Mom Trying to Wean 21 Month Old Son off Breastfeeding

K.,

I would contact the ladies of La Leche League. www.llli.org They should have some suggestions for you. There should be phone numbers for you to call.

Good luck,
L. M

I would do this incredibly gradually. There is so much more to bf than just nursing - there is an incredible amount of bonding and comfort/soothing time in there too. I would suggest trying to implement other ways to bond and soothe your child and use as much distraction as possible. Many suggest trying to eliminate one feeding at a time. This process can be incredibly difficult on a baby so just try and ge as gentle as possible. I wish you the best of luck.

The World Health Organization recommends women nurse until atleast age 2 - but every woman has to decide for herself what is right for herself and her child. I just hope others aren't pressuring you into this decision. It should be yours and yours alone (well, and possibly your child's but it is YOUR body).

And thought I would offer some links:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/index.html

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T026400.asp

http://www.justmommies.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=131...

http://www.justmommies.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=127...

I have a good friend who breast fed until her son was two. She places band-aids over her nipples and told her son that mommy had a boo-boo and could not nurse. He understood this and was able to give it up.

hi K.,
i weaned my son at 18 months - it depends maybe on how many times of day you are still nursing him - is it on demand or is there a set time/times?

when i began the whole process we worked in foods at the old nursing time - yogurt, etc. in place of a nursing. the final nursing for us was the early AM - and i began watching a program with him (if you are not into TV maybe a special book) - it was not super easy but after a week a new routine was formed - in retrospect it was the quiet cuddling away from anyone else that i think was the real routine.

hope this helps.

Hi K.,
I, too, nursed my son until he was 21 months. At that point I decided enough was enough. At that age he was getting all of the nutrition he needed from table food and drinking whole milk while at daycare. I found that he typically wanted to nurse when he was tired; he was primarily nursing when I picked him up from daycare and when it was time to go to bed at night. But he wanted to nurse all night! I'd become his human pacifier. So I decided on the weekend that he turned 21 months to just stop. He cried and put up a fuss but I think we both realized that he just liked being close to go to sleep. So I'd lay with him at bed time and tell him that he couldn't nurse anymore but stayed close until he fell asleep. It took a few days of doing this but within a week, he stopped trying and put nursing behind him. He gained some independence and so did I! I suggest giving your son the closeness he's come to expect without allowing him to nurse. Kids are brilliant and they catch on quickly.

Oh boy-- I just finally weaned my 2-1/2 year old off breastfeeding, and she still talks about it every single day. With my first, it worked really well because I moved houses and made it a condition of our new house: we don't do that here. But my second, I actually went away by myself for a whole week, dried up, and she still tries to latch on any time I'm not paying attention. But if you know any babies in your life that your son knows, you can say something like "This baby NEEDS milk because he is too little to eat ice cream, pizza (you name your child's favorite food) and he can't even (do this really fun thing your child loves to do), so aren't you lucky you're not a baby any more? That's my advice. It may be a rocky road, but it is all for a good cause: growing up!

My friend tried this with her son and it worked: Put a bandaid (not a tiny one, but a larger one) over your nipple(s) and say that you have a "boo-boo" and it hurts, so he can't nurse. You can even lightly touch the outside of the bandaid and go "Ouch!" so he will see. She said it worked almost immediately. It only took a day or two. But be patient - it might take you a week or so. Good luck.

Hi K.,
I weaned my children very slowly. I used a method of never offering, encouraging an alterate activity, yet not refusing to the point that it became a 'fight' or a power struggle. You'll obviously have to choose the path that is most comfortable for you. We did have 'rules' - like no nursing outside of our home, then restricting it to one special place in the house, then only at bedtime........but still, if my child had a particularly hard day or traumatic event, I didn't refuse to the point of a fight. I would usually offer a snack first, or suddenly 'need' to go on an errand in the car so there was no time, or have a fun activity in mind for just such an occasion.

Best of luck with your little one -
S.