I Need to Get My 2Yr. Old to Stop Breastfeeding

Okay - I know exactly how you feel. My daughter is 2 - she stopped breastfeeding in May of this year and believe me - it WASNT her idea. I tried everything but what worked was telling her that it went bad. Then - I put a little baby orajel on my nipples (no it didnt make them go numb) but my daughter went to nurse (after I told her that it went bad) and when she put her mouth there, she pulled away and just looked at me and said yucky. I told her that they went bad - so of course she tried the other side (make sure you do both and she cant see you doing it) and it was bad too. Believe it or not - she never tried again. Of course - YOU have to be strong too because I really wanted to wash them off and let her have it because I took comfort in her breastfeeding too - but I stayed strong and she even went as far as to tell everyone who was listening that they went bad and were yucky. OH - and um - make sure you wash them off before any hanky panky - your boyfriend would appreciate that - or you can just sit back and laugh at the face he makes - your choice. LOL

Good Luck

Wow! Good for you for nursing until 2! There are actually still benefits to continuing breastfeeding. I do understand wanting to wean too. By the time ds was 21 months is was driving me bonkers. DD still nurses once a day or every few days at 2y7m. Check out www.kellymom.com for benefits of extended nursing and weaning tips. I love that website for bf tips! Good Luck!

I also just weaned by 2.5 year old. I started by telling her no at nap time & then when we were good there (maybe a week - 10 days), I started with the am feeding - same thing - said no, offered milk in a cup & a distraction. The night was the last thing to go & I just switched to cuddle time in the chair in her room instaed of nursing time. We cuddle & read books and if she asks to nurse, I just tell her it's all gone (or before that was true, I just said not now). Good luck!
(I'm not sure if I would try this but if you have lots of problems, a friend of mine bribed her son with choclate milk - only took her about a week to wean her son - he was almost 3 - with the promise of choc milk instead of nursing & then she just 'forgot' to ever buy choc milk again :))

I weaned my daughter at 15 months and my son at 12 months. My daughter was harder since I was home with her. I tried taking flax seed oil capsules, which they say makes your milk bitter, but it did not work for her. So, we spent A LOT of time taking walks, going to the park and playing outside, which seemed to keep her from wanting to climb up in my lap and nurse. Whenever she'd try I'd tell her, "Mommy's milk is all gone," and offer a sippy cup. It took a few weeks, but I was persistent and did not let her nurse. She responded better to my telling her it was all gone than me just telling her no. At first, I missed the 'bonding' but we both made it through without any emotional trauma. ;o) Good luck!

I actually just stopped nursing (my little guy is 2.5), and he still nurses a teeny bit when he wakes up from nightmares. I had a babysitter that put him down for naps, which helped. Also, I think I just nicely said no nursing right now and gave him love. I took away nursing times gradually. Kept the AM & PM for the longest, and took out the mid-day ones first - one at a time. That way it's not a shock to the kid, or to your breasts, as cold turkey will cause YOU physical pain as the milk dries up. Good luck!

Hi M., we had the same problem with our youngest and she was finally weaned at 2 1/2 and the last few months she could only have a feed at night when she saw a star and that was the only feed she had for the day and after a while she didn't want to nurse anymore. I'm sure your daughter is very smart and you can talk and reason with her and she will be able to help you with this process. Maybe you can start out just with a few feeds a day and gradually get it down to one at night and then see what happens and I hope that this has been helpful for you. Ed