical and emotional problems for both you and your baby.

How to wean…

1.Stop 1 feeding every 2-4 days. Offer a substitute for that feeding. If the baby is under 1 year of age please replace with formula.

2.Try to give yourself 2-4 weeks to complete the weaning process.

3.Avoid extreme fullness. When you drop a feeding, pump or hand express for 2-3 minutes to relieve the pressure of too much milk.
This will not tell your body to make more milk. This will only help relieve engorgement and reduce your chances of plugged ducts or a breast infection.

4.Use warm compresses before expressing milk, or stand in the shower with water running on your back to cause leaking to relieve the fullness. After expressing milk, some women find it helpful to put icepacks on their breasts.

5.Wear a comfortable bra. Constricting or binding the breast only leads to medical problems.

6.Drink to thirst. Limiting your fluid intake will only increase risk of dehydration.

7.Limit salt intake. This will reduce water retention and swelling.

8.Be alert. Watch for symptoms of plugged ducts …sore, lumpy, hot and/or hard areas of the breast. Fever or flu like symptoms may be a sign of a breast infection. Call for help!!!

Things to remember…..

1.Weaning is a physical and emotional time.
2.Breastfeeding is a lot more than producing milk and feeding it to your baby.
3.It is common to have mixed feelings about weaning.
4.When a baby stops breastfeeding suddenly…This is not normal weaning. It is a nursing strike. Please call for help.
5.Your periods will start again during the weaning process. Please use birth control if you are not planning additions to your family.

I tried to clean it up. It's not perfect but got the job done. Happy weaning! Write back if you have any other questions.

i'm still nursing at 25 months..my friend told me to put nail biting stuff on my nipples to make them taste bad and tell my son my boobs are broken..i don't think a 16 month old would understand broken..i think i'm going to keep nuring longer b/c it's really helpful when my son gets sick or if i want to stay in bed longer in the morning. I'm a single mom so i don't have any help..so make sure you really want to ween b/c it does come in handy like if i want to get him dressed he runs all over the house and i can say "boobie" and he comes and nurses and lets me change him..my DS is a little wild child..but i might try the thumb sucking stuff if i can't get him to ween on his own.

Two thoughts that are related - first make sure that you think your daughter is ready to wean, and that you are not just doing it for you. This will help ensure success. Seond, consider night weaning first. Check out Dr. Jay Gordon's website - it has a night weaning plan that is great - we just used it to nightwean one of my boys who was a frequent night waker and he is now sleeping much more AND only wakes one time a night which is a huge success for us. Good luck

http://drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asps.

I just weened my daughter at 17 months.....all you have to do is have tough love, lose the nursing bra, and tell her no more milk. She will cry and cry but it took me about two weeks and it was a miracle!!! YOU'll need a supportive husband who will keep her occupied and spend more time with her when he is home. She just stopped begging. OUr battle now is to get her to drink regular milk. My next battle! The boobs will sore but you'll get over it. Good Luck!

In my experience weaning three kids, I have found that going away for a few days is the easiest way to do it, unless you have a kid who loses interest (which I was lucky enough to have twice) A friend of mine had a boy who seemed like he would never give it up, and she went away for three days and he forgot in that time. Everytime I have gone cold turkey and not pumped for relief or anything and I thought it was easier and faster. Remember that you are the boss and she can't nurse if you don't offer it. Now is a good time, I have a friend with a 21/2 year old still nursing who wants to stop so badly but now he is so old and so attached it is really hard for her. Good luck.

I have an 18 month old daughter who nursed until she was 15 months. I weaned very slowly dropping one feeding at a time. When I dropped one I would keep that same routine for about 2 weeks to a month, and then look for the next best feeding to drop. Unfortunatly, the last feeding to drop was the 3:30am feeding, of course. One night she just slept through it, and we were weaned. A few times she wanted to nurse, but instead I would offer some milk or a binkie and she was usually fine. The morning feeding is easy to drop because you can just feed them breakfast instead and they usually don't think twice about it. Mine didn't at least.

I wish you the best in this process!

It was an emotional process for me as well, but the freedom was also a plus...

Also..SAGE TEA works great for the after weaning effects of your milk! I had a cup that next day and I was soft again by the following day.

The least painful way relates to you, right? I JUST finished nursing my 19 month old and it was hard. She would go on forever if I let her. I just reached my point. While there were some tears (and a little guilt-tripping), my daughter and I survived and we're doing just fine. She had always had bottles, but preferred me. We were already down to am & pm nursings.
Back to you, Mom, BIND yourself after the last nursing. My husband tied it TIGHT and I used ice packs, also. I'd say the discomfort lasted two weeks. Take Motrin, too! Good luck, Mom!

I only wanted to say thanks for posting the question. I've been wondering how to wean my 5th baby, age 12 months. I didn't want to ask because he's my 5th - but that only seems to make it harder, since he's my last.